Animal Town World
Or, A Game About Playing With Toys
Version 0.0.5
Introduction
I was walking around a very old, nostalgic part of town with my father during the fourth of July, when I had an odd realization. Of all of the projects I worked on as a child, I’d iterated on all of them, in the past, except for one. I have not revisited Animal Town ever.
This makes sense, despite the fact that Animal Town was my biggest project/game growing up. Animal Town was a gigantic mess made of obvious and clear inspirations, from Neopets and Frogger and Pokemon and all the rest. As kids do, I took inspiration and tried to replicate the things that I was into, the things that inspired me… but like, it was just playing with toys. That’s when it hit me.
What if I made a game about playing with toys? What if I specifically made an imaginary game about the slow life, about breathing a life and a world into precious objects. What if your real characters could meet in real life and trade items and take photos together. What if I properly noted down a process through which Animal Town can be replicated. What if I brought Animal Town out into the world!
THUS! Animal Town World.
Fundamental Principles
Animal Town World, down to its core, is a game about playing with toys. The goal is not anything in particular. Maybe you want to focus on Items and producing nice models to go with your character. Maybe your goal is all in the journaling, writing the day to day life of your character. Maybe your goal is to fill in the map and create a big world that your character is a part of. All of these things are legitimate.
Animal Town World is a game about anthropomorphic animals, but its not furry, and its also not Watership Down. It’s a weird in between like Neopets where the characters are animal shaped but fully sapient and live full lives that way and can like pick things up and go swimming and do arts and crafts. Don’t worry about how or why, the point is to play with toys.
Animal Town World is a massively multiplayer offline RPG, like Pokemon or Animal Crossing. Every town every player creates exists in a different part of the same world, and you can visit other peoples’ spaces, or even share them cooperatively.
Animal Town World is not really about conquest or battle or violence. Your character can’t really die, that would be utterly devastating with how Tokens work. There is conflict, characters can disagree or even dislike each other, your character can fail at activities or feel down, but conquest is not the goal. Experience and healing is the goal.
Animal Town World is as childish or mature as you want. It skews childish, due to the Token requirement, but your stories can be as intense as you want.
Animal Town World is still a work in progress. The system is obviously incomplete, and new stuff will be added and old stuff revised all the time. That’s the nature of an ongoing project. Use as much of it as you want.
Character Creation
Step 1: Token Selection
The most critical part of character creation is selecting your character’s Token. A Token is a physical representation of the character. Their life and spirit exists in the world you create, but the Token you select for them is the basis of everything they will be.
A Token must be a representation of an animal. Fantasy animals are fair game. Humanoids are not ideal, but monkeys are cool. You should take a photo of your character’s Token and keep it with their character sheet.
I recommend choosing a Token with sentimental value. Its very, very powerful to give further life to precious objects.
Your Token determines your character’s Species and Material, which you can use to derive other details of their personality.
1b: Material and Species Examples
Species:
Dogs: Friendly, social, eager to meet people, maybe a little overbearing with affection.
Cats: Quirky, silly, a little in their own head, jumpy when things don’t go according to plan.
Rabbits: Social, jumpy, industrious, busy, cute as heck.
Salamanders: Skittish, slippery, fundamentally chill despite it all.
Crabs: Reclusive, industrious, loves to show off and yap when given the chance.
Material:
Wood: Old school, durable, maybe a little stuck up and rigid, but reliable.
Plastic: Bright and outgoing, a little silly, flighty and easily following trends.
Glass: Pristine, beautiful, fancy. A little cold, having trouble with physical contact.
Fabric/Plush: Outgoing and physical, super eager for contact, simply and straightforwardly lovely.
Metal: Tough, and rigid, with a powerful presence. Forceful if you mess with them, chill if you don’t.
Step 2: Name and Questionnaire
Name your character, names can be whatever you like. Afterwards, answer the following questions:
- What is your character’s favorite color?
- Does your character prefer to relax alone, or with others? Are they an introvert or an extrovert?
- What is your character’s favorite activity?
After these three questions, roll twice on this table for two more questions to answer:
Roll 1d12 |
Question |
|---|---|
1 |
Does your character prefer to relax outside or inside? |
2 |
Has your character lived in another town before this one? |
3 |
Who is your character’s best friend in town? Create a Connection for them. |
4 |
Your character has a duty in town. What is their duty? Create a Trait for it. |
5 |
Where is your character’s favorite place in town? Create a landmark for it after town creation. |
6 |
What is your character’s favorite time of year? |
7 |
What is your character’s favorite holiday? Create one if it doesn't exist. |
8 |
Who is your character’s rival/nemesis in town? Create a Connection for them. |
9 |
What is your character's most prized possession? Create an Item for it. |
10 |
What kinds of things does your character like to eat? |
11 |
What does your character collect? |
12 |
What motivates your character to participate in the town's affairs? |
Add as much extra detail as you wish, after completing your questions from the table.
