#In other news I'm making a tiny rpg game

[toucansafari]

Another one of those days =_=

[ladytabletop]

Lady Tabletop's Primer for Getting into Tabletop Roleplaying Game Design Philosophy

Sam Dunnewold over at the Dice Exploder podcast has posed a fun question to his discord server: where would you tell people to start if they wanted to know more about TTRPGs and design?

First and foremost, I'd tell people to start with @jdragsky's article about Systems of Relation.

With the benefit of hindsight, I can now understand that the games we played on the playground were identical in nature to the tabletop RPGs I would grow up to play and help design.

Next, check out Thomas Manuel's analysis of the Axes of Game Design over on the Indie RPG Newsletter.

So the basic exercise is trying to figure out the standard axes or spectrums on which every game can fit. The idea is for these axes to be as descriptive and objective as possible.

Thirdly (and lastly for the purposes of this blog - it's entry-level, not comprehensive), check out this reddit thread about lonely fun.

The Lonely Fun is all of the stuff you do as a part of your hobby away from the table, in any way you might engage. For D&D 5e players, this is usually building complicated and elaborate characters on the page, pouring over the books for new races and subclasses, figuring out fun new combinations, and carefully crafting characters.

Read those? Now check out BALIKBAYAN: Returning Home by @temporalhiccup

Will we be able to outrun our Masters and those who hunt us down? Can we use our magic to bring about the rebirth of the city and all Elementals? ill this be our RECKONING or our HOMECOMING? That’s what we play to find out.

Why I make these particular recommendations below the cut.

All of these recommendations are hopefully all entry-level. I tried to stay away from any essays, blogs, or articles that reference game movements you may not have heard of or that require tons of reading before you can even read my recommendations. Some do have links to other stuff, and if you're enjoying the writing, definitely go down those rabbit holes! These are a tiny, tiny portion of my "TTRPG Homework" folder where I save essays, podcasts, etc that have helped me in my own game design journey. I'm always happy to share more, just ask!

The essay on Systems of Relation put into words something I had been thinking about the more I got into indie games/design: I've been playing my whole life, and ttrpgs are just another piece of that. I think it's crucial to break out of the framework of people trying to define play and games into neat little categories. Will I ever write a game as good as the ones I played in the backyard with my siblings? Probably not, but I'd like to find out.

Now that I've told you to stop trying to categorize games, we have an article about trying to categorize games. But I do like Thomas's assessment and examples of using game design axes. I think as designers it's important to figure out the things the game is trying to do and communicate, so that we can make sure it does those things well.

Lastly, I know 5e gets a bad rap (and it's gotten it from me, too!). But the concept of lonely fun has stuck in my craw since I first saw this thread. It's why some people prefer to GM (and therefore why GM-less games might not work for some people). Not all games are going to have lonely fun, but the ones that do are still going to appeal to people! This thread was key for me in terms of considering that no game is for everyone, and it shouldn't try to be, and also helped contextualize the enjoyment I get from the occasional high-prep game.

Balikbayan as a recommendation was a no-brainer for me. I'm not going to say it's the most elegant or tight of Rae's work, but it's the one with the most heart for me. The story this game wants you to tell is so clear, and as an introduction to "Belonging Outside Belonging" as a system/concept/design philosophy. This game really sings in its character concepts and emotional play.

If you've read this far, congratulations! I've been enjoying the DE podcast (even when I don't agree with some of the takes) and the discord has been a cool (if at times intimidating) place to hang out. I've had a hell of a game design journey this year and I'm so excited to keep learning, and to see what media other folks participating in this blog carnival recommend!

To sign off: my best advice to designers, especially those starting out can be boiled down to three things:

When in doubt, simplify or make it silly

The two cakes theory is your best friend - game design is not a competition

Not everything has to be finished. Not every part of the creative process is fun. Find the balance between these two truths (you're going to have to do that every day).

Best,

LT

[foresight-studio]

Hi, I'm Ben! And I'm happy to be here.

I'm a neuroscientist by training and also by trade (though these days I care mostly about stem-cell epigenetics). When I'm not doing science, I'm probably thinking about stories, the ways we tell them, and how the act of storytelling structures our lives in ways both obvious and imperceptible.

You're probably here because I make games. I've been writing/designing/illustrating/laying out games and supplements for a little over a year now! Here's a few of them, in no particular order:

DO/OMED. Explore the disintegrating landscape outside of a utopian domed city, and discover the nature of the secretive Namesake Project. Inspired by Annihilation plus a pinch of Jewish tradition, written and designed by me, based on RP Deshaies Breathless system.

The Cross Stitch. In this self-contained folk horror adventure, you'll explore a missing town, meet its unusual denizens, and uncover the dark mystery at its heart. Written, illustrated, and designed by me, for MÖRK BORG (but adaptable to the system of your choice). It's also my only project currently available in print.

Hillbrook Glen: Manifest your Dreams. Attend an exclusive, luxurious wellness workshop in the Adirondack Mountains, and bring your dreams to life. No, literally, your dreams are alive. And they're hungry. Written and designed by me, as the first of a 4-part series currently in progress.

Public Access. In this game of nostalgia and analog horror from Jason Cordova & The Gauntlet, you'll investigate strange mysteries surrounding TV Odyssey, a notorious TV station from the '80s and '90s that disappeared without a trace. I contributed a very tiny bit of writing to this, but mostly I did the layout and graphic design.

Decomposer. Take on the role of a worm, a fungal spore, a seed, or some other tiny creature, and decompose the remains of a dead god into a new world. Written and designed by me. (And it's free!)

I also have a few upcoming projects to look forward to:

Hillbrook Glen: Follow your Bliss. Explore a shifting meditation garden and face the branching paths your life could have taken in this post-it crawl adventure. Just be careful not to lose yourself. Coming September 2023 (I hope).

The Silt Verses RPG. In this TTRPG adaptation of the popular horror/weird-fiction podcast The Silt Verses, you'll traverse the Peninsula, hunting down stray deities while exploring your own complicated relationship with unsanctioned faiths. It's written by Gabriel Robinson & Jason Cordova, and I'm doing graphic design & layout. Coming soon.

