The Ferryman is out + spooky recs
Hope everyone is having a great time!
The Ferryman is out: an evocative coin-based solo journaling TTRPG about the thoughts remaining in your recently deceased mind as Charon rows you across the river, to where you belong.
This game was in my head for a long time, but I wanted it to have an evocative vibe. So I made this game for the Minimalist Jam, in which entries shouldn't have layout or art. Just text in a basic template. And I thought that this was the correct context to release it.
It is an immersive experience where materials, safety tips, and rules are included along the game's narrative. Through eloquent and enigmatic prompts, as those thoughts that I imagine you have when you die, you get to tell a story of the life that you have left behind.
Sean Patrick Cain said, "Armanda Haller's THE FERRYMAN is a quiet evocation of transience, memory, and the knotty act of dying. Its care for the player is assured and tender. A ride with THE FERRYMAN is a sensory -- and sensual, and sensuous -- experience. From a few quick tosses of a coin, we get to imagine the texture of velvet, the aroma of a pomegranate, the sound of the universe, and an engaged listener who can absorb what we choose to share without judgment or hurry."
Andy, from Pandion Games, wrote "A compelling imagining of Charon and your conversation with him as you ride across Acheron, The Ferryman is the first interactive poetry RPG I've come across, and it is a marvel and delight. Armanda's writing sets the mood and tone during the introduction before laying out questions and choices before you continue the stanzas as your own. Uniquely, the rules to play The Ferryman are not explicitly defined like a technical text, but instead, you're allowed to clearly infer them during the opening lines, exactly like a great poem's meaning."
I'm super thrilled to release this game. It's a small, evocative, poetic, simple, and sensitive game that makes me really proud.
Some spooky recommendations
Since we're in October, I want to recommend some games from the Season of the Witch Bundle (I'm part of this bundle but with a cozy epistolar game).
The Hunted by Chris Bissette is a folk horror storytelling game for 3-5 players that blends together mechanics from Forged In The Dark, Powered By The Apocalypse, and Belonging Outside Belonging games to create a lean chimera of a game, unlike anything you have ever played.
Laid To Rest by Rue is a journey through the pain of losing a loved one, and being able to let them go when you desperately want to hold them there with you. A small town mourns the recent loss of one of its brightest young souls. But the fog that rolls in nightly and the mysterious sounds from her fiancee's library call to question just where that soul might have gone.
The Coven At The End Of The Lane by angrynerdgirl: You've always wondered what was just beyond the doors of the spooky house at the end of the block. Now, make it your very own. Choose your witch archetype, choose a familiar, create your home.
Down here, Spring has arrived
We have gorgeous weather, so, here we are with some random tables related to it
What to enjoy from a Spring garden (1D6)
1- bees floating
2- petals falling
3- different shades of green
4- fresh cut grass
5- the stars from the roof
6- gusts of wind
Hope your days are going fine and you've enjoyed this newsletter!
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Thanks for reading!