Step 3: Home and Town
Name the town where your character lives, and describe their home. Making a map is highly recommended, but the map can just be a description in prose. I recommend making the map on an index card, so you can add future index cards and expand the map if you wish to go further afield. On the back of the map, note the Default Terrain of the map. This indicates what sections of the map are like without drawn features, to figure out the general environment of a place before you flesh it out.
Add as much extra detail as you wish.
Step 4: Journal Setup
Find somewhere you want to do your journaling, and put the character’s name and basic details there. Choose the first day you wish to start with. Choosing the current day and current season is recommended.
Character Creation Example
I need to make a new character with this process!!!! I will do this later.
Additional Rules
Certain prompts will prompt you to create certain game objects or add certain details. Most of these live on the character sheet or the map.
Connections
Connections represent other characters who live in the area. When a prompt says to create a Connection, name them and note down their species, pronouns, and the nature of the relationship.. Personality details are optional, fill in as much as you want. Connections do not have to have Tokens unless you want to make them major or let them participate in visits.
Example:
Noir:
Pronouns: he/him
Relationship: Long Time Friend
A black labrador retriever who lives downtown in Bunnington. Plays chess with Cecille on weekends, works the campground entrance on weekdays. Old, patient, and chill. Knows Cecille from before Cecille was Cecille.
Landmarks
When a prompt tells you to add a Landmark, put a new thing on the map, related to the prompt. Write somewhere some additional details for the landmark as you wish.
Example:
Campground Entrance: A campground lays low in The Hollow. Check-in is located outside The Hollow, and has the most stable stairway down into The Hollow. Other trails exist, but they’re more treacherous. (See Fig 1. For the map.)
Items
When a prompt tells you to create an Item, model a part of the character’s world. Use any medium you desire, recycled or found is ideal. This is arts and crafts for the soul.
Alternatively, any item may be represented on a disc, coin, or index card. All of these are ideal portable forms, and exist in their full form within the realm of imagination.
Example:
Canned Milk: Cecilia has a weak spot for Canned Milk, and holds herself back from having it too often.
Fig. 1: Cecilia indulges in a spot of Canned Milk.
Traits
Traits elaborate on specific elements of your character’s personality. Some prompts will have you create or define traits, such as their favorite food. Your character’s starting traits are defined by their questionnaire.
Journal Mode: Prompt Table MkII
Each day, or whenever you wish to consider your character’s life, roll on the table and write a journal based on the prompt. This is designed to be daily. Roll 2d6 on the table, and pick a prompt based on that. Use either die as the first or second roll, and pick from the two. Write in first person, from the character’s perspective. It’s their journal, after all.
|
Roll(1d6) |
Prompt Subject |
|---|---|
1 |
Food |
2 |
Nature |
3 |
Town |
4 |
Passions |
5 |
~Stuff~ |
6 |
Happenings |
1: Food
|
Roll(1d6) |
Prompt Subject |
|---|---|
1 |
Your character has their favorite food: [Tails]: On their own |
2 |
Your character tries a new recipe at home and it goes [Spectrum d6: 1: terribly 6: amazingly]. |
3 |
Your character goes out to dinner with a connection and it goes [Spectrum d6: 1: terribly- 6: amazingly]. |
4 |
Your character takes a cooking class in town! How does it go? Who do they see there? Make an Item of what they make, if it's worth keeping. |
5 |
Your character harvests something nice from their or a connection’s garden. What is it? |
6 |
Your character tries a new food and they think it is [Spectrum d6: 1: awful!-6: amazing!]. |
2: Nature
|
Roll(1d6) |
Prompt Subject |
|---|---|
1 |
Your character gets lost and discovers something cool! Create a Landmark that they find. |
2 |
Your character runs into a Connection out and about in nature around town. |
3 |
Your character spends a day chilling out in nature: [Heads] With a friend. [Tails]: Alone. Where do they do so? Create a Landmark, or use an existing one. |
4 |
Today is: [Heads]: Warmer [Tails]: Cooler Than the season! How does your character take advantage of this? |
5 |
Your character runs into a connection, whose Duty takes place out in nature. Describe their duty and add it to their connection. |
6 |
There’s a natural feature near town that’s notable. What is it? Create a Landmark if it does not exist, and describe the character’s relationship to it. |