Triangle Agency. As an employee of the Triangle Agency, it's your job to make sure the world doesn't collapse into chaos. You'll go on missions to apprehend dangerous anomalies while wielding anomalous powers of your own, battling bureaucratic nightmares along the way. TA was a runaway success on Kickstarter earlier this year, and I'm writing a mission for The Vault collection and laying out the book(s)!

Ex Nihilo Ad Nihilum. People vanish every day in the City of Y. But this one - this one is different. Or so your contact claims. Search for a missing scientist and uncover a potentially world-ending conspiracy in this surreal noir horror adventure for CY_BORG. Coming in the fall.

While you wait for those projects, you can keep up with what I'm working on via my newsletter or the Foresight Studio discord server.

So, hello tumblr! I hope something I make resonates with you.

[contritecactite]

As ever, it takes the tiniest hint of encouragement (thanks @grimboigio ) to goad me into generating a wall of text. Well, actually, the wall was already there. Big big Hades II spoilers below in the form of messy half-baked notes I've been jotting down as I play. Some are just things that I got excited about, but there's a tiny sliver or two of theories and expectations.

I think we're headed for no happy ending, just acceptance—the battle is against Chronos, but it's really about *time* as a concept; for these gods, time really did take its toll and change the way mortals relate to them. Supergiant will never make another sequel for the same reason: things belong in their own time.

The lycaons *could* just be heralding Cerberus, but they somehow give me a sense of the trappings of Roman the Empire creeping in (in an intentional, storytelling way). Same with the emptiness of Ephyra and the hints of war in the mortal aspect. It feels like this is the fall of the cultures we now call "ancient Greece" as told through the eyes of the gods who get left behind or changed.

Apollo is giving me traitor vibes. He had a line about how we "have all the time in the world," and there's just something too carefree about him.

This feels like a lovely little patchwork quilt of Supergiant games. Homer is more reactive like the Bastion narrator. The music, the social bonding opportunities, and the inventory and lore screens feel a bit like Pyre. Some upgrade systems remind me of Transistor, and the mood reminds me very much of it as well. The writing and combat are still very Hades, and there are new aspects that speak of a team that has taken the time to understand what works, what doesn't, and what improvement and innovation should look like within their existing framework.

Echo's whole thing is fucking clever. Those gifts: Either repeats or diminishing returns—just like an echo. Holy fucking shit the way I vibrated when I met Echo the first time.

I love my randomly assigned college roommate who never goes to her classes and moves all my shit for no reason (Dora). If she were my actual roommate, I would feel a very different way about this.

Eris is perfect. I love her being mean-spirited mischief rather than brute force or accidental mischief; it feels like a unique character composition. She's awful. I can't stand her. She's perfect. She also reminds me of Spoiler from Pixie Tricks, a series I read as a kid (both in personality and, vaguely, design).

Nemesis and Artemis sound like they have a no-strings on-again off-again kind of thing going on and I love that for them. Also hope Charon and Hermes get to see each other again soon bc I'm rooting for them so hard.

I literally shrieked when taking out one of the sirens *actually impacted their contribution to the song*. I shouldn't have been surprised, but it was so much fun to hear it happen anyway. Very immersive! I'm also in love with Scylla. She reminds me very specifically of Ryan Stiles' Carol Channing impression and a little of Dolly Parton. Also. Her fucking hood. Jesus.

One of my favorite things about Hades is that there was nothing that an enemy or boss could do that you couldn't do through some combination of boons, weapons, and upgrades. The same seems to hold true here so far, and I just can't say enough how *cool* that is. The worst part of any combat-heavy game to me is the realization that the boss or even the cutscene of your character can do things that you, the player, can't initiate or control during a regular battle. Hades says "yeah, fuck that. It'll look different when you do it vs. when that sea serpent does it, but you can accomplish the same action/effect." Likewise, there's practically nothing your character can do that isn't also usable by at least one enemy. That keeps things balanced and combats the sense of "ah yes, you are the Most Special Chosen One" that's often inherent to RPGs. It gives the sense that skill matters a lot and makes me as a player feel skilled—I'm not visually doing anything that my enemies can't do, so... maybe I'm actually kinda good at this? (I am mediocre at best, but the game lets me *feel* skilled).

Additionally, just as in Hades, the enemies in an area are very informative about how upcoming bosses will behave. It rewards a player for paying attention and makes each enemy populating an area make *sense*.

After beating the sirens, ALL I wanted was for Melinoë to be able to have one single fan among the shades like Zagreus in the Theseus map. What I got was even *better*; the same type of interaction, but in a way that takes into account *her* task-focused, serious personality while still giving a little bit of levity. She is *done* with being here and ready for everyone to clear out, and that grumpy shade is not having it. He even makes a new little face! Love you, purple shade in the corner.

Oh, hey, charybdis, there you are

THE 2 IS IN *ROMAN* NUMERALS I'm having a moment

yeah that's it that's what I got. For now. My gaming buddy keeps falling asleep when I try to gush and talk through things, so Tumblr gets it instead.

[pleaseburger]

Are you like, fr about recommending trrpg systems? Cause BOY I'm in the market for one. I've only tried Dnd (too rules, too expensive, too genre locked) and Fate which I'm still feeling out but I'm getting the feeling it's too freeform for the players I'm DMing for. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around it, I guess.

