“That sparrow has seen some shit”

I had this idea for a game.

Been kicking it around for ages, but couldn’t figure out how to make it into something you could actually *play*… until I had a breakthrough a few weeks ago. With that new wrinkle the rules wrote themselves, so I recruited some brave souls to try it out:

First playtest. Very good. See some rough spots, make some adjustments.

Second playtest, a few days later. Different group so they’re seeing it fresh. The rough spots now run smooth and feed back into the creative furnace. Toss and turn all night afterward, unable to sleep, because my brain is going a mile a minute, which is exactly the design I was shooting for.

Honestly, the whole game feels a little like a cheat code to draw out creativity. That’s one of the things that held me back from bringing it to the table. It just looks… too easy? Can games be that easy? Shouldn’t it be… harder?

But forget all the metaphysics — the test is, does it deliver? So far the answer is: Yes. Yes it does. Cue game design fist pump.

Next step, some more internal playtesting, and then… expect the call for the public playtest so you can jump in on the fun. And yeah, this is one of those times where I tell you nothing about what the game is about. Not yet. But I will soon. And no, this is not Evergreen. This is a different side project. A much smaller, simpler design.

A small game for big ideas.