3: Town
|
Roll(1d6) |
Prompt Subject |
|---|---|
1 |
Renovating the house! Your character makes a significant change to their house and it goes [Spectrum d6: 1: poorly-6: very well]. Describe who helps and the outcome. |
2 |
There’s a new place in town to hang out. Create a Landmark for what it is. |
3 |
Your character hangs out in town: [1]: At the library! [4]: At the park or gardens. [5]: At the fountain, lake or, water feature. [6]: On main street. Create a landmark if it does not exist. |
4 |
Your character thinks about what used to be in town. Write about a place downtown that closed in the past and what your character thought about it. |
5 |
Your character runs into somebody else doing their own Duty. What is it? Add it to their connection, and put a landmark in town if relevant. |
6 |
Out and about you discover somebody’s house that you’ve never met before. Who is it? Make a connection and put them on the map. |
4: Passions
|
Roll(1d6) |
Prompt Subject |
|---|---|
1 |
Your character plays a tabletop game. Describe the game, and which Connection they play it with, and where the game is played, as a Landmark. |
2 |
Your character has a Duty they must do. Not quite a job, not quite work, but something they simply have to do. Create a Trait describing it. If the trait already exists, describe them carrying out their Duty today, and how it goes [Spectrum d6: 1: poorly-6: excellently]. |
3 |
Your character plays a sport with people in town. Create a Landmark for where the sport is played. If the landmark already exists, describe the day’s game and how it goes [Spectrum d6: 1: poorly-6: excellently] for them. |
4 |
Your character takes a class in town. [1]: They run into a connection there. [2]: They make something really good, create it as an item. [3]: It all goes awry and your character makes a mess. |
5 |
Your character has a Duty they must do. Not quite a job, not quite work, but something they simply have to do. Create a Trait describing it. If the trait already exists, something unusual happens at their Duty today and its a [Spectrum d6: 1: major crisis-6: huge breakthrough]! Describe what happens. |
6 |
Your character has a Duty they must do. Not quite a job, not quite work, but something they simply have to do. Create a Trait describing it. If the trait already exists, the day is endless and monotonous and boring. Describe it. |
5: ~Stuff~
|
Roll(1d6) |
Prompt Subject |
|---|---|
1 |
Something cherished has gone missing at home! Describe what it is, how the character finds it, and create an Item if it's important enough. |
2 |
Your character works on a new piece of furniture: [Heads]: With a connection. [Tails]: Alone. Create an item for it. |
3 |
Your character gives a gift to a connection. What is it? How does their connection respond? |
4 |
Your character goes shopping. Create a Landmark for where it is, if it does not already exist. What does your character get? Create an item if you wish. |
5 |
Your character reminisces about something important to them they received before. What is the thing? Create it as an item if you wish, and talk about how they received it in the past. |
6 |
Your character receives a gift from a connection. What is it? If it’s good, create an item. |
6: Happenings
|
Roll(1d6) |
Prompt Subject |
|---|---|
1 |
Traveling performers arrive in town! And they are [Spectrum d6: 1: disreputable-6: classy]. Outcome: [Heads: Run into a Connection there or make a new Connection. Tails: Get an Item.] |
2 |
Somebody hosts a party at their house! Pick a Connection, and describe the party. |
3 |
Sudden Street Fair!!! Obtain:
[1]: A connection with somebody new. |
4 |
There’s a lecturer in town! Describe the talk the character goes to and how they feel about it. |
5 |
Inclement weather! Describe the weather that keeps you indoors for your character’s region, and what your character does that day. |
6 |
The house is falling down! [Heads]: Your character’s house. [Tails]: A connection’s house. Who helps out, and how? |
Ultra Special Prompts
Use these under the specified circumstances or when you’ve written enough about a character and want to shake things up.
- When you visit another character, snap a photo with them, optionally trade items, and write about their visit together.
- If you are on a vacation and have a character’s Token with you, take photos of them on the vacation and describe how they felt about it, what it looked like in their world. BE CAREFUL! Losing Tokens is incredibly sad, so be extra careful with your precious little guys.
- If you’ve written enough prompts, change the character’s pronouns. Describe the process of choosing to do this.
- If you’ve written enough prompts, have the character move to a new place in town, or even a new town. Start a new map and describe the new region they’ve ended up in.
