I started this off with no clue about my character, and ended with a full story world with lore in the back of my head that has infinite replay potential. The prompts where very intriguing though it wasn't all too clear to me at first you had to roll the d6 multiple times for some cards because of the way it was worded (like first for figuring out which table to use, and then for how hard the encounter is to overcome, or for the demeanor of a Being). I noticed the further I got the more liberties I started to take and stuck less to the rules of the game, and trusted more on my own writing.
As someone who struggles a lot with creative writing and starting on stories, games like these are incredible to get going and just trust the process and being surprised by twists and turns before running off with all the inspiration offered to create a story!
Glad to hear your experience with the game wasn't a bust! I find myself always starting the same way with solo-journal games; unsure of what my character is doing. There are a lot of other journal games on itch that I'm sure you will enjoy, many much better written than Wandering Dreams!
Thanks for the request! I will try to do a epub version export over the next day for you. I'll post an update at that time, so watch your email for anything popping up about Wandering Dreams.
Ah, this game makes me happy on a fundamental level in a way very few things can. I am, at heart, a writer with an adoration for gothic fantasy and lovecraftian fantasy in equal measure. Hell, my own personal setting is called Torpor, and it is a realm of dreams. All I can say is that since I bought it last year, this game has been a delightful way to explore my own dreamy world through the lense of the prompts and places provided in this twenty four page wonder. It has done its duty in sparking inspiration, joy, and helping me explore the fundamental realm of my own little world. Though I have not yet ‘completed’ a run, I have started several, and each one has helped breathe life and legend (and usually over 10k words each time) into my little imaginary place. It makes me happy, and I’m starting yet another run tonight. Thanks for making it.
Thank you for the review! I'm elated to hear that my little game has brought you so much delight through worldbuilding to you. It is always amazing to hear feedback from players on how the game worked for them, and even if it didn't!
I hope you continue to enjoy wandering through the dreams of your world.
This game rules. I've never really played a tabletop game that felt so strongly like a narrative rogue-like, and I absolutely loved the legacy mechanic, which again, is something I haven't seen in other TTRPGs. I talked about playing it on a podcast, since I have one of those now, but this is a really interesting piece of design and a fun game.
Hi, I made a review and an example of story created while playing your wonderful game. On Twitch here, while I edit it to upload it to YouTube and maybe my podcast. In Spanish.
Hi there! Just wanted to let you know that the "Ending the Game" section of the PDF has the same contents as the "Setup" section! I don't know if this is a mistake or not
Thanks for letting me know, that was a big error on my part. I will remove the "Setup" section one and republish the PDF today. You can just ignore it on your current version! :)
Hey there! Is there a preview available? I really like solo games, and I love Soulsborne stuff, but I'd like to know if this would be good for Campaign-style play (multiple sessions using the same character) or is more of a one-shot thing before investing on it.
Anyway, congrats for making such a cool sounding game, and for being able to materialize ideas into a product, that's a talent in and of itself :)
Hey Aldath, I have been meaning to upload a few preview images for people to see what's inside. Give me a day to get that done! The game is designed to encourage multiple playthroughs with character customization and legacy rules that are easy to expand on.
Thank you for reaching out. If you want to grab a community copy (free) as well there will be a few going up today!
No problem, I was like "ehhh I can do this!", went ahead and grabbed it. I really like it, but I would appreciate the previews anyways, for future consumers.
Again, good job and thanks for giving us this game! :D
If Bleak Spirit is Dark Souls, this is Bloodborne.
The layout is clean, the illustrations are nice, and it packs a lot of flavor into its 18 pages, so if you like storytelling games, and you like the lovecraftian gothic macabre of Bloodborne, this may be your jam. It *is* a solo game, and it works well as a writing prompt, but it could probably also be played with a team, with everyone making decisions for the central character.
There's combat (although it's optional,) and there's a lot of potential interactions with your encounters, so the game should be both exciting and stay pretty fresh throughout. That said, it does use a d6 random roll to determine a lot of narrative results, so whether things go well or ill for your character may depend a lot on luck.
There are typos in the current version, and I've documented the ones I found below in case it's helpful, but they're not super disruptive and don't mess with the meaning of any game content.
There's also a lot of things that are said in the rules, and then immediately re-stated, sometimes in the same sentence. This can be a little disruptive, but it's only really an issue when you're reading the encounter guidelines. Also, the game does have a quick reference for the rules on page 3 (and then repeated on page 17,) and it's very useful, so flip back to it if you ever get turned around.
On the very plus side, Wandering Spirit includes a legacy mode where you permanently change the game book each time you complete a character, and this is extremely cool. Honestly, the system is worth it for that alone.
Overall, I think I'd recommend this first and foremost to folks who like to write and who like gothic macabre in general or Bloodborne in specific. For folks who are not comfortable with their own writing, this game is a great way to tell a story without any pressure and with a cool atmosphere and maybe get past that block.
Wandering Spirit is also pretty well-suited for the solo ttrpg crowd. It's got just enough crunch via its dice rolls and mechanics to avoid being a purely just-tell-a-story game, but it's much more about flavor and atmosphere than it is about rolling. If you like branching path gamebooks, you'll probably also like this for similar reasons.
Minor Issues:
-