This was my first solo-rpg and I had a lot of fun! I switched characters every loop, and the insight I got into the different relationships and character motives was really interesting. The level of mystery was really multi-faceted.
Cage of Sand is a solo (or optionally multiplayer) tarot-based timeloop horror game. It's short, has a stark but lovely layout, and comes with a number of safety tools.
It *is* very player-GM'd, and a lot of its mechanics run on interpretation of prompts, so if you're not comfortable telling a lot of your story yourself, you might want to modify some mechanics and appoint a GM.
Overall, this is definitely worth checking out if you enjoy timeloop fiction such as Re: Zero, Tragedy Looper, certain stories about cicadas, Happy Death Day, etc. If you haven't tried timeloop stories yet, or haven't hit one you really enjoy, this is still absolutely a good starting point if you also enjoy horror.
Minor Issues:
-I'm not sure I completely understood the 54321 mechanic. Is it a grounding exercise? An automatic break in gameflow to cut the intensity? That seemed to be the intent, but I didn't spot an explanation outright.
54321 is an optional safety tool based on a common grounding technique. My intent was to leave it up to players to decide when/if to use it, but I suggest at least placing the card on the table and glancing over it once per loop as a reminder that it's available if needed. I'll have a look at the wording and see if I can make this clearer. Thanks again :)
A fantastic game, lending itself to new and original stories each time it's played while keeping the same plot threads and themes. Brilliantly captures the mood of Umineko and similar games, and is just a joy to play. Easy to pick up and try, easy to teach, and incredibly engrossing.
CAGE OF SAND is a tarot RPG about a time loop horror story, inspired by stories like the When They Cry series. I absolutely love the setting, and the mechanics are ingenious. You play as someone who just woke up from a nightmare, and you interact with NPCs represented by tarot cards. And then (spoiler alert) everyone dies, and the cards get shuffled. With each time loop, you obtain new information and get closer to unravelling the mystery. I really adore the use of tarot cards for open ended story telling, and I can see the parallel between shuffling the cards and going through a time loop, which is very cool.
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Hi! Could you add more community copies please?
This was my first solo-rpg and I had a lot of fun! I switched characters every loop, and the insight I got into the different relationships and character motives was really interesting. The level of mystery was really multi-faceted.
Dirk played this on Hope's Hearth and made a suitably terrifying and tragic story that still haunts me. Highly recommend this game
Hi,
I was wondering if you were planning on adding more community copies of this game? :)
Will more Community Copies be added?
Just added a few more if you'd like to claim one - was a bit behind in updating these so thanks for the reminder!
Thank you so much!
Cage of Sand is a solo (or optionally multiplayer) tarot-based timeloop horror game. It's short, has a stark but lovely layout, and comes with a number of safety tools.
It *is* very player-GM'd, and a lot of its mechanics run on interpretation of prompts, so if you're not comfortable telling a lot of your story yourself, you might want to modify some mechanics and appoint a GM.
Overall, this is definitely worth checking out if you enjoy timeloop fiction such as Re: Zero, Tragedy Looper, certain stories about cicadas, Happy Death Day, etc. If you haven't tried timeloop stories yet, or haven't hit one you really enjoy, this is still absolutely a good starting point if you also enjoy horror.
Minor Issues:
-I'm not sure I completely understood the 54321 mechanic. Is it a grounding exercise? An automatic break in gameflow to cut the intensity? That seemed to be the intent, but I didn't spot an explanation outright.
Thanks very much for the review!
54321 is an optional safety tool based on a common grounding technique. My intent was to leave it up to players to decide when/if to use it, but I suggest at least placing the card on the table and glancing over it once per loop as a reminder that it's available if needed. I'll have a look at the wording and see if I can make this clearer. Thanks again :)
A fantastic game, lending itself to new and original stories each time it's played while keeping the same plot threads and themes. Brilliantly captures the mood of Umineko and similar games, and is just a joy to play. Easy to pick up and try, easy to teach, and incredibly engrossing.
CAGE OF SAND is a tarot RPG about a time loop horror story, inspired by stories like the When They Cry series. I absolutely love the setting, and the mechanics are ingenious. You play as someone who just woke up from a nightmare, and you interact with NPCs represented by tarot cards. And then (spoiler alert) everyone dies, and the cards get shuffled. With each time loop, you obtain new information and get closer to unravelling the mystery. I really adore the use of tarot cards for open ended story telling, and I can see the parallel between shuffling the cards and going through a time loop, which is very cool.