You Are a Beacon
A downloadable game
Somewhere and somewhen, on the edge of the vast deep, you keep the light shining, even as you prepare for a catastrophic storm.
In this solo journalling RPG, you play the keeper of a lighthouse station. You maintain the light, collect information, deal with the sea and its strange gifts, and prepare for the coming storm. When the storm comes, the journal ends in your witnessing of nature’s raw power.
Third place (bronze!) in the January 2022 Solo Journalling RPG Jam. #journaljam
Purchase
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Community Copy
If you claim a copy of this game, please download it so that I can get the dopamine hit.
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(All purchases of the game open up 10 more community copies.)
Development log
- Update to Chaotic Weather Pattern MechanicFeb 02, 2022
Comments
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Oh wow! This is super cool, I love how well you captured the theme and how the prompts walk that fine line between inspiring a scene without confining players. And those four Queens and Kings especially are super fascinating!
- ✨Beth
Thank you so much!
A lovely game where you are the keeper of a lighthouse before a vast and destructive storm. What must you do to prepare and how will the sea prevent you?
You play the game by first draw some cards to answer some questions on why you are here, what makes the lighthouse special, and what season it is.
You then shuffle the deck and every day, until you pull a King (in which it's game over) you draw 2 cards and answer the corresponding prompts on how you prepare for the storm and if anything else special happens. If you draw a queen you have a chance to leave early, but you can always choose to stay!
I wrote for 11 days, and while the game doesn't' specifically have prompts for supernatural spooky elements, that didn't stop me from putting them in my game! My keeper met a mysterious person who washed ashore after a wreck and kept hearing a voice saying 'give it back.' You can find the playthrough here
All the social media turmoil made me do a thing I was contemplating for some time - I made an account for playing journaling games. I decided to start with You Are a Beacon since I love the premise, the prompts and pretty much all about it. I thought that maybe you'd want to know someone's playing your game in public. If you want to check it out, here's a link :)
https://cohost.org/lost-journals
This is so amazingly cool! I love the first entry. So richly imagined. Thank you for using my little game this way.
LOVE following this story as it evolves. So lyrical!
Thanks :D the fourth entry is on the way and I'm quite excited for it :D (it's four and ten of spades, and the prompt for 10 of spades is SO beautiful! <3 )
Two, two and ten of spades :D And also, it took more time than I thought, but the entry is there :)
I love this: "It's only the fourth entry and the lighthouse already feels like home."
It does :)
Also, I finished playing and just wanted to say thank you <3 This was a great and moving experience.
I adored this - the prompts strike the right balance between being evocative yet allowing the player freedom to take the story in whatever direction they desire. I spent a very happy afternoon playing this and look forward to more of your games.
Thank you! That's just the place I'm always aiming, and it's so gratifying that it worked for you!
An intriguing first story! Great atmospheric set up - loved the card selection guides. Then day one saw the light hose keeper arrive in Autumn winds and treading the worn steps up to the light and a joker promptly shuffled the pack which meant that day two saw the storm emerging from the deep. Spectacular and most unexpected :-) Looking forward to the next story! Thank you!
Haha, so noted. Maybe the Jokers should hang back a little. Thank you for playing!
I've edited the Joker's powers so that they're less guaranteed to create chaos. Thanks so much for your comment, and for braving the storm!
Pleasure!
this is amazing! your prompts are so thorough and fun, and the whole concept is very intriguing. this is honestly such a cool idea with a lot of wiggle room for a different story each time, and it will certainly become one of my fiction journals this year. great work!
I love this! Thank you so much. I hope you enjoy it.