Anyway, if none of that made a system spring to mind, just tell me about your favorite/go-to system and why it's that one!

of course I was!! this is my purpose as a micro influencer!!!

you have basically asked me the equivalent of "I have tried pizza, which is popular but I did not like, and tofu, which is too open to all the possibilities in the world (fate is good and cool, like tofu). what should I try eating next". so hopefully you see why this is hard to answer

I have been playing Starforged as my main game for the last year or so. it's the sci-fi fork of Ironsworn (which is free btw :3). ironsworn is lovely cause you can play it as a GM with a table full of players, or co-op with other players and NO GM, or even just by yourself!! the rules are split up into mini rules packages called "moves", which trigger whenever you do something in the game and then have their own varying outcomes that can suddenly change the game in ways no one expected.

characters in ironsworn are defined by Assets instead of a class or a big list of skills; each asset is like a superjuiced D&D feat, empowering you to do really cool stuff or even *giving you completely new moves that are unique to your character*. whenever you're feeling stuck, the Oracle tables are there to jump-start your imagination. my playgroup loves asking the Oracle for her opinion on stuff all the time. you can run a game of Ironsworn/Starforged as a GM with absolutely zero prepwork and be okay because the moves and oracles are there to support play.

my absolute favourite RPG is HEART: The City Beneath. it's gorgeous, haunting, evocative, and tragic. the core of the game's engine, the Resistance system, is a tension builder and drama generating engine, because as the players Do Stuff, they build up stress to their resistances, and then after building up too much stress, the dam breaks and it all comes crumbling down in a juicy dramatic consequence, which the book has like a hundred options for you to choose from if you cant think of anything interesting right away.

your character's background comes with a bucket list of things you could do (like eating something you really shouldnt, or getting a landmark named after you), called Beats, and then you pick 2 of those Beats every session. if you do either of them, you get a new ability from your class! it's very cool because it inherently tells the players what kind of cool stuff they can do, encourages them to do it by rewarding them for taking action, and it makes prepwork *very* easy for the GM because the players have to tell you exactly what they want to do the next session.

the classes in HEART are also some of my favourite archetypes out of any game I've read. the deep apiarist, who has hollowed out their body to be a host for a hive of psychic bees, can do things like get through tiny gaps by letting their hive chew up their body and rebuild them on the other side. the vermissian knights are basically an order of cursed paladins that are obsessed with creating a failed train network that was planned hundreds of years ago but never came to be. there's a gun wizard class. and all of them have a dozen abilities that are all enticing; no features that boil down to being a +2 bonus to attack rolls, you want to collect as many of these things as you can.

but the best part of game is the setting itself, the Heart. it's a red wet heaven under the surface of the earth, a rip in reality where a strange otherspace has crawled in. whenever someone enters it, it tries to build itself in the image of their desires, but it does this slowly and badly. everyone has a different theory on what it is. what this means for your game is that even though the heart has a very strong identity and hits a specific feel, it shapes to the style of GM you are and the desires of your players as the game unfolds. every table's Heart is just a little bit different.

[kafus]

Do you play any romhacks? Do you have any to recommend?

i must be the bearer of bad news, i have a really hard time getting myself to play romhacks for some reason, i think i'm just too busy doing stuff in mainline pokemon that it's hard to rip my attention away. i watch a good chunk of content about romhacks on youtube so i'm aware of them, but i can't give any personal recommendation from my own gameplay experience other than like, i played a little bit of Emerald Rogue (turns emerald into a roguelike) and i thought it was cool

that being said if you also are chill with RPG Maker fangames, the only pokemon fangame i've ever played to completion and thoroughly enjoyed was Pokemon Infinity - hands down my favorite pokemon fangame i've ever played. i've tried games like reborn and rejuvenation and insurgence and they've all irked me one way or another and couldn't keep my attention away from main series but infinity was so good it actually held my attention away, which is a feat. not all fakemon but the fakemon that exist are good, genuinely really good looking custom graphics, difficult enough but not overchallenging battles, a story that is actually pretty engaging especially for a pokemon fangame, and my favorite part was actually the route design - when you open the town map for the first time it looks TINY but that's because there's so much content packed into every single location, it's awesome, perfectly encapsulates the parts of old pokemon route design and dungeon areas that i sorely miss and honestly makes it even better. oh and the creator seems like a pretty cool guy as well

here's a screencap of one of my favorite locations in the game. highly recommend and you can find it here: https://reliccastle.com/infinity/

[genesis-sabre]

Xenoblade 4 hint from Monolith Soft Recruitment page?

So Monolith Soft announced their RPG recruitment for a while back, and I'm surprised NOBODY has brought this up because I feel this RPG recruitment by Takahashi might give a hint about the project he's actually working on, and especially about the future of the Xenoblade series.

As you can see from the picture, there's a background with a simple gradient color. At first glance, it might not mean anything, right? BUT when you notice the colors of the gradient, they are strikingly similar to the Trinity Processor's color-coding. There's red (Ontos), green (Pneuma), and dark purple (Logos). There's also a hint of dark blue, but I'll elaborate on that later.

First, let’s start with the striking red. The red gradient bears a strong resemblance to Ontos’s core! The palette and gradient feel nearly identical, featuring that distinctive scarlet red with an orange-ish glow.

Next, we have the green, which closely matches Pneuma’s core. The shade leans toward a vibrant emerald green, making the similarity hard to ignore.

Finally, there’s Logos. This one is a bit trickier to spot because the purple is very dark, blending into the dark background and almost camouflaging itself. However, upon closer inspection, the hue is undeniably close to a deep purple, resembling Logos’s core.

Based on this picture, we can speculate that the "RPG" game Takahashi is developing might be Xenoblade 4. Could it focus on the Trinity Processor? It seems plausible, especially considering Takahashi’s comment in the XB3 artbook ~Aionios Moment~, where he mentioned that "he couldn't explain why Malos is in N's sword yet."

Among the Trinity Processor members in the Xenoblade trilogy, Logos is the only one who hasn’t had a game centered around him. Even Xenoblade 3 leaned heavily on Ontos and Pneuma’s stories.

There's also interesting color in the picture that you can see below, there's tiny hint of blue light

I wonder what this could mean. It might not be anything, but let’s take a wild guess.

From Monolith Soft’s 25th Anniversary video and the pictures of their office shared on Twitter, it’s strange how prominently they placed KOS-MOS in the spotlight. Sure, it could just be an homage to their first games, like Xenosaga, but it’s odd that they include KOS-MOS only and not other IPs.

I’m not suggesting we’ll get a Xenosaga remake or Episode 4. Given how Bandai Namco operates these days, that feels like a pipe dream. Contrary to what the fandom thinks, I don’t buy into the theory that Nintendo will buy the IP or fund remakes. That’s not how Nintendo typically operates, especially in their current situation. Plus, Xenosaga has blatant religious references (it literally has actual Jesus as a character & character recites freakin' bible scripture) no way Nintendo would touch that (as evidenced by how some religious references were omitted in Xenoblade 2 localization).

Now, back to the topic. I speculate that this “blue” connection might tie into the blue light falling to Earth in the ending of Future Redeemed (FR). I have a strong feeling that in XB4, we might see a character reminiscent of KOS-MOS 2.0 (basically akin to Saber face in Fates series), Monolith Soft might introduce a female character with blue hair, robotic traits, or a story/personality that nods to KOS-MOS. Alternatively, it could involve remnants of KOS-MOS, like her core or programming, reimagined as a weapon, relic, or machine central to the XB4 story.

If the leaks about Monolith Soft’s new game codenamed ''Project Legacy'' are true, this idea might fit perfectly with the potential XB4 theme: exploring the “legacy” of Klaus and his world. While the Klaus saga might be over, parts of his legacy—like the Trinity Processor and Origin—are still around. Origin especially feels like a magnet for conflict, practically begging for villains to emerge. Someone definitely want to control it.

Reminder FR hinted at space faring humans still existing in Klaus’s world—there are space colonies out there. In the Xeno series, the existence of Earth (a.k.a. Lost Jerusalem) has always been incredibly significant. The FR radio scene essentially confirms that XB’s world is connected to Lost Jerusalem, and the fact that it alludes to space faring humans is pretty important.

“What could this mean?” The next game might delve into the importance of the Conduit (I doubt the Conduit/Zohar is completely gone), space faring humans (!!!), and the Saviorite—artificial humans mentioned in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and FR (in Xenosaga, it's Realian). The Trinity Processor, Origin, and the mysterious blue light could all play major roles.

So many questions, but these things will definitely be highlights in the next game. I predict the villain might be from space—now that Earth is back, the humans in space might discover it sooner or later.

I’m also sure that Malos/Logos will play an important role! Logos is the only member of the Trinity Processor who hasn’t had his own game or a "human" partner to unlock his potential. The idea of seeing a Logos Ascended form a la Pneuma, possibly an alter ego for Logos/Malos and a Trinity Processor reunion? Gosh, it’s so exciting!  

Personally, I hope Xenoblade 4 is set thousands of years after the events of XB3. Frankly, I’d prefer that Mythra’s child doesn’t become the protagonist or even a relevant character, as it might undermine the message of XB3, IMO. Instead, they could establish Mythra’s child as a historical or influential figure—someone whose legacy or actions significantly impact the central conflict in XB4.

I think it would be more interesting if the protagonist of XB4 came from outer space rather than Earth. This could offer a fresh perspective on space faring human society, including their politics, culture, and way of life—something we know very little about. It would also be fascinating to see a protagonist experiencing cultural clashes or value conflicts with the people of Earth. Of course, Malos/Logos should play an important role, perhaps as the protagonist’s “Blade” or companion.

As for the protagonist's gender, I don't bother with it. If it’s a girl, I’d like her to be stoic—different from someone like Shion Xenosaga. Maybe she could be a researcher or an artificial human soldier. If it’s a boy, same with a girl but he's more mentally broken or menhera, to occurring joke that how Malos/Logos is always drawn to edgy, broken men in Japanese meme LOL.

I also want to see Pneuma as a potential antagonist or hostile entity. We’ve already seen other Trinity Processor members (Ontos-Alpha and Logos-Malos) become villain, but Pneuma has yet to take on an evil or antagonistic role. It would be intriguing to explore this side of her, especially since her philosophy and what she represents could make her the most cunning villain among her siblings—something akin to Miang from Xenogears.

Ultimately, I hope this game allows Takahashi to tell the story he’s been envisioning, maybe the ''imagined'' of Perfect Works Episode 6 or Xenosaga Episode 4. And hope we get chaos expy too!

Anyway, thanks for reading my ramblings! Please remember, this is just my analysis and speculation—none of it should be taken as fact. Regardless of what this project turns out to be, I’ll always be excited for Monolith Soft’s games!

[unseenphil]

Of Swords and Worlds.

So I've mentioned previously that I'm in a play by post Sword World game. Some of you in the TTRPG sphere are aware that Sword World is the RPG made by the folks behind Record of Lodoss War after they reached out to TSR and were like "Hey, can we publish a D&D book for our popular media franchise based on actual play books about your game?" and TSR immediately went "What? No." And so they made their own RPG, which was the first edition of Sword World.

What you probably didn't know is that later editions of Sword World moved on to a new setting, and in that setting, they leaned into the name. In that the world was literally created by 3 divine swords.

And they were bored because what's a sword without someone to pick it up and use it? So they created animals and were like "Wait, none of these things can use swords!" So they tried again, making various divine beasts. And some of them could use swords, but they were all so powerful they didn't actually need swords, so that was no good either. Finally, they hit on humans, who could both use swords and were weak enough to be threatened by both animals and divine beasts so they'd actually want to use them.

The first sword, the sword of light, found a wielder, and he was a pretty cool guy, creating more gods and people in the world. The second sword, the sword of fire, found a wielder, and that guy was a jerk; the gods he created were also jerks, and he discovered ways to make people powerful by doing impromtu surgery on their souls, which, if they got too scarred up, could lead to them lingering after death as monsters. All around, it was a bad time. The 3rd sword, seeing how this wielder thing could backfire, destroyed itself to put a stop to the conflict between the other swords.

That's all deep in the mythic past, of course, but the leaning in on being a sword world doesn't top there; most dungeons are formed around a magical sword, growing a maze around it to protect them. Most cities are protected by a kind of magical sword that repels monsters, creating a ward. Part of the level up mechanic is literally finding some of the tiny shards of the shattered 3rd sword.

