Twilight Song emerges as a captivating map-making and story-telling game, inviting players into the tranquil twilight era of humanity. This unique tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) centers around an immortal narrator navigating a world undergoing gentle transformation, filled with both wonder and quiet melancholy. In this period of peaceful decline, where humanity contemplates its legacy, you, as an immortal being, become a chronicler, a guide, and a witness to their stories.
Twilight Song game cover art featuring a serene landscape, evoking the game's twilight setting.
Embracing Inspiration from Pastoral Sci-Fi and Map-Making Games
Twilight Song gracefully draws inspiration from Ashinano Hitoshi’s acclaimed pastoral sci-fi manga, Yokohama Shopping Log. Much like the manga portrays a robot living amongst humanity’s fading remnants, Twilight Song places you in a similar reflective role. Furthermore, the game’s mechanics are thoughtfully adapted from The Quiet Year by Avery Alder, a map game focusing on community resilience in a post-collapse world. Twilight Song, however, explores the other side of collapse, focusing on the serene beauty and poignant stories within this twilight period.
Crafting Your Narrative: Gameplay and Mechanics
Setting up Twilight Song begins with sketching your narrator’s dwelling and community onto a map. You’ll enrich this setting with landmarks and echoes of the past, establishing the environment for your unfolding narrative. The next step involves defining your immortal narrator. What is their essence? What life have they lived, and what customs define them? These foundational elements shape the unique perspective through which you will experience the game.
Twilight Song gameplay example showing map creation and card drawing, illustrating the game's mechanics.
Gameplay progresses through narrating concise episodes from your narrator’s life. Story prompts are driven by cards drawn from the Season Oracle, presenting events and questions to guide your narrative choices. Each turn allows you to select an action: Open Your Senses to immerse yourself in the world, Learn Something about the inhabitants and environment, or Make a Plan to establish routines and embark on small adventures. As years pass—ranging from single nights to entire generations—the story evolves until the oracle deck is depleted, marking the game’s conclusion.
Game Components and Accessibility
Twilight Song is available in a comprehensive .zip archive, offering multiple formats to suit different players:
- A full-color 26-page rulebook, alongside a printer-friendly version that includes oracles and a play summary for ease of use.
- A Mobile Play Resource, providing both oracles and a condensed rules summary for gaming on the go.
- .txt files containing the rules and oracles, optimized for screen readers, enhancing accessibility.
- playingcards.io imports, enabling digital gameplay for remote sessions.
Twilight Song game components including rulebook, oracles, and play summary, showcasing the game's physical elements.
The game also prioritizes accessibility with Color-blind friendly and High-contrast options, ensuring a welcoming experience for all players. It supports both Local multiplayer and solo play, accommodating various gaming preferences.
Explore the Darker Side with Midnight Signal
For those seeking a twist, Midnight Signal emerges as a pastoral weird horror playset for Twilight Song. This expansion (requires the base Twilight Song game) plunges your immortal narrator into an oppressive setting filled with unsettling mysteries interwoven with ordinary life. Here, wonders and horrors reside beneath the surface, testing friendships and fostering suspicion under a long, historical night, until a newer, brighter dawn arrives. Midnight Signal introduces fresh Season and Interval Oracles and nuanced adjustments to the core gameplay, offering a darker thematic exploration.
Midnight Signal expansion for Twilight Song, introducing a weird horror theme to the pastoral setting.
Why Choose Twilight Song?
Twilight Song offers a deeply reflective and creatively stimulating experience. It’s perfect for players who appreciate:
- Narrative-driven gameplay: Focus on storytelling and character development.
- Solo or cooperative play: Adaptable for individual or group sessions.
- Pastoral and sci-fi themes: A unique blend of genres creating a serene yet intriguing world.
- Diceless and GM-less mechanics: Streamlined and accessible gameplay.
- World-building and journaling: Encourages creative exploration and personal reflection.
Twilight Song invites you to explore a world in its twilight, to witness the beauty of endings and the quiet hope for new beginnings. Purchase your copy today and begin your journey as an immortal narrator in this unforgettable era.
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