At Handiwork Games we all talk about games all the time. One strand of that chat for the longest time has been about indie, minimalist story games: the things we like, the things we don’t. The Three Coins for a|state grew out of that very conversation.
And suddenly out of that same chat the potential for an entire new game appeared.
(This is Jon writing by the way) While we waited for the Twin seas Kickstarter funds to arrive I had a bit of spare time, and so I started writing and testing.
The Silver Road is the result.
When playing The Silver Road, you and some friends can get together and tell stories.
This is an unashamedly minimalist story telling game. It has a simple core mechanic that is applied any time there’s uncertainty about what happens next.
For the most part in this game you’ll succeed in whatever you narrate your character is doing.
Even where you don’t succeed, if your character is good at doing the thing you’re attempting, you’ll succeed on your next turn.
The obstacles which you face in the game will have a chance to provide a consequence for your characters, which add to the story, and then they’re overcome, and the story moves on.
For a long time I’ve mentioned in passing that I tend to run games in a very loose way, and I thought it was about time I made that into something other than a slightly awkward confession. I like running a loose game where everyone throws in their contribution on what happens, and where we don’t get hung up too much on the finer points of system stuff.
And don’t get me wrong – get this – I can like several things at once. I do also enjoy it when we play crunchier games “properly”. I certainly don’t object to tracking arrows, and facing challenges based on the specifics of what my character owns and precisely how good they are at skills.
I also have a special place in my heart for very light games that rely much more on improvised creativity. And that’s The Silver Road.
I also wanted, as is our eternal mission, to make a beautiful thing.
The game is illustrated by Mike Franchina, an old friend and incredible artist. Each page has a unique illustration.
For this game Mike has made use of Midjourney, an AI art creation tool. It (in the hands of Mike) is brilliant at creating the kind of startlingly weird and evocative imagery you’ll find in The Silver Road.
We’ll release The Silver Road in PDF (and pre-order with free PDF) next week. We’re hoping to have some advance print copies of The Silver Road at UK Games Expo.
The Silver Road Important Game Facts
- 24 pages long (plus cover)
- 21cm x 21cm full colour book (portable, loveable)
- Rules-lite, minimalist story telling game (if you like rules this might not be for you)
- Setting agnostic (bring your own)
- Written by Jon Hodgson
- Art by Mike Franchina
- Layout by Paul Bourne
- Releasing May 24 to preorder with free PDF