#27: Session Zero Con and Timeloops
Good day, readers! As per my calculations (I saw a tweet), 10% of 2021 is already over. Eep. Well I hope it’s been good for you. The newsletter is quite packed this week. And since its February, there’s lots of links to Zinequest-related news if that’s your thing. Scroll away!
I. 5 Reasons I Loved Session Zero Con
It felt like a physical space. The con was hosted on gather.town, a platform built to host virtual events. You have a cute 2d sprite that you can move around. And as you move, it connects you to the people around you via video call. To leave the conversation, you just need to move your sprite away. It wasn’t seamless it definitely *felt* just like going up to someone to talk to them.
It looked absolutely beautiful. Designed by Stacey [Lich Arts], Session Zero Con looked like a sweet indie game. Combine the nostalgia for physical events and the nostalgia of these pixel maps, you’ve got a recipe for success.
It was huge but still very indie! The Con had a hundred stalls occupied by solo designers, large publishers, artists, crafters, etc. And there was no entrance fee - it was completely free. It was a real celebration of the indie spirit. Even the organizers - Gamers and Gaming Meets - are a small team in the Phillipines.
They took safety seriously. There’s a lot of potential for weird harassment in online spaces. In their instructions and their games, they did their best to make sure everyone had a good time. I ran two sessions of a WIP mystery game and it was nice to have the organizers’ tools to work with. They even collected feedback from the players and sent it to me later.
I could take naps in the middle. Because it was a digital con, I could run a game and then go take a nap in my own bed before heading back. It was accessible in a way that digital events promise but often don’t deliver.
The team at Gamers and Gaming Meets did a wonderful job. They’ve got a lifelong fan and I’m genuinely excited for whatever they do next.
II. Listen of the Week
Party of One Pod has an excellent actual play of the solo (or group) time loop storytelling game, Cage of Sand. Jeff Stormer, the podcast’s host, and Luciella Scarlett, the game’s designer, do a great job showing off the fun you can have in a game where you’re trapped in a time loop and trying to solve some strange murders. Check it out.
III. Links of the Week
Articles
Two big pieces of news about famous franchises:
Magpie Games signed the license for an official Avatar: The Last Airbender game. Looks like it’ll be PbtA!
And Fandom announced the playtest of Tales of Xadia, a Cortex game based on the Dragon Prince series on Netflix.
d100news has a deep dive about the performance of RPGs on Kickstarter in 2020 - lots of numbers for those who like them.
On the Molten Sulfur blog, the story of a Hungarian crown and the heist to steal it. This intersection of history and RPGs is my specific weakness so I gobble this stuff up.
Kickstarter’s ZineQuest is the talk of the RPG town.
Dicebreaker, Polygon, and Cannibal Halfling’s Kickstarter Wonk did their roundups of zines they recommend.
Yes Indie’d Pod is doing a podcast interview every day with a different designer. They’re small capsule episodes which highlight some of the cool games on offer.
With their Zinequesting series, PlusOneExp has been doing a daily video stream where they go through Kickstarter and peruse the wares, so to speak.
There’s an official page but twitter personality Pandatheist has a blog that collects statistics and lists every zine he can find. It is probably the most complete resource you could hope for if you want a portal to navigate the cornucopia of creativity.
Reviews
I reviewed Capitalites, a game of urban elites, by Samuel Mui that’s a part of the Our Shores kickstarter. It’s a unique game with a real authorial voice. And the characters that it describes are weirder than elves - they’re real people.
A nice review of Disposable Heroes, a game about fantasy adventurers and the gig economy.
The Pod of Blunders blog has a series called “500 word reviews of 5$ games” and I think it’s really neat. They even publish a text actual play of solo games like the solo delving game, Lost in the Deep by Diego Nogueira, and many more.
IV. Small Ads
This section contains sponsored links and advertisements.
Project 8Ball is a new RPG of weird conspiracy, featuring aliens, angels, and [REDACTED]. Players take turns GMing to collaboratively explore the game’s mysteries. Back the Kickstarter!
The Last Valley is an OSR setting of corrupt cults and chaotic incursions. Live now on Kickstarter!
Visit the all-new Fate-SRD.com. Rebuilt to be faster, easier-to-use, and more accessible with more features on the way. Made possible by support from our Patreon.
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Hello, dear readers. This newsletter is written by me, Thomas Manuel. I’m half-man, half-beast, half-journalist, half-game designer.
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