This world can hold so many swords in it, you guys.

[zizz-asdf-re-r-o-u]

NU:Carnival Gambler's Paradise Event Review/Analysis

Warning for spoilers! (Note: This was written before Rusted Nation event came out, so some of the gore/assault stuff I talk about is missing)

Ok so I'm technically new to playing Nu Carnival (as in, since Sunburst Festival), so I can only compare it to Sunburst Festival, Misty Vale, and the reruns since Sunburst Festival. But I thought I'd share my thoughts on why the Gambler's Paradise event was so good.

As a disclaimer: I'm not into fluffy stories and personally prefer horror, gore, action, and ofc smut. So if that stuff ain't your cup of tea, then what I'm saying are positive things, may not be your thing. I'm also a lesbian so I'm not playing this game with the intention of self inserting myself to be banged by the guys. I can only think in terms of the quality of the sex and story compared to other porn games I've played. 

The story/sex:

One thing many people have said about NU:Carnival, is that its a gay porn game, but with "an actually good story and good characters". However, if we look at it realistically in terms of what most players can afford, then it's more like a gacha turn-based RPG, with a few porn scenes locked away. With the exception of the 1st opening scene, in all the main storyline chapters, there is no sex, unless you pull for character cards. At most, we occasionally get characters talking about their sexual exploits and Chimes of Darkness event had an off-screen orgy. Naturally, this is still a gacha game and the H scenes will never be available for free. 

But in Gambler's paradise, a very taboo sexual crime (vore) is what kicks off the plot, characters are deliberately flirty for plot reasons, a magical cock ring is what solves the day, and so on. It's a very horny event, mixing porn with plot and that's what I think makes a good porn game. A porn game shouldn't be censored or fluffy- it should have horny first, and then to elevate it from being just a bad cliched average porn game, it could also have a good plot. 

The SSRs:

I personally think SSR Aster & Morvay battle stats kind of suck, so we'll just ignore that. Instead, their SSR designs are very good. I do really miss femboy twink Aster, but full form Aster is not bad and actually made me notice/appreciate twink Aster more. Morvay, however, is standout because he doesn't have illogical gravity-defying skintight clothes and has fatty pecs. All the big titty guys (including Morvay SR/R/N) in NU:Carnival have perky tight muscular pectorals. But SSR Morvay? His are borderline sagging! To everyone who complains that there is are no fat guys in Nuca- first up its a porn game so it'll never happen, but SSR Morvay is the closest we can get to so far. Nuca's other claim to fame is the clothing damage. I don't have every card so I'm not sure if any other cards have it, but I think Aster & Morvay might be the 1st SSRs with visible marks on their bodies (kisses, handprints, rope, etc). 

As for the rooms- I did look up kink stats for all rooms, and I gotta say- Aster & Morvay have THE most creative H scenes in the entire game so far. Nuca is actually kind of vanilla if we think about it, and they BROUGHT the kinky shit. Most other porn games have more far extreme (or stupidly ridiculous >_> ) stuff than these 2 rooms, so Nuca is finally starting to catch up. 

I would like to bring extra attention to Aster though. I've read a lot of BL manga, I've played a tiny number BL games, watched many more BL game Let's plays/livestreams, and have researched many titles/looked at many people's recommendations, so I think i know a decent number of titles. At this point in history, there are absolutely 0 transguys that have sex in BL (not including "magical MTF  genderswapping" that hentai/anime is known for). There's also 0 use of strapons in smutty BL. We've also still haven't seen Aster naked or directly using his junk into/with someone else. Yes there's mention of Aster's "rod" & something gushing/leaking behind Eiden's back in his SR room, but we don't see it, there's no "orgasm splashing sound" that Nuca's H scenes are known for, and Aster's VA is also not orgasm-moaning/screaming during it. 

Several other tumblrs have already speculated that Aster might be trans and reddit has speculated that Aster might be ace spectrum/sex repulsed.  So Aster might be the 1st male character in all of explicit East Asian BL to use a strapon, possibly trans, and possibly on the ace spectrum. Also also- Aster's a shapeshifter, he can probably make a dick appear & reappear at will! And transguys can also do packing! There is just so much evidence it can't be just coincidences. I think that's SO cool. 

The gameplay: Unfortunately, the battles were the same as any other NU:Carnival battle. Nothing novel about this.

The gore/horror/assault:

This is the point where MOST people will disagree and turn away, so trigger warnings for everything. And just cause I enjoy the horror, does not mean that everyone needs to. It's valid for someone feel uncomfortable/horrified by it, but also you should not yuck my yum. Like I mentioned, I'm not into gay porn to pretend I'm being banged by guys.

Anyways, NU:Carnival, is a mostly vanilla gay porn game, so there's only horror *sometimes*, and it's usually just fighting/killing, psychological manipulation, or Kuya. Well, Gambler's Paradise opens up with serial killing and vore. We also "see" onscreen sexual mutilation, onscreen sexual assault, murder, and Aster & Morvay technically cannibalize Leroy. (They're familiars, Leroy is a familiar, so cannibalism?) Depending on how you interpret Aster & Morvay's relationship, you could view Morvay's room 5 H scene to be Aster assaulting Morvay too. Note that all the violence and stuff is still limited by the mobile game animation format, so the animation isn't great, but the text and SFX communicates the horror well enough.

Now, there are actually a LOT of horror BL visual novels/games with sex and most of them are high quality horror compared to NU:Carnival. However, one thing NU:Carnival offers is it's signature self-awareness, genre-saviness, and the opportunity to do sexy comedy horror. And ofc, since it's a regularly updated online gacha game, that means it has the time to be relevant and to experiment and try out different genres, so if this event isn't for you, there is the main story and other events that could suit your taste. Gambler's Paradise takes what it's best at, takes the risks & opportunities its' genre can offer, and makes it unexpectedly fun. (Except the whole gacha/pulling/price shenanigans, and ).