Journal Mode: Plots
Plots allow you to add specific events and story arcs to your character’s life! Plots represent periods of time where big things are happening that impact everything they do. When a character has a plot active, you will journal about a prompt related to the plot, alongside the day’s normal roll on the prompt table. Different plots call to be journaled about at different rates of time, for example, every day, or once a day.
Instead of using dice, plots are powered by cards taken from a standard (french) deck of 52 cards. You will set up the deck according to the plot’s requirements, draw a card to get a prompt, and set it aside, removing it from the deck. Each time you complete a plot’s prompt, check off a box on its event counter. After all of the boxes have been checked off, the plot reaches its Climax, giving you a specific prompt based on the cards drawn that occupies all of the next day. Afterwards, you follow the plot’s Conclusion section, and write about that, making changes as appropriate.
Plot Structure
Name: The plot’s name.
Summary: A summary of the plot and its themes. Use this to determine if you want to play it out or not.
Setup: Instructions of how to set up the plot, including preparing the Plot Deck, and establishing additional details about the plot.
Time Scale: How often you should advance the plot by drawing from the plot deck. This has a range of time usually. For example, a plot could tell you to advance it every 1-2 days.
Prompt Table: A table showing each prompt, corresponding to the cards in the deck that you draw.
Climax: The prompt for the climax of the plot, which depends on the cards drawn.
Conclusion: A prompt detailing the aftermath of the plot, where you resolve changes to the town and the characters, write down thoughts after the fact, and bring the plot to its conclusion. This also depends on the cards drawn prior.
Plot Collection
Moving Away
❐❐❐❐❐❐❐
Summary: One of your character’s Connections is moving away! This plot is about their last days in town, and how your character helps them move out, and how they feel about it.
Setup: Who is moving away? Select a connection who is moving away. Set up the plot deck with ranks A-10 of cards. Suit does not matter. Set up an event counter with 7 checkboxes.
Time Scale: 1-7 days per prompt. They can move away in a week, or a month, if you really want to draw it out. 1 week, or 1 prompt per day, is recommended.
Prompt Table:
Rank |
Prompt |
|---|---|
A |
While helping pack, your character breaks something valuable to their connection. How does your connection feel about this, and how does your character deal with this? |
2 |
While helping pack, your character’s connection reminisces about some of the not so great times. Do you have a laugh about the things you’ve been through together, or feel remorseful? |
3 |
While helping pack, your character reminisces about things they’ve done at their connection's house. What did they used to hang out and do together? |
4 |
A room in the connection’s house brings back memories. What memories? |
5 |
Your character finds something that they lent to their connection while helping them pack. What is it? Do they let their connection keep it, or ask for it back? |
6 |
Your character goes out with their connection to a beloved location, and they have a great time. Where do they go? |
7 |
Your character expresses a fond memory while helping pack. What memory do they reminisce about together? |
8 |
Your character’s connection has their final day at their duty.. How is their sendoff treated? |
9 |
Your character’s connection talks about something they’ll miss in town. What is it? |
10 |
While helping pack, your character finds an object of significant emotional value to the two of you. What is it? Why is it so important? |
Climax: The day of the move has come, and it is the connection’s final day in town.
How does your character feel about this? Write about the last time they spend together in town, and the connection saying goodbye as they complete the final steps of their move. If their bond was close, create an item representing a gift from their connection to your character.
Conclusion: Consult the cards not drawn. What does your character regret not doing while their connection was still in town? Write about that. Based on the results of the climax, update the connection’s entry with their new town.
Sleeping Over
❐❐
Summary: Your character visits a friend in town and sleeps over at their house for a weekend. This is a cute, chill plot about elaborating on a connection.
Setup: Whose house is your character sleeping over at? Select an existing connection. Set up the plot deck with ranks 2-6 of cards in each suit. Set up an event counter with 2-3 boxes. (3 for a long weekend!)
Time Scale: Each prompt represents a part of your character’s visit. You will write about multiple prompts on the same day.
Prompts: For each day, draw three cards for morning, midday, and evening. Red cards indicate that things go well, black cards indicate that things go a little wrong. Spades are stronger than clubs, hearts are stronger than diamonds.
