by Jasper de Lange and Aiyana Braekevelt
A Poem for New Beginnings is a card-driven, cooperative storytelling game set in an inclusive hopepunk world. Follow the journey of a person in search of self-discovery. Combine multi-use cards to construct small scenes, and discover where the journey leads. Along the way you collect words, which will be woven into a poem by the end of the story.
Presentation
- Duration: 2-3 hours
- Player count: 2-4
- Language: English
A Poem for New Beginnings is a card-driven, cooperative storytelling game set in an inclusive hopepunk world. It is a storytelling game first and foremost, and makes use of several board game mechanisms (multi-use cards, worker placement) to support that.
The players co-create and follow the main character’s quest of self-discovery and personal renewal. By the end of the game, whether the quest is completed or not, the players will make a poem together as a reflection of how the journey unfolded.
At the start of each round, players select which story element they want to focus on. They then draw cards with story seeds to include in the journey, with which each player will describe a ‘micro scene’. No need to act out whole scenes, but simply describe the new situation the character finds themselves in and maybe how it changes them, short and sweet. The multi-use story seed cards will help players find their focus, as well as deliver surprising twists. The game ends with the players collectively constructing a poem from words gathered along the way.
This game is a work of fanfiction based on the Monk & Robot book series by Becky Chambers – or rather, it is a framework that generates such fanfiction. The world of Panga she describes reads like an optimistic vision for humanity’s future, in which human society coexists harmoniously with nature – and with itself. This game intends to give players a glimpse of that world, and perhaps a glimpse of hope and softness as well.
About the designer
Hello there! We are Jasper and Aiyana, and this is our first attempt at creating a board game together.
Jasper is slowly becoming a more familiar face at Fastaval, and has just released his first published board game, Bohemians (also a Fastaval game!). He now has several years of design experience, and a range of different prototypes at various stages of development. Aiyana, on the other hand, is a first-time game designer, though she is very familiar with everything the design process involves: playtesting, brainstorming ideas, cutting lots of cards (!), etc. This will be her second year at Fastaval.
Aside from making board games, we dream of starting a regenerative farm together. We are both educated organic farmers, and we hope to bring some of the elements you will see in our game into reality over the next few years.