[manonamora-if]

Retrospective 2023

Like last year, long image below, with the text of the image under the Read More. You can find all the mentioned works or relevant links on my pinned post.

The format for this retrospective will be similar to last year, save for the image design (it's good to switch it up a bit). There will be a lot, so I'm making it digestible again :P

The goal for this year was to:

Get things off my desk and shelf it for good.

Because I had too many ongoing WIPs and games whose state I wasn't completely happy. I also wanted to avoid creating new projects (if I could stop myself) to focus on those projects.

As the infographic above shows... I didn't really manage either? I've shelved a couple more projects (Goncharov Escapes! mainly) but also added many more titles to my name through the comps and jams happening this year.

On the plus side: I've finished stuff!... by making tiny IF bites xD - I think I've achieved a new level of understanding of SugarCube through making the Guide, the templates, and experimenting with it. - I also tried a handful new IF programs (Adventuron, Ink, Binksi/Bitsy), which makes me want to try other programs - there are a lot of fun ones out there!

More importantly, I think I made last year one of my best game so far: DOL-OS. I was pretty happy with it when I submitted it to the Concours (and won first place!!), but this remastered version really made it into something I am incredibly proud of. I don't know if I'll ever make a game this good - I hope I do. Anyway, go play it, peeps.

This new year's expectations are fairly similar to last years: finish the WiPs, shelve remastered version, and update the large projects. Hopefully The Trials and Tribulations of Edward Harcourt is MelS gets back his free time. And if time/frustrated, make a few short bites. I'm also going to continue organising jams (@seedcomp-if currently, and with the @neointeractives) and review more IF games (esp covering jams) over at @manonamora-if-reviews.

Anyway, thank you for the continued support last year! Thanks to yall reviewers, commenters, raters, likers, and lurkers! <3

Transcript Image

Retrospective 2023

As you can see... I've barely followed my 2023 Resolutions. Although it has been a very busy year, I did not manage to finish or Update many older projects... But Here's What I've Done!

JANUARY

SeedComp! : End of Round 1, start of Round 2.

Release of Chapter 3 of The Trials and Tribulations of Edward Harcourt

Release of the Settings Template for SugarCube

Release of DOL-OS, for the French IF Comp

FEBRUARY

P-Rix - Space Trucker now available on mobile

Release of The Rye in the Dark City

Start of Code-Fix of CRWL

MARCH

Release of the Space/Tech Template for SugarCube

DOL-OS won the French IF Comp

SeedComp! : End of Round 2, Voting starts

APRIL

Release of The Roads not Taken, a parser made in Twine for the SpringThing

Announcement of the Results of the SeedComp!

Release of À la Campagne.

Interviewed for DOL-OS and AlC.

Released source code of old MtP versions.

MAY

Release of Chapter 4 of The Trials and Tribulations of Edward Harcourt.

À la Campagne ranked 2nd in the Twine Server Spring Jam.

Start of the Anti-Romance Jam.

Start of @manonamora-if-reviews.

Release of Entre-D'oeufs Coquilles + An Eggcellent Preparation (translation)

Release source code of SPS IH, EC, TRNT

JUNE

120+ entries submitted to the Neo Twiny Jam

Release of Mission: Anti-Romance (Prompt)

Release of Collision, Intersigne and Clarence Street, 14. for the Neo Twiny Jam.

Pre-release of The SugarCube Guide

JULY

Start of the Single Choice Jam

Release of the VN-lite RPG template

Update for the SugarCube Templates and the Tweego/CScript Guide

AUGUST

Update of Clarence Street, 14. (V French)

Release source code for Collision, Intersigne, and Clarence Street, 14.

Update forThe SugarCube Guide

Release of Goncharov Escapes! The Remaster.

Release of The Dinner.

SEPTEMBER

Release of the Remaster and Translation of DOL-OS (English translation + New content)

Start of the Bare-Bones Jam.

OCTOBER

Release of In the Blink of an Eye

Start of reviews of the IF-Comp

Release of La Petite Mort The Remaster

Start of the first Round of the SeedComp!

NOVEMBER

Release of Tower of Sleep

Reviews of the InkJam, EctoComp and BareBones

Start of the ShuffleComp

Release of Ode To Pissaladière [Zine]

Release of the Character Creator Template

DECEMBER

Release of multiple prompts for the SeedComp!

Start of the Second Round of the SeedComp!

Completed Release of The SugarCube Guide

Release of the Title Page Template

Release of Dévoiement

2024 EXPECTATIONS

Actual Completion of WiPs, namely Exquisite Cadaver, P-Rix and The Rye

Finished Remaster for The Roads not Taken, An Eggcellent Preparation (EN + FR), The Dinner

Update of other WiPs (CRWL + TTATEH) at least one chapter

Some Short Game/Content Release (for short jams)

Returning and NEW IF game jams (SeedComp! and Neo-Interactive Jams)

More Game Reviews (especially Comp/Jam coverage)

More Templates? Maybe another Guide?

[mystybelle]

Phantom Brave is super fucking fun, but I can see why it's not as popular as Nippon Ichi's other titles. Even with Disgaea, and tactical turn based RPG's being niche enough as they are.

The actual movement around the board, the tactical part? Kinda feels bad. Trying to aim attacks without a grid, no idea what the ranges are, and in 3D space is... Annoying. Besides that, I like the games quirks a lot, like the Over Damage system.

Over Damage is a mechanic that only really affects the player. If any unit takes Damage that equals it's own HP or more, after it's already been K.O'd, they're not just a ghost, they're double dead. So rezzing them costs an item, plus the money to pay the healer.

Over Damage feels like a mechanic for a gritty dungeon crawler VRPG, or any TTRPG with crunch. Extra insult to injury, punishing you for wasting resources and for not handling your allies' bodies with care by making your quality of life harder. It's a mechanic that serves the same function across genres; grounding you in the fiction.