Club: its rough
Spade: its like fine
Diamond: its good
Heart; its really good
Rank |
Morning |
Midday |
Evening |
|---|---|---|---|
2 |
Your character and their connection go for an early walk. Where does their connection take them? |
Your character and their connection go to town. Where does your connection take your character? |
Your character’s connection takes your character to a special place in the evening? Where do they go? |
3 |
Your character and their connection make an elaborate breakfast together. What does their connection love for breakfast, and how does your character feel about it? |
Your character and their connection make an elaborate lunch together. What does their connection love for lunch, and how does your character feel about it? |
Your character and their connection make an elaborate dinner together. What does their connection love for dinner, and how does your character feel about it? |
4 |
Your character and their connection sleep in late. Why? |
Your character and their connection play a game. What games does their connection love? How does the game go? |
Your character and their connection stay up really really late, talking. What do they talk about? |
5 |
Your character and their connection read together in the morning. What books do they share with each other? |
Your character and their connection make art. What kind of art do they do together? How does it go? |
Your character and their connection go to a show in the evening. What entertainment is their connection into? |
6 |
Your character and their connection wake up super early. Why? |
Your character’s connection takes your character out to an activity they like, such as swimming or hiking. Where do they go, and how does your character feel about what they do? |
Your character and their connection stay up really really late, talking. What do they talk about? |
Climax: Write the morning after the day ends, with your character heading home. How do they feel about the sleepover? Was it relaxing or exciting, low-key or stressful? Write their thoughts.
Conclusion: Pick the activity your character enjoyed the most and create a trait based on that.
Multiplayer
Different games of Animal Town World can be linked together! Different modules in this Multiplayer section give you different ways to make connections with other players’ characters in other regions. We all exist in one big World together!
Starting Out:
Add a multiplayer section to your character sheet. When you link up with another player, exchange the following information about your characters:
Name, Species, Material, Town, And a very brief summary. As much detail as you require. Include a photo of the character’s token if you can.
Letter Writing:
Each day, after your daily prompt, roll a d20. If the number you roll is less than the number of days since you have last written a letter, write a new letter. Alternatively, you may write a new letter whenever you wish.
Determine who you want to send the letter to, selecting another player’s character from the Multiplayer section of your sheet. Based on the things that have happened between the last time you have written to them and now, write a letter talking about the things happening in your character’s life. Write in character in first person, y’know, like a letter. Something something, “if I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.”
Send the letter to the player of that character in any form you wish. For maximum style, put the letter in paper, hand-written or otherwise, and send it in the mail. Send an item with the letter if you wish, which is probably easier if the item is an index card.
Appendices
Appendix A: Inspirations
- Neopets
- Restock Machine Comics (Webcomic on Neopets)
- Pokemon
- Animal Crossing
- Frogger’s Journey: The Forgotten Relic
- Harvest Moon & Legend of the River King (a little)
- Poppy and the associated books by Avi
- Frog and Toad
- Hamtaro: the TV series and video games, mostly the video games
- Spongebob Squarepants Seasons 1-3
- Jerry’s Map
- +Anima
- I Spy Treasure Hunt (the book and the game)
Appendix B: Old Material
These two sections date back to the initial draft of this system during FFFFF, a writing challenge I did over the week of the fourth of July. They are included here for posterity, and are not essential.
Example Character
LEGACY CHARGEN: Will Update later
Name: Cecilia J Bunnington
Pronouns: she/her
Species: Rabbit
Material: Wood
Favorite Color: Orange
Cecilia J Bunnington is the latest generation of the Bunnington family that founded the town of Bunnington Heights. As the bearer of high expectations, she is busy and active in town all the time. A little bit of a busybody, a little forceful, a little stuck up, a little silly, but fundamentally kind and always looking out for people.
Cecilia’s starting Map Region, and Token.
Map: Bunnington Heights: A town that exists on the edge of a great big hole in the ground known as the Bunnington Hollow, or just The Hollow. A small village downtown exists in the middle of the wood, and a campground exists down in the hollow. A few trails into the hollow circle the edge.
Default Terrain: Forest
Cecilia’s Home: A lovingly maintained house in the stump of an old, gigantic tree that was long since cut down.
Expansion Content
In retrospect, it's real fun to see how much of this stuff I have actually done!
These are all ideas I had that I really can’t do here now yet because I have one day to put out this concept draft BUT
- Seasonal Activity Tables!!! Frickin, one table for each season for fun. New-England-Ass thing.
- LETTER WRITING. Write a letter about a daily activity, print it out physically and mail it in the mail. This is multiplayer.
- Map System Properly with an acre system based on index cards or using graph paper. (CANCELLED!)
- Detail Tables. Have sub-sections of every prompt that give more guidance. I.e. “your character goes to an Activity and has a great time” vs “your character goes to an Activity and has an awful time.”
