Ever since I starting working on In This World, it has been slowly taking over my brain. I don’t mean I’m working on it all the time, I mean it is working on me!
I’m just going about my day, minding my own business, and then something crosses my mind, some topic like Toys or Museums or Weather. And immediately I start thinking of statements: common and obvious things that are true about that topic. Things we don’t even normally think about. … [ read more ]
“But what I most appreciate about In This World is how it makes me feel that the magic of each and every game is us — people getting together and sharing our unique perspectives to make something new.
Alien mechs fall from the sky like shooting stars. Their technology is so advanced that even after smashing into the Earth they still work. And just one is advanced enough to change the balance of power. Governments and militaries around the world race to be the first to secure each mech as it falls…
For this session of In This World, instead of a real world topic, we decided to take something fictional for a spin.
Our topic: mechs.
We had Greek warriors laboring to turn gears inside towering … [ read more ]
The date is set. The kickstarter for In This World is launching on Tuesday May 16, one week from today. That’s my plan, anyway! Because the sooner I launch, the sooner you all get to play the game.
I’m also going to be chatting with folks at the Foresight Games event this Wednesday (tomorrow), talking about In This World and how questioning our assumptions about the world we have now is fundamental to visualizing a different future…
Want to stream or podcast a game of In This World? I would love to jump on and facilitate a game, or just send you the rules so you can play it, or just talk about this weird little game and how it works.
I suspect In This World is particularly well-suited for streaming, because it jumps in fast and showcases a lot of player creativity. And since you’re making several bite-sized worlds instead of one big creation, viewers can get a whole picture out of watching just a … [ read more ]
This is temporary art while we hammer out the finishing touches on the cover. It will be glorious.
Since we’re getting closer to release, it’s also time to officially wrap up the playtest. I tend to let these things simmer to get as much good feedback as possible, but the playtesters have already outdone themselves.
If you’ve got any more feedback, end of May is the deadline!
I realized I haven’t posted anything about In This World for a while. But I’ve only not been talking about it because I’ve been busy working on it instead.
The three prongs of the trident of progress have been:
1) Integrating all the playtest feedback and refining the presentation of the game,
2) Seeing what amazing cover art Al Lukehart can make, and
3) Gearing up for the kickstarter
If you had “In This World kickstarter in May” on your bingo card, you win the points.
In the past few years I’ve had a lot more regular weekly games than one-shots. Mostly games with no GM, so no one is writing a story for us to follow. We are all just playing in the moment and seeing what happens.
I love it. Except for one thing, which I’m doing to myself.
Sometimes I come to the session with an idea for a scene already in mind. It usually happens when I know my turn is next and I want to be ready to leap right in … [ read more ]
We play these games together to be surprised and satisfied by ideas we wouldn’t have created on our own. How all our contributions combine is something no one of us can predict. For that to happen, we have to let go what we individually *expect* or *want* and just see what *does* happen.
We had a great sequence in our Cars+Clouds kingdom game that really reminded me of that, of why it’s so important to not get hung up on what you expect or want, and instead just go with … [ read more ]
“People playing a Microscope game over brunch were heard saying “let’s be bad,” as they began to break the rules of the history-building RPG. “We’ve had a rough week!” Elizabeth Nelson said loudly. “I just finished up a month-long assignment, and Nadine’s boss has been a super dick, so we’re treating ourself and playing a Scene out after we’ve answered the question! Whooo!””
Nine hungry men, had six dollars each
That’s 54 bucks but they were out of luck
Because 54 bucks won’t buy dinner downtown
Not for nine
Then there were six hungry men
They had nine dollars each
And they went downtown and the waiter said “Sit down!”
Oh, it makes a big difference how you spread it around
Schoolhouse Rock, 1973. Teaching multiplication, dropping truth bombs.
Way back in college, when I was taking anthropology courses instead of focusing on my major, I learned the idea of “emic vs etic”.
Anthropologists, being clever folks who have spent a lot of time studying cultures, recognized a distinction between terms and concepts that were part of the culture they were studying (emic), versus terms and concepts that they applied as outside observers, terms people in the culture would not use (etic). It’s a very fundamental concept once you think about it.
In the far future, the world is a blasted hellscape. Car-tribes prowl the wastelands, feuding for turf and pride. But far above the dust and blood floats a city of splendor, a jewel in the sky whose citizens lounge in lush gardens and drink and sing and love, thinking nothing of the suffering of those below…
We decided to try an experiment in our long-running Witches Kingdom Legacy game. I know what you’re thinking: “An experiment?? You??? No way!!!” Because you know how much we love experiments.
