About the series
This project investigates how solo tabletop games can function as interdisciplinary tools for reimagining identity, memory, and survival through the lens of Black feminist thought and speculative design. Rooted in African American literary works—W. E. B. Du Bois’s The Comet and Maya Angelou’s Remembering--TallTales: The Comet and TallTales: The Veil blend narrative experimentation with emotional mechanics to explore themes of loss, resilience, and interiority. Informed by my creative practice at the intersection of critical making, play, and storytelling, these games use minimalist materials and solo RPG formats to disrupt dominant structures in game studies that often overlook marginalized voices and nonlinear epistemologies. By centering Black emotional realities, non-human protagonists, and surreal landscapes of memory, the games operate as interactive frameworks for exploring power, vulnerability, and remembrance. As part of a larger body of work committed to representing the complexity of Black life, this project leverages play as both a political and poetic act of world-making.
|
A series of TallTales: The Comet
Two mischievous raccoons, Wimbledon and Whiskers, are out and about on their daily shenanigans. Suddenly a peculiar toxic gas in New York triggers a human-only apocalypse. In the chaos, whiskers are separated from Wimbledon. Will Whiskers be able to navigate the mayhem and forge a path to Wimbledon? Find out in TallTales: The Comet. In this one-page, RPG Inspired by Oliver Darkenshire's solo RPG mechanic system, Enter into a harrowing Apocaplytic inspired by W. E. B. Debois's The Comet adventure as you play as Whiskers looking for his best friend as an apocalypse rages on around him. Materials needed to play: 1.) Pencil or Pen 2.) Six-Sided Dice Itch.io Link: Link Here |
|
The Veil is a narrative-driven tabletop role-playing game inspired by Maya Angelou’s poem “Remembering.” Players step into a surreal world where memory, self-discovery, and the haunting forces of the past collide. As they navigate the thin veil between the living and the forgotten, they must confront their deepest fears, using Essence, Gloom, and Insight to uncover lost truths. The game explores the fragility of memory and the power of facing one’s darkness. Can you reclaim what has been lost, or will you be consumed by the shadows? The Veil is a journey of remembrance—where the past shapes the present and the whispers of the forgotten beckon you closer.
In this one-page, RPG Inspired by Oliver Darkenshire's solo RPG mechanic system, Enter into the in-between inspired by Maya Angelou's poem Remembering, explore the thin line between memory and self-betrayal. Materials needed to play: 1.) Pencil or Pen 2.) Six-Sided Dice Itch.io Link: Link Here |