Burning Sky | prototype
Logic is shattered.
In a world without rules, we make our own order:
language and memory.
I am very happy to start posting about Burning Sky. This setting is several years old. I was struggling with a course on philosophy of logic, and a paper on truth deflationism was giving me trouble.
So I tried to imagine a world where logic is a law more real than the laws of physics. And logic, philosophers say, can be changed.
And now I think I finally know how to tell stories about this world (an earlier attempt here).
In short: rules of the world are unstable. A special language helps keep them together, but only locally and only for a short while. Powers That Be hire mercenaries and adventurers to retrieve more words and seize control over the heartbeat of the world.
The difficult thing about it is making place for all its abstract things and logical gymnastics. I am not entirely sure contradictions can even be depicted! So I resort to symbolic representations: card, icons, and long-winded descriptions, all put to motion with the power of player’s ✨imagination✨.
I want to be realistic with the project goals (and unrealistic with its message), so the structure is a card-based roguelike.
Here’s the first twist: inspired heavily by the Weather Factory games, the deck is not just your weapons and spells. It’s you. Memories, feelings, inclinations — even wounds and fears. And there will be circumstances where you’d want to use even those!
And here’s the second twist: the obstacle is not an enemy (or, well, not always an enemy). It is a problem on your way, packaged as a short standalone encounter, old-fashioned TTRPG-style. To solve it, use whatever you have!
In other words, this game is a roguelike point-and-click puzzle with RPG elements.
And a very early, very rough mechanical prototype of this game can be found right here.
Now for the boring part. As much as my eyes light up at the above, this is hardly lucrative. Right now I put it forth and will refer back to it as updates come along!
But if this sounds like the sort of thing you’d enjoy, please let me know! Feedback is very encouraging.
