Monthly Archives: September 2015

IF Comp 2015 Preamble / Blurb-Judging

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Sam Kabo Ashwell

The Interactive Fiction Competition, the year’s biggest event for interactive fiction opens its doors today. This means lots of new IF releases, and – almost as fun, to my mind – it means lots of writing about IF. This year there are a … Continue reading →

Posted in interactive fiction | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Footnote: Francis Galton, Genocide and the Butt Sextant

Posted on September 26, 2015 by Sam Kabo Ashwell

OK. This is a complete tangent, it is not about any form of gaming at all, and it starts out with a mildly saucy anecdote about butt sextants and proceeds from there to the Holocaust. This is what happens when … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

Representation, RPGs, and DitV’s Mountain People

Posted on September 25, 2015 by Sam Kabo Ashwell

Dogs in the Vineyard is a role-playing game set in a fantasy version of the Old West, among adherents of a religious community, the Faith. You play God’s Watchdogs, faith-fueled young troubleshooters empowered to fix communities where the rigid hierarchy … Continue reading →

Posted in rpg, storygames | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Black Closet

Posted on September 22, 2015 by Sam Kabo Ashwell

Hanako Games’ latest is a time-management game in which the student council at a posh girl’s school acts as a detective force, solving mysteries, intervening in conflicts between students, and preserving the school’s reputation. You play Elsa Jackson, student body president, … Continue reading →

Posted in cyoa, interactive fiction, review | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

House of Reeds

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Sam Kabo Ashwell

House of Reeds is a map-drawing storygame about families, for 2-6 players. It’s my first role-playing game, and it’s quite small and simple. It’s available as a free PDF download here*. It’s heavily influenced by Aaron Reed’s 18 Cadence (which I reviewed over on … Continue reading →

Posted in storygames | Tagged | 13 Comments

Night Witches: an RPG about WW2 Soviet airwomen

Posted on September 8, 2015 by Sam Kabo Ashwell

The Eastern Front, WW2. The USSR was on the back foot; the Red Army was badly unprepared, Stalin having purged its officer corps and ignored the threat of invasion. Nazi goals here were different: the English and French were honourable enemies, but Slavs … Continue reading →

Posted in review, rpg, storygames | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

A Year Without Zombies 9: Down Among The Dead Men

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Sam Kabo Ashwell

(For 2015, I am trying to avoid playing any games or consuming any static media with zombies in them. My reasons, and other fun things like ‘what exactly counts as a zombie?’, are explained here.) I’m definitely in a slump when … Continue reading →

Posted in board games, interactive fiction, videogames | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments