So I originally picked up Archipelago for the cards, but reading through the book I'm pretty impressed and will almost certainly make use of tooling in it even if I don't touch the game itself. Anyone played on here? What about solo specifically?
I really like GMless games where individuals "own" or at least adjudicate aspects of the game world. (This harkens back to my love for Mystic Empyrean) I also really like that this game is very explicit in allowing players to demand more/different fiction and the like from other players if they're not hitting hard enough.
I don't fully grasp the importance of the map in this game. At a glance it seems more a tool to organize the story/party/action/local cultures etc, similar to Dungeon World. But I get the impression it's more than that, even though I can't articulate it yet. Something to do with the power of naming things giving them agency within the fiction, maybe? I dunno.
Anyway, happy I picked it up.
I also ordered some Itras By cards, but they seem less useful without the book/setting, which I don't yet own. I'm interested by it as I have a love for the weird in general. (Naked Lunch, David Cronenberg, Over The Edge, etc) I can dig on period pieces, too, but they're outside my comfort zone when it comes to respecting the people/places/Zeitgeist and I have serious paranoia over stepping on people's toes.
Anyone have anything to add/general opinions/comments on either game or elements from them, especially as they pertain to solo?
I've played in a few Archipelago inspired games now and i've come to enjoy the map a lot. It provides for more than just story organization, it is a shared living document about the game fiction that helps ensure both agency and cooperation i my experience.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Itras By may lend itself better to solo play than Archipelago. The structure of the latter facilitates for group play, but if you strip away that element the games are very similar from what i recall.
ISTR that Archipelago was inspired by the Earthsea books.
ReplyDeleteMamading Ceesay so he says in the intro. I don't believe I've read any LeGuin at all, but certainly not that series. It's on the pile of reading Todo now
ReplyDeleteNick Carter I just finished 'A Wizard of Earthsea' a few weeks ago; I held off reading that series for far too long. That first book is kind of a slog, setting the characters' storyline and world in place for the rest of the series, from what I've heard. No one I've talked to who's read the entire series has been disappointed, though.
ReplyDeleteDan Davis I've not read the full Ringworld series either, but the first book felt a bit like that to me, not being familiar with Niven/Known Space/whatever... Speaking of, just saw Amazon will be streaming a Ringworld series at some point!
ReplyDeleteNick Carter We need a re-release of Ringworld RPG now, and all would be right with the world!
ReplyDeleteDan Davis never heard of it if it's real. Cool!
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