I like zines.
I am also the kind of person who should like zines. Zines hit every sub culture I talk about way too much, and at a young age I decided to just like them because of that.
I read "sniffin glue" in the library in middle school to learn more about punk stuff, needing help from a librarian to find them, and then stuff crumpled print outs into my Sex Pistols satchel that I was going to learn very soon wasn’t very cool.
In high school I would start collecting golden age sci-fi, and that means anthologies and zines from the 30s, too. Back tracking Harry Harrison through the years to find zines and short stories that would change the way I thought.
Then I would take an English course centered around the Harlem Renaissance and learn about 'little magazines' and the goals of "Fire!!" The same goals as mind expanding sci-fi and punk bands trying to push the envelope.
I like zines.
The timeline is a complete fabrication, I just liked the symbolism of learning the roots as time passed. Without a doubt Brian Williams, my freshman English teacher explicitly told me about little magazines and connected the dots for me. He was very good at his job.
TALK ABOUT GAMES, ALEX
The point of this is to mention which games I am backing for zinequest/topia/month. The self-indulgent history above is to show off a few things about my choices. Every zine I backed hits the following 3 things:
1.) This zine gotta do something new. (to me at least)
2.) It has to be a zine.
3.) It’s art. If you can’t even make a zine without AI [this was redacted by Jess because we can't afford a lawyer]
1. I love the little rune drawings turning into magic. It’s not a new concept, but the way it’s shown on the itch.io pdf looks cool.
2. A5 32 pages of clean zine.
3. Go take a peek at how they layout the grids. It looks fantastic. Simple, stylish. Love it.
This one isn’t funded yet. Go get yourself a copy.
The French are cooking. This one sentence “anarchist ethic of defeat” could have told me the writer was a French PHD in the history of revolutions.
Looks right to me
“You will have to restart the game several times to find a construction that holds. Failure is part of the experience.” Good, I love roguelikes.
The artwork is also really good, but I don’t need to look at it when the concept is that great.
A game where the mechanics are based on every trading card you and I have collected over the years. I have 5 different Reggie Jackson cards I will be making a deck with.
Check.
Something tickles me about the faux trading card hitting every trope.
The creator apparently made a Wet Hot American Summer Official TTRPG before. They are an artisan. Maybe by saying nice things about them I can get closer to my coveted IP game “The Baxter.”
We need more demi-god games in the world that aren’t about brooding. This is that game.
It’s zine sized. Thank Odin.
The Demagogue demi-god joke is prime. Perfect. Thank you.
9th level are our real world friends. Also we wrote a not yet announced game for them. I trust them to make a fun time.
The tag and burn system rules. It seems to want to push for madness.
50 pages is pushing it for me, but I'll allow it.
This guy seems to think about taxes a lot, but never really seems to give an opinion on it. As if the idea of taxes is the most maddening and humorous thing around. Which maybe it is. That's an art.
If you go look at the tinman(?) that is shown on the page you will also back this project. He needs our help.
1A. I could say a lot about the new ideas in this game. So I will! The first thing that I find so great is the mechanics for players to fall into “Blightfall.” Basically at some point your character will lose its humanity due to the mechanical progression of the game. Becoming impossibly strong and monstrous, and it will stop being your character. A sad and beautiful ending.
1B. The GMing portion of this book is written from the point of view of the blight, slowly taking over the book. Making a graphic design and artistic choice that just blows me away.
It zines!
We gotta keep the style of this game under wraps before we have a Mark Z. Danielewski of the TTRPG scene showing us all up.
If you noticed I know a lot about this game, it’s because I do! I have read the entire thing, and helped Matthew a little bit last year. It is genuinely such a delight seeing the concept become art.
You are a werewolf that can’t transform and must work as a dispatcher on the werewolf hotline. What a good fucking concept.
I’m guessing.
This actually has the most zine spirit of any of these other games. It has bright colors and squiggly lines, and just does the thing.
V.J. Harris will run this game for extremely cheap for you as one of the backing benefits. You should do that.
Call to Action
Talk more about the stuff you like. Post it and talk about it. Like in our discord if you’d like. (Assuming fascism doesn’t ruin discord for us by the time I release this.)
We have a game for zine time called Aqua Tofana. It’s a tarot game about poisoning your husband.
Go vote in the primaries! If you are in Chicago check out Girl I Guess voter guide. It’s pretty good, and 100% better than being uninformed.