Dying of the Light
A downloadable game
“The world is dark, and light is precious.
Come closer, dear reader.
You must trust me.
I am telling you a story.”
Dying of the Light is a gm-less game for 1-4 players, played over the course of 2-3 hours. Players collectively assume the role of a single city on a single night, they will pull cards which provide question prompts describing the less than beautiful parts of the night.
Throughout the night, Players will earn tokens that can be spent to facilitate a moment of beauty and intimacy in the middle of this dark and dangerous night. Will you be able to light up the night before morning comes?
Dying of the Light is a token game built on the Caltrop Core SRD, designed by Lex Titanomachy, for the second Caltrop Core game jam.
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I will add 1 copy for every game bought at full price, and 3 copies for every game bought at $5+
Comments
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Really enjoyed playing this. I came up with some really fun ideas with the prompts and will definitely be returning to both this game and the ideas it helped me make.
NB. The prompts for 8 and Queen of hearts are the same.
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it! I’m literally as I type working on the second edition right now, mostly just cleaning up the layout and a few mistakes like the one you mentioned, and this comment really brightened my evening. Thank you! (The 2e will be up at the end of next month, and I’ll be adjusting the download list so you’ll have access as soon as it’s live.
Dying of the Light a 1-4 player Caltrop Core game about the events that happen within a single night of a city. You create characters, places, and events throughout the times of the evening.
You start by separating out the cards into the suits, each one representing a time of night: Dusk, Evening, Witching Hour, and Dawn. Each turn has 2 parts: Divination and Token. For Divination you draw a card and choose between one of the two prompts to answer.
The token turn is optional, and depending on how many you have acquired, you can choose between creating a person, a location, or a Moment of Light. You receive 1 token at the start of each turn. For Moment of Lights you roll 1d4 to determine how the event plays out, 1 being things turn out completely horrible and 4 being getting what you want and more.
Some of my times of night were short, as I drew the king on the first or second card, but it can be easily adjusted if you want to pick out a number of cards you want to answer beforehand and force-draw the king when you are ready to move on. People who have played The Quiet Year by Avery Alder and enjoyed it should take a look at this game.
I wrote about a city called Malhal, a location I’ve used before, so I was familiar with some of the goings on in the city and could easily add locations and people to flesh it out in depth, but this game is super easy to just make up a city with nothing prior. You can find my playthrough here
Dying of the Light is a lovely narrative place building game. I really liked that I could play it solo or with friends depending on the day.
I made a short video look through:
I've played this game twice now and love it.
It is hard to comment on it without spoiling the experience, because as clear as the description on this page is, there are surprises waiting for you through the night (I'd recommend NOT TO READ the cards descriptions before play, let it surprise you!)
If you are looking for a game to share an evening of emotions with people you like, try it out!
My only warning would be that a definitive closure to the stories you make is not assured. Be open to that. You might end up with a "slices of life" narrative, although not at all a boring one!
Dados, thank you for the kind review!! I am overjoyed to hear you enjoyed it enough to return to it again!