knapsack

You are moving hundreds of miles from the place you’ve called home. Goodbyes have been said. Keys have been turned in. Supplies for the journey ahead have been procured. All there is left to do is leave.

Nevertheless, the journey is long and bound to be memorable. You will leave as one person and arrive as another, carrying new trinkets and truths with you. Who will you be, knocking the dust from your feet when you arrive? How will you tell the story of your journey? What will you bring to prove your wild tales true?

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This journaling game explores the ways travel allows for identity transformation, consolation, and/or recognition. By collecting and leaving various imagined trinkets, you detail the story of the traveler and record their transitory self through what they keep and what they lose or give away. Best played with one person. There are two files; one formatted and colorful for printing, and the other just plaintext. Technically, this can be printed on one page, front and back. 

This game was made for the 2022 One-Page RPG Jam based on the prompt 'exploration'. Inspiration also came from video game inventories, Keri Smith’s How to Be An Explorer of the World, and my own recent cross-country moves. I want to thank my playtester for her time and care. Finally, I developed this game on violently occupied Muscogee and Shawnee land whose inhabitants were themselves forced to make a long, deadly march and have not received their lands back.  The header image was taken by Dino Reichmuth on Unsplash, and the header and the document were made in Canva and Microsoft Word. 

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UPDATE: I have typed my own playtest notes to serve as a guide, if you wish for one. I tried to demonstrate the flexibility of the rules within play, but there is always more to adjust to your own needs.