In Pathfinder, in Vagante, in Path of Exile, in Wakfu (goofy as it is), a death isn't just a 5minute walk back to your last spot. Your OC, your cutesy little grungy cute little cube, your tiny survivor, your goofy little doll OC just died, and in Phantom Brave it's your friend. Each failure can have consequences.

The tone of each game differs (a lot, if you've played at least two of these, I'm sorry for the tonal whiplash) but death always matters. These games want you to be more thoughtful about how you play, and actually pay attention to how your treat your new toys. Phantom Brave is a game that lets you chaperone a little orphan girl freelance adventurer, who's primary character trait is being compassionate and earnest in a world that openly hates her for breathing. While I wish Nippon Ichi would let us a little further into her head instead of othering her to us too, and making us just Marona's guardian. I'm so happy that the game mechanics support that feeling.

I wish more people talked about Phantom Brave. I can't wait to see where it goes with all of you ^w^

[lightgriffinsect]

fnf family game night au

(rewritten to be better jhsdjs)

I came up with an FNF family game night fic concept a long while back, (link to full thread) and I'm pulling it out again because ideas

It's gonna be an AU.

All three families - the Dearests, the MFM Crew, and the Andromedas/Entity Squad - get mysteriously dumped inside one large mansion of a house. The front door is locked - they're not allowed to leave. They can't see anything through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, only their own reflections.

Inside? It’s full of games. Board games, video games, tabletop RPGs. Whoever it was that dumped them all here with only a typed-up note for context wants them to have a tourney of sorts. Play against each other and form new connections between their factions. Presumably until their bloods have been cancelled, and they can exist in the same room without fighting. To “determine who will triumph from among you.” To “close the rifts that have formed between you.” 

In the process of fumbling through such a task, it is revealed that this house is full of secrets. Notes, news, surprises behind every door. Pertaining to what’s going on, to what’s happening in the outside world. It’s something to explore, between shooting death glares across rooms and aggressively playing every night.

(The person who did all this isn’t me or my avatar or whatever btw. I’m not a big fan of that kinda fic trope.)

Andromeda family: Aldryx, Agoti, Sol, and probably Amora. Still deciding between her and Nikusa, though.

MFM family: pretty straightforward. Sarv, Ruv, Sel, and Ras.

Dearest family: DD, MM, GF, and... Psychic??

BF isn't here. He's somewhere outside this new, tiny, cramped world of hostile enemies. GF misses him dearly. MM mourns her future son-in-law and her daughter’s grief. DD and Psychic privately rejoice.

BF, as it turns out, is too chaotic, in the words of their captor. They’ve taken notice of his deeds throughout the time he’s been with GF. He's too much of a wild card.

They want to see what it’ll be like to pit everyone against each other, create a new story without the main character. See what'll happen when you take the one who calls all the shots out of the picture. Make these three families with bitter enmity between them resolve their differences on their own. In the meantime, instead of the blue-haired boy, why not play around with that interesting little assistant of Dearest's? He'll make a fine substitute, powerful in his own right, but endlessly curious enough to keep things fun and determined to protect his loved ones.

The families scoff. BF? That little freak? He's no main character. He's an unabashed rapper with too much pride and ability and drive and time on his hands. And he's got too few thoughts in that blue brain of his. He's no one to call the shots. He is certainly no wild card. He doesn’t deserve that kind of credit.

...despite being the thread linking everyone here. He’s the reason their paths have crossed again in recent times, isn’t he? Partly even the reason they’re all here to begin with. “Brings back good memories, y’know? But all plot threads have to be resolved, so here we are. At least this should be fun!”

To close the rifts that have formed between you.

Fine. They all resolve to play a few games. Attempt halfheartedly at what this person wants from them. Try not to kill each other just yet. Bide their time, research and explore this unfamiliar manor. It's all they can do for now, trapped and unable to escape.

The backstories of all the relevant mods are canon to this AU. It is unknown to these families who has put them here. Most of them are reluctant. A select few willing. Who will triumph and open the door to their escape? Who will form unlikely partnerships with another, and will they be genuine or out of desperation, or for something to gain? Will they breach established boundaries and learn something new about themselves along the way? Will they manage to not kill each other in the process?

also I just really wanna write Psychic and Aldryx interacting

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

this is a very venty post don't mind me :D

that nintendo direct was so horrible.

it was literally like 80 percent remakes and remasters.

never in my life have i seen an announcement video exist just to say "every game you've ever known since the 90s is being remade/remastered, sorry, we ran out of originality".

literally like all the video game market is anymore is remakes and the movie industry is just as bad.

the nso releases are fine because they're not like, remakes taking up full game slots. they're old games that are being made accessible and that's great... but there's no need to remake this many games when they can do that. remakes used to be rare. remember stuff like the wii u shop and stuff? with all the games they had on those things? now it's a tiny selection and everything else is a remake :/

also I feel like a lot of new rpgs are just like... lowkey fe knockoffs now instead of original rpgs.

i'm happy for like... two existing remakes, but one of them is mario rpg which people wanted waaaaAAAAAYYYY before the remake and remaster era, and the other is baten kaitos which im not actually happy about remaster-wise (the updated ui is trash, they took out very specific charms of the original ui), just happy that it will get more recognition/notice from people since it was never popular.

they also completely removed the english voice acting which like okay yeah it wasn't always that great but the voices fit perfectly and it wasn't as bad as fans meme on it for! it just sounded like they were talking through a tube and that was actually the worst part of it lol.

someone suggested to me that they may have just lost the data for it, but idk. i wish they'd just admit that somehow if it was the case, because it bugs me that the english audio is just completely gone when ultimately i really liked it. i wanted the game to be accessible to newer players, sure, but i also wanted the english audio there. ig that's because i grew up with it and i liked it, but it's still such a bummer for me!

paper mario being put on the nso and tyd getting a whole remaster does make me sad tho bc it feels like they're leaving the original in the dust when it was so good. if you're gonna do tyd, at least do them both.

good for innersloth though, i'm sure they never imagined being on a nintendo direct. they're the real winners here.

