Moonsailors
A downloadable game
Moonsailors is a GM-less, one-session story/ttrpg game for 3-5 players where solitary travelers drift among the stars, each looking for something that they may or may not find. As you explore, the other players will help you tell your story by asking prompting questions. Will you open the door you hear sounds behind? How does the heat of the planet feel on your skin? What do you do if the ground starts cracking beneath your feet? What do you pick off the menu?
Set up is quick, so you can start playing right away - just make up your character, find a name, draw your ship, and then you're off to wander the stars. The only other things you'll need tell your story & help others tell theirs is some paper and things to write with. Will your traveler decide to explore the abandoned apartments of the City Ship Sage, or will they salvage equipment from Mining Base Celadon? Will they seek life upon the shattered planet of Viridian? The details of the locations are left sparse so that you can decide what's true about it for your session.
Wherever you go, you'll collect & leave evidence of your being there. While your characters may never actually meet, you might find the things that have been left behind and you'll certainly leave some impact of your own.
Moonsailors was a part of Zinequest 2.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $5 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Extras
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Comments
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I just played this game at a convention and it was a beautifully sad and phenomenal experience. It was an immediate purchase as soon as the game ended, and I plan on running it as a pick-up game whenever I have the opportunity.
Moonsailors (unrelated to Takeuchi's manga) is a 10 page rpg about exploring the galaxy. It's played with coins, printable tiles, index cards, and a group.
Everyone plays and everyone GMs, and the cast starts (and stays) seriously scattered across the gameboard, so it's somewhat rare for player characters to meet.
Players play by interacting with locations according to their own motivations, and then moving on. GMs play by asking questions that shape those interactions.
Despite being a group game, there's a distinctly lonely-but-warm feel to it.
It's also very much a game where you get out of it what you bring to it.
If you like telling a character-specific story in small beats over a long period of time, and if you like helping other people to do the same, I think you'll really enjoy this. Alternately, I think it could be played just fine with a single character and different people taking turns to play them, ala Bleak Spirit, so if you like atmospheric storytelling this might also be a good game for that.