A Mending

A Mending is a solo story-building and keepsake game about two friends who have been parted for some time, using sewing, embroidery, and map-marking mechanics. In this game, you sew a path on a cloth map, and build a story using prompt cards as you progress on your journey.

This game is a reflection of my desire to make games that create physical gameplay artifacts and beautiful keepsakes, my love of maps, a deep respect of handiwork often categorized as “women’s work,” and many years of missing dear - and distant - friends.

The story-building elements of the game are in the long story-building tradition of indie RPG games, inspired by games such as For the Queen(Alex Roberts), Dialect(Thorny Games), The Quiet Year(Avery Alder), and Field Guide to Memory(Jeeyon Shim and myself). The story itself is set up as a series of randomized prompt cards that take the player through a reflective and gentle journey of interesting characters, thoughtful questions about your friendship, and a few strange occurrences.

You will play the game by planning your route, marking the map, and building a story by answering prompt cards. The prompt cards will ask you to consider your relationship with your friend, mark your map with beads or written notes, introduce you to delightful characters(including at least one dog), and will sometimes affect the path you have chosen. The gameplay time can vary between one hour(solo, paper and pen only) to two hours or more(collaborative gameplay, with hand-sewing). The game is designed to be played solo, but the game booklet will also include suggestions on how to play this as a 2 person game(using a single game kit), or communally in a larger group. A Mending can be also played as a system-agnostic storytelling module for other roleplaying games.

This is the JOURNEYMAN version of the game, which contains all core custom gameplay materials, but does not include sewing supplies. In order to play this game, you will need: needles(embroidery, regular, perhaps beading), thread(regular and embroidery), buttons and beads, an embroidery hoop, and scissors. The game includes a basic pre-threaded sewing kit, but you may be more comfortable sewing with your own supplies.

The game includes:
1x canvas pouch/carrying case
2x paper maps
1x cloth map
1x story-building card deck
1x gameplay booklet
1x basic pre-threaded sewing kit
1x wooden coin