Tag Archives: Solo RPG

Articles, Editorial

The Ink That Bleeds Review – An Immersive Dive Into Immersive Journaling

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“My friend Adam feel that bleed, and games that aim for it, are ‘comparatively cheap, short-term pleasures… a bit like jump scares.’ My experience is so the opposite.

I think immersive, bleedy journaling games are act of purging ourselves of narratives that aren’t in our interests and enlivening ourselves for the temporal world.

I’m totally going to show you how.”

So writes Paul Czege in The Ink That Bleeds – How To Play Immersive Journaling  Games, and I’m going to show you some of what’s inside and what it made me think.

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Articles, Solitaire Storytelling

Solitaire Storytelling: I Have No Railgun And I Must Scream

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Hey, so, if you’re reading this, first of all I’d like to know how you got your hands on my diary. Second of all, if it’s because I’m, you know, dead, then thanks for taking the time to read what I’ve written. It’s kind of a comforting thought. Anyway, my name is Hope! I’m seventeen years old, they/them. I like farming sims and books. And I’m writing this because magical extraplanar alien mecha have invaded, and I need some way to vent!

See, it’s not enough that giant bird robots are stomping around trying to kill all of us. My older sister Hazel happens to be one of the Pilots fighting them, using mecha of our own. She gets a railgun. I have to make do with a diary, I guess.

I miss her a lot.

So yeah, I’m going to be scrapbooking headlines right out of the news and recording my own experiences as the world tries to get itself ended by the Nondwellers – that’s what we call the alien mecha. Oh, and hey, if I am dead and you’re going to post or publish this yourself for a quick buck or something, could you at least title it the way I would? I already have it picked out.

“I Have No Railgun And I Must Scream.”

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Articles, Solitaire Storytelling

Solitaire Storytelling: The last voyage of the Barcosa

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The year is 1802. The Barcosa, a merchant ship equipped with cannons, sets sail from Amsterdam under Captain Claas de Ruyter to buy goods in Java. The ship’s hold is filled with bricks and weapons. Chief merchant Henk Kuipers manages gold and silver coins which are to be used to buy spices, textiles, and fine fabrics.

What follows is the journal of Gerrit van der Zee, a sailor aboard the ship. How we came into possession of it is something we cannot divulge, but it is enough to say that the journal covers about three weeks, and that van der Zee had no idea upon leaving Amsterdam that this would be The Last Voyage of the Barcosa.

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Articles, Solitaire Storytelling

Solitaire Storytelling: A Tale Before You Go

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A ghost, trapped in the tree planted above her grave, finds herself exploring the world when the tree is transformed into a ship’s mast. A lonely princess explores a crypt, hoping to find a new name and escape her fears. A merchant, far from home, plays a game of riddles with the guardian of a mountain pass.

The ghost turns the ship’s sails into truth-telling tapestries to set herself free. The princess offers herself to the crypt’s elemental guardian and takes its name. The merchant turns back, defeated by the riddles but enriched by the moonstones he found in the mountainside.

How about one more Tale Before You Go?

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Articles, Solitaire Storytelling

Solitaire Storytelling: I Will Fill This Library Myself If I Have To

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I’m the town’s new librarian, which also means I’m its only librarian. It’s a small town out in the middle of nowhere, known as little more than a good place to stop for a break when traveling back roads between the larger cities. Nice views, decent diner, ‘quaint’ town center. I moved here to get away and get some privacy for my own writing, and the fact that I’m an author is probably why I was offered the job in the first place. I accepted the offer because, well, a town without a library just isn’t right. I’m not sure what was in this space before I got it, but it should do. There are two sets of shelves built into the walls behind a small counter, and a small round table with two old wooden chairs between the counter and the windowfront. The town let me grab whatever space I needed, but support for actually filling the shelves doesn’t seem to be a thing. That’s alright.  I will fill this library myself if I have to.

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Articles, Solitaire Storytelling

Solitaire Storytelling: Laser Beams Like So Many Stars

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I am a huge fan of mechs and their amazing pilots. I love to watch their heroics on the news; I visit when pilots come to my town; I own multiple letterman jackets emblazoned with mech pilots’ insignias. I’m burdened with the dream of piloting and eclipsed by the fear that I will never be more than a spectator. I love that which is unfathomably above me, as they exchange Laser Beams Like So Many Stars.

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Articles, Solitaire Storytelling

Solitaire Storytelling: Sacred Forge

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Everyone who is part of the story touches Destiny in some way. Even if they are not the heroes. Even if they are not even named in the pages. I am a master bladesmith, the keeper of the Sacred Forge. My blades are renowned for their strength, sharpness, and harmony.

A holy sword does not come from nowhere. It does not materialize from starlight and a wish. It is built through effort, honed through attention, and consecrated by a powerful heart. They will not name me in the story. But my blade will never be forgotten.

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Articles, Solitaire Storytelling

Solitaire Storytelling: Princess With A Cursed Sword

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A figure stands in an ancient ruin, bare feet on crumbling stone to make it easier to leap and climb. Her gown is far too fine, representing her dual heritage as the daughter of two kingdoms, bitter rivals only joined through her. Her sword, much too dark, hungers for legacy, fame, immortality via story and myth. 

At the princess’ coming of age ceremony, an uninvited guest gifted her with a sword, then vanished, laughing, into smoke. She cannot put it down until she finds the place it came from.

So she has come.

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Articles, Solitaire Storytelling

Solitaire Storytelling: Last Tea Shop

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I run a tea shop on the border of the living and the dead. The recently deceased visit for one last hot drink before their long journey to the Great Beyond. Time is strange here. Days and memories blur. Nobody visited yesterday – I am sure of that. Someone passed last week, but I am unable to picture their face.

The fog thins. A figure approaches. I stoke the fire. “Welcome to the last tea shop,” I say. “You are welcome here, To The Dregs.”

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Solitaire Storytelling: Paranoid Android

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The war with the androids has made everyone paranoid. Including me, and including my interrogators. See, Asimov Landing Station is on the far edge of the galaxy, manned by only a skeleton crew, most of them scientists doing research. Nothing ever happens here. But after the government discovered that androids have the capacity of perfectly mimicking human beings the atmosphere in the Station has started changing. Several things had gone wrong or malfunctioned in non-critical but totally avoidable ways before, but now things are getting more severe: research has been delayed, the station’s systems have broken down at critical moments, and people have disappeared. Station security has singled me out as a suspicious person and they’ve taken me in for questioning. I’m starting to wonder… am I really human, or a sleeper agent with programming? Could I be one of them?

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