The Kickstarter platform continues to foment some of the most advanced thinking and creativity ever in the tabletop and RPG arenas. Eden explores the concept of what it is to be human by immersing players in the mindsets of animals and critters. Gaming goes full circle as it rediscovers where the term "roleplaying" really came from.
EDEN
A story game about talking to animals and learning what it means to be human.
*I’m playing as a stag beetle in this scene, while another player is their human character Ruth. Stag beetle is Ruth’s favorite animal. “I just don’t know what to do," Ruth's player says. "I want Sam to be my friend, but he won’t! Can you help me?”
I think back to when someone else played the stag beetle earlier. They’d said stag beetles use strength to establish their hierarchy. “You’ve got to show him how tough you are,” I tell Ruth’s player. “If you show him your strength, he’ll see you’re worth being friends with. Maybe you should wrestle him.”
Ruth’s player nods, saying, “Huh, I guess that could work… yeah, okay. I’ll fight Sam!”
“What could possibly go wrong?” another player chimes in, and we all chuckle. Sam’s favorite animal is the turtle—we can't wait to see how he'll react when Ruth pounces on him.*
Eden is a tabletop role-playing game about learning what it means to be human. You’ll collaborate to create the setting and then role-play scenes as talking animals and human characters, ultimately weaving a narrative of exploration, self-discovery, and personal growth.
Eden is for 3-5 players and is designed to be played in one session of 2-3 hours. There's no GM and no prep before play, so you can start creating fiction from the moment you open the book.
"'Let's play a game about morality!' Tough sell, right? But the joy of Eden is that more often than not you're getting your lessons in ethics from a pack of wild raccoons. Those raccoons totally know right from wrong!" - Ben Robbins, creator of Microscope, Kingdom, and Follow
I continue to be pleasantly amazed at how far and wide RPG and story game writers and designers are willing to travel to expand the hobby and the gaming experience. This is yet another very promising entry into the field of "What can we really do with this thing?"
Famously, Dave Wesely - one of the three "Famous Daves" who had a dramatic influence on the creation of the RPG hobby - greatly resisted the use of the term "roleplaying" as D&D was in its final stages of development for release. He equated the term with psychological activities meant for therapy, as well as advanced acting class techniques. He felt these had nothing to do with what, in his mind, equated to highly advanced wargaming concepts.
Today, we can clearly see it all comes together in all new ways, yet it really does call back to those initial ideas that therapists and acting coaches brought to the table. I can totally see my friend Richard Hatch using a game like this in one one of his classes.
~SPF
EDEN
A story game about talking to animals and learning what it means to be human.
*I’m playing as a stag beetle in this scene, while another player is their human character Ruth. Stag beetle is Ruth’s favorite animal. “I just don’t know what to do," Ruth's player says. "I want Sam to be my friend, but he won’t! Can you help me?”
I think back to when someone else played the stag beetle earlier. They’d said stag beetles use strength to establish their hierarchy. “You’ve got to show him how tough you are,” I tell Ruth’s player. “If you show him your strength, he’ll see you’re worth being friends with. Maybe you should wrestle him.”
Ruth’s player nods, saying, “Huh, I guess that could work… yeah, okay. I’ll fight Sam!”
“What could possibly go wrong?” another player chimes in, and we all chuckle. Sam’s favorite animal is the turtle—we can't wait to see how he'll react when Ruth pounces on him.*
Eden is a tabletop role-playing game about learning what it means to be human. You’ll collaborate to create the setting and then role-play scenes as talking animals and human characters, ultimately weaving a narrative of exploration, self-discovery, and personal growth.
Eden is for 3-5 players and is designed to be played in one session of 2-3 hours. There's no GM and no prep before play, so you can start creating fiction from the moment you open the book.
"'Let's play a game about morality!' Tough sell, right? But the joy of Eden is that more often than not you're getting your lessons in ethics from a pack of wild raccoons. Those raccoons totally know right from wrong!" - Ben Robbins, creator of Microscope, Kingdom, and Follow
I continue to be pleasantly amazed at how far and wide RPG and story game writers and designers are willing to travel to expand the hobby and the gaming experience. This is yet another very promising entry into the field of "What can we really do with this thing?"
Famously, Dave Wesely - one of the three "Famous Daves" who had a dramatic influence on the creation of the RPG hobby - greatly resisted the use of the term "roleplaying" as D&D was in its final stages of development for release. He equated the term with psychological activities meant for therapy, as well as advanced acting class techniques. He felt these had nothing to do with what, in his mind, equated to highly advanced wargaming concepts.
Today, we can clearly see it all comes together in all new ways, yet it really does call back to those initial ideas that therapists and acting coaches brought to the table. I can totally see my friend Richard Hatch using a game like this in one one of his classes.
~SPF