[mouth-less]

hi so a friend dm'd me like "lmao new winner for fastest mmo end of service announcement" and said it was some game called World II World, released february 2023 with end of service announced at the end of may

and i looked into it and this is the most fucking absurd concept i've ever seen for a mobage and it is immediately apparent why it failed

you see, this is a single-player mobile gacha rpg

except i just lied to you

it's actually two

you. you are playing two rpgs simultaneously. you move and menu and battle in two SEPARATE, INDEPENDENT BOXES that are both fucking tiny on account of this being a cell phone game and unlike peak media the world ends with you there are no cool sync mechanics where you use both halves in tandem no they DONT EVEN GET INTO BATTLES AT THE SAME TIME UNLESS YOU MAKE THEM AND THEY DON'T INTERACT AT ALL OUTSIDE OF CUTSCENES

LIKE FUCKING LOOK AT THIS HELLO??? THESE CUTSCENES ARE PLAYING AT THE SAME TIME, FULLY VOICED ON TOP OF EACH OTHER TALKING ABOUT ENTIRELY DIFFERENT PLOTS HOW ARE YOU MEANT TO FOLLOW THIS????

oh and don't even get me started on the gacha. having gacha is already a crime, having gacha in a SINGLE PLAYER GAME (it doesn't even have a friend list) is even more of a crime, but the gacha characters are RESTRICTED TO ONE SIDE OF THE SCREEN THAT YOU CANNOT CHOOSE

IMAGINE BREAKING MAX PITY ON A 5* THAT'S ON THE WRONG FUCKING HALF OF THE SCREEN

WHAT IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD KOTARO UCHIKOSHI IS GOING ON HERE. I'M ALL FOR INTERTWINING NARRATIVE AND GAMEPLAY BUT. ON A CONCEPTUAL LEVEL THIS IS NOT SO MUCH A TRAIN WRECK AS IT IS A CRITICAL MASS OF INCREASING TRAINWRECKINESS. A FUCKING TRAIN SINGULARITY.

THIS FUCKING THING LOOKS LIKE IT SHOULD HAVE A SOAP CUTTING GIF ON THE LEFT SIDE AND FAMILY GUY FUNNY MOMENTS ON THE RIGHT WHAT IS HAPPENING im literally shitting and pissing your pants from a game design perspective this is a monstrosity

anyway they announced end of service because they were unable to come up with anything fun also they're keeping all the money from premium currency sales lmao byeeeee

[notajinn]

Top Games Played in 2023 - Number 1: Super Mario RPG Switch

1. Super Mario RPG Remake (Switch)

This one isn't fair. The SNES Super Mario RPG is one of my favourite games ever, so a faithful remake is almost guaranteed to be better than any other game already.

What I Like

Most of this is just what I like about the original Super Mario RPG because a lot of the game is unchanged.

I love the battle system incorporating timed hits. You still get to take your time on your turn deciding what to do, but the additional input being able to majorly affect the battle keeps you engaged. This is especially important in the late game and new post-game given you're pretty likely to die without good timed hits.

The writing in the game is the quality you'd expect of something that released in the same generation as Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger. It's lighthearted, fun, and includes a good sprinkle of cool moments. The game mostly revolves around new characters like Mallow and Geno, and they manage to be some of the best written characters in the Mario series despite being in only one game. Even some of the enemies like Croco and Belome return later in the game and get their own tiny character arcs.

They did a good job keeping the weirdness of the original SNES art style while updating the graphics to the current gen.

SMRPG has one of my all-time favourite video game soundtracks.

I mean, what else can I say? The gameplay is good, the writing is good, the music is good, the graphics are. Those are the four most important parts of any game.

As far as new stuff is concerned, I'm happy they added a post-game at all! The new content has writing that matches the rest of the game well, and there are some cool bosses. It's also legitimately hard content which is nice for an otherwise pretty easy game. I love that one of the post-game bosses is Booster since you otherwise skip his boss fight in the main game unless you fail a mini-game.

There's one major change made to the combat system in that you can switch party members during battle. This actually makes the game feel very fresh since otherwise I always kept Peach in my party for emergency heals, but now I just swap her in when I need healing. This let me play much more aggressively.

They also added a party-wide super meter. These are fun animations and useful moves, but mostly unneeded given how easy the game is.

Plus it's way easier to move around with a control stick now compared to having to use the D-Pad for 3D in the SNES game.

What I Don't Like

Across the board, the new remastered soundtrack is worse than the original soundtrack. This could just be nostalgia. Fortunately the game lets you toggle between Remastered and Original soundtrack at any time.

The game maintains the strange difficulty spike at the Sunken Ship. It's not hard, but it goes from easy to "I need to try now" very quickly.

A few of the post-game bosses are bullshit and require extremely precise timed blocks to not take crazy amounts of damage. It's also a little annoying to always have to travel to Frogfucious after each boss to find out who the next boss to fight is.

The Casino remains an annoying area to unlock, and one that doesn't really reward you with anything good. Not even a Flower Tab.

Final Thoughts

It's one of my favourite games touched up and with some new content. What's not to love?

[latenightsuburbansprinklersystem]

constantly feel like the roleplaying/narrative half and the crunchy mechanical half of crpgs are at odds with each other. like every time I start a new one I'm like ok do I want to focus on giving my little gamer girl the vibe/personality I'm going for and surround her with party members that would mesh best with that personality almost certainly playing suboptimally and having a miserable time beating my head against the incredibly complex arcane ruleset in the process unless I crank the difficulty down and make everything trivially easy or do I want to not do that. and I basically always choose the former because that's the portion I value more but sometimes I wish I didn't have to do that because experiencing at least a little bit of friction mechanically often makes the narrative stuff feel more meaningful. it also doesnt help that no matter what I do no matter how many videos I watch or games in the genre I play I cannot wrap my tiny little walnut brain around the correct like. "flow" of real time with pause combat. even when I'm succeeding it always feels like I'm doing it wrong. this is why every rpg should just be disco elysium from here on out btw