[Delve] From Nano-RPGs to infinite worlds
Featuring a Jam, my favorite drafting tool and poisonous frogs
Delving is about exploration and field note-taking; It can be news, recommendations or inspiring content I just want to jam on. Above all, it should be more spontaneous, so let’s see if I can overcome my desire to go in depth with everything. I divided this entry in 6 sections. Hopefully, you have time to check them all. Otherwise… roll a D6 I guess!
1/ JAM - 12 Words RPG
Continuing my path toward the minimaliest RPG, I stumble on this article that introduced me to the wonderful world of nano-RPGs. Lasers & Feelings is already fairly contained, right? Well, it would probably fall under the micro-RPG category with its (somewhere around) 720 words.
The smallest of them go down to a single word or even a letter! I’ll be honest, at this point, it feels more like a joke (or deconstruction some might say). However, I’ve been surprised by some of the 200-word RPG challenge. The constraint is still there, because you can’t really make a traditional RPG with half a page. This pushes you to delve somewhere else, which is what this entry is about, so, let me introduce you to:
12 words is closer to 1 than to 200, so my first reaction was skepticism. Although, it's an interesting puzzle at least, and at this scale, iterations are extremely fast. It actually didn’t take so long to get to a concept worth trying. More surprising, after that initial concept, many others quickly emerged, like my brain was now properly tuned for the constraint. I’m still working on them, part of the solution for me was to lean heavily on the layout. Yet, I'm confident that my next entry will be dedicated to that… and I'm thrilled to see what participants will come with down the line!
2/ Tool: Most usable diagram tool
It’s open source, free, and you keep control over the data you create.
If you didn’t already, try to start your design with a diagram. There is definitely a link between the way we think and ordering labels in space. Whatever you’re using, it needs to be fast to manipulate, so you get the visual feedback as soon as an idea emerges.
That's the main tool I used to extract my Nano-RPG concept from my mind, do a draft and playtest it. After that, I move over Affinity Publisher for the final layout. Although, this one probably doesn’t need introduction at this point.
3/ Infinite worlds by Mathew Borrett
Many worlds with many tones but also common traits: The scale, the emphasis on verticality and the profusion of details to process. The contrast between the micro and the macro is an incredible opening for inspiration. You wonder about the civilization or ecosystem breaking out of the frame, down to how it affects the life of a single individual in a specific building.
If I had to pick a favorite, it would be the “Hiding places” series. Visually driven by a neat contrast between the immaculate white lines and the messier rooms. It obviously evokes dungeon design in my context (you just got some free entries for your dungeon23 right there). Metaphorically, I’m interested in linking the perspective of the view to a position, each vignette fading in distance. Also, the idea that there is an “outside” from where you can see the world simplified from what it looks from the inside… another perceptible dimension.
4/ Poisonous frog schedule by BBC Earth
The BBC is providing excerpts of its documentaries (around 5 minutes each). They’re perfect to spark a concept of environment or creature for your world. Even if you add layers of weirdness on top of it, using those as a starting point keeps some familiar behaviors and visuals. This helps both with the suspension of disbelief and to telegraph logical action/reactions.
What you could extract and transform from it:
Play with the scale: it could be a poisonous swarm… or maybe a human-size version of it?
Systemize the behavior: it moves between pools, making sure there is water and food…
Overlap that behavior with players’ intents: …you might be the food. Maybe there is also a treasure inside the pools, could the tadpoles and/or the eggs be made of gold?
5/ Blog post: On Journaling game
This blog post and the examples it explores felt soothing. Exactly the kind of meditative activity I’m looking for to slow down and stop trying to be productive. While I never played a published journaling game myself, I was making some on the go when I was younger. Alone or with friends, just a sheet of paper and a pen to keep notes, the rest was in our heads. Maybe that’s why it resonated so much with me, bringing me back in time, like only a journal can do.
The two games that especially caught my attention were:
Last tea shop - You run a tea shop on the border of the living and the dead.
Transmission for them - About reflecting on your odyssey across the stars.
Interestingly, the author criticized Thousand year old vampire, that I was taking as reference for this category so far. To be fair, the distinction made between the prompts that make a game “bleed” (ease embodiment of the fictional character) or not is pretty thin. Their purpose is to guide you in the first place. Although, I understand that some might feel too “hands on,” only conceding the sewing work to tie the story together. I think the example illustrates that the good prompts might be focusing on details and leaving you the big picture rather than the opposite.
6/ RPG Delve
Part of this solo RPG bundle: It includes 150 entries for $10, although, I don’t know any other titles. If you do have recommendations, please share them in the comment section.
In this game, you’re building a dwarven’s hold. Digging always deeper to find the void crystal. In terms of strategy, you amass resources you can allocate along the way and threats that will sink those investments. A lot is left to randomness and free-form storytelling, so you’re more looking at a medium that helps you generate a narrative. I like the concept and the main loop conveys the feeling of dwarves that can't refrain their greed instead of enjoying what they already have, avoiding losing it all.
What I figured out, however, is that I have a difficult time immersing myself without a central figure or a small group to focus on. I would probably be more invested by rediscovering that mine through the eyes of a later coming adventurer than this omniscient civilization.
If you enjoyed this game, the same author twisted the formula in interesting ways: