What’s A “Solo Play” RPG?
Koriko: A Magical Year is a solo pen and paper role-play game. If you haven’t heard of this it’s not too surprising so I’ll give you the basics, but you can check out this video “No D&D group? Try solo play!” by one of my go-to YouTubers. Ginny Di goes over the premise of solo play and offers her own experience with trying out a solo game for the first time.
In essence a solo play RPG is the same imaginative role-play experience as D&D or other TTRPGs. You create a character that will exist within this fictional narrative world and you as the player make the choices that character will follow in exploring that world. There are various mechanics that the specific system you’re playing uses to help you progress; most often dice of various kinds, miniatures and battlemaps, and so on. With solo play however, there is no party dynamic to take turns nor a Game Master to relay information for you. The game system itself will provide prompts for you to make decisions and expand on how your character reacts to the various encounters that the game provides you.
Koriko is designed to use a tarot card deck and dice along with the story driven prompts throughout the book. The game will guide you through an entire year of your character living in this new city as they come across countless NPCs, locations, and using your witchcraft to assist the residents of your new home. While the game is a solo RPG, there are additional rules to play in a “shared world.”
“…play the game as a group asynchronously, telling your individual stories in solo play and then writing letters to each other each season about your experiences.”
Jack Harrison, game designer of Koriko: A Magical Year
Koriko: Better Than A CYOA!
Harrison indicates that the book will be approximately 120 pages in print, though only about 10 of those pages are the actual rules. The rest of that is a TON of prompts, tables, and options for you to explore a million different ways to live out this single year- adding to the incredible replay value of a game like Koriko. The game will be released both in print and in digital format and the various tiers of the Kickstarter grant you a few extra keepsakes for this lovely and aesthetically beautiful game.
Personally, my favorite part about this already delightful game is that among the tiers are two that happen to be interlinked. The “Patron” tier will give you all the benefits of the previous tiers with some extra goodies and make it possible for another (possibly less affluent) gamer to purchase a copy of the game at the discounted “Community” tier. Basically for every “Patron” pledge, a “Community” tier pledge will become available. I think it’s great to try and share the fun and wonder of gaming with as many people as possible, regardless of whatever hardships they may be facing!
The Kickstarter ends November 7th at 12PM EST! Be sure to check out Koriko: A Magical Year to give solo play a try and possibly pick up the “Add-Ons” for the other games from Mousehole Press, the company bringing this magical game to life.
Let me know what you think of Koriko and how you feel about solo play in the comments. Remember to check in to GTN for your gamer news!
Til Next Time!
