BEAK, FEATHER & BONE
Designer: Tyler Crumrine | Publisher: Tyler Crumrine
Kickstarter wrapped their second ZineQuest event in early March and spawned hundreds of weird and wonderful zine sized RPGs and while most are still in development, a few have already managed to get out into people’s hands. Including Beak Feather & Bone. A map labelling RPG. Which is a fantastic litmus test in and of itself. Would you like to play a map labelling RPG? Anything other than a cautiously intrigued yes means this probably isn’t for you.
Inspired by Avery Aldery’s The Quiet Year, this 33 page zine puts you in the feathers of a community of crow people as you collaboratively label buildings on the map and determine their appearance, purpose, and reputation. To help guide you, the game has you draw from a deck of cards with the suit determining the purpose – social, financial, historic, etc – of the building you want to label. And as the game progresses, the town develops a personality and a history. A tent-like structure could, in one game, be a circus that the miners faction chipped in to fund while in another it could be a temporary HQ for the soldiers faction as they prepare for war. Which is really interesting as even though the map always stays the same, the meaning behind it changes for every group.
Sadly Beak Feather & Bone falters in the chronicling. It wants to make the map last and to serve as a tool for game masters to make an interesting village but the down time while someone answers the questions kills the pacing. As a solo tool, it works well at prompting you to think. But as a group, it's much preferable to discuss, bounce ideas around, and just keep a fluid conversation going throughout.
Perfect, however, if you’re looking for something light to play online.
ANNA BLACKWELL