- Humanoids! Like IDK a critical part of this aesthetic is the animals but i think you can.
- Ink Mode. Characters who are drawings instead of tokens. This is a whole thing that i just can’t handle rn.
- Neopets-like battledome. I think it would be so funny to have a versus mode like neopets with Items you use in Battle but there are actually no rules for battle so you have to make up fake sounding effects and rules and come to a polite conclusion about who wins or not. IDK, some of these modules should be stupid dead-end features added without future consideration for the real neopets energy. The phrase Incredibly Polite Battle System entered my head.
- M-money??? Idk i dont think it matters but this is the brainstorming department. The original money in animal town was Seals, then Quoins, then Axcela, then most recently my settings have had Excesses. I think you define the money in your region and what its used for idk
- Character Retirement Rules are simply not a thing. These are not really stories meant to have an ending as they’re attached to precious keepsakes.
- Rosa: Adventures!!!! We need a prompt set for going outside of town and going on trips!!! We need some way to have fun encounters and perilous adventures on the road. Annnnnnd maybe a secret identity section would be cute. Maybe Secret Friends? I’d write a Secret Friends module. Also I think humanoids are alright, I think Ritsuka could absolutely be like a Christopher Robin with Cecilia, i think having One Human around speaks to me. That also feels like a module. The Human Friend? Faraway Friend? Something like that.
- Nemesis system. Upgrade Friends to Connections, and add the nature of the connection to it. We absolutely need some kind of petty rivalry. Cute animal drama is so fun!!!
- Possibly replace personality stats with a Questionnaire, so you answer like, 5-6 questions picked from a list and that gives you a starting basis, and then add Traits as a category of an object to define. This is not a module this is core changes.
- PLOTS. Specific story arcs with tables to specify things you do. I.e. A Connection is moving away, so you have like one prompt per day about that until the day comes, this ties in to the next addition
- Time Acceleration. Rules for not doing one prompt per day, but one for the morning, afternoon, night? A table for if your character wakes up in the middle of the night for some reason. Tables tables tables.
Conclusion
There is ever so much work to do to make this totally cool but I am pleased with this as a proof of concept. This is obviously not all that Animal Town was, and I don’t think it can ever be that, but that’s not the point.
This whole project started with me asking the question of “What was the main theme or the main values or Animal Town?” To which the response was total confusion, because that was not the thought process back then. The entire point was to play with toys and make stories with friends, always inspired by what we were into at the time. I put in entire neopets plots.
It was then that I realized I had to make that the point of this one. I wanted to make a game about playing with toys. The point is to do that, even better with friends. I also realized the importance of Tokens. A big part of Animal Town was choosing what figure represented you in the world, and making a character around them. Organically, with different friends and figures, some rules emerged, like having to be really really careful with glass animals, and putting the really tiny ones in capsules so they wouldn’t be so easily lost.
This inspired me to create the Token rules, with the material of the Token affecting their personality. I ended up really liking the word Token, like a monopoly token, the game piece that represents the character. Obviously they’re more than just a wooden or plastic piece in the world, but grounding them with an object really focuses on the toy play.
It was at this moment during the brainstorming that I realized that plushies would make absolutely fabulous tokens, and that using precious long-time plushies would make this game appeal to a huge amount of my trans friends who are plushie fans. This was when I thought of letter writing and visits, and understood the fundamental appeal of having the Tokens be physically present with eachother, and my mind started going absolutely crazy and I knew I had to make this a real thing.
Items and the concept around them came from my dad. I originally had a vision of spraypainting an actual-ass soda can and writing “CANNED MILK” on it, but then he mentioned the idea of having a character be just on a disc, and my mind connected a lot of things at once. In neopets, waaay back, every item used to be in a little box in the inventory, and a popular webcomic on there depicted every item as in convenient pocket-size boxes that would represent the item before the box was opened and the full size item came out and was usable. I thought having coins or disc shaped items would capture a similar energy, but also wanted to allow index cards, so you can send items in the mail in a letter envelope.
I really, really want to make letter writing a thing. That feels so, so powerful. It’d be another way in which the game is both real and imaginary, physical and virtual. It just has to be done, I just did not have the bandwidth to put it in this draft.
This FFFFF series has been really personal to me a lot, and had a lot of introspection. This project is really close to my heart as well. I haven’t introspected about my oldest stories and my oldest made-up game in like a decade, so it feels nice to look back and be inspired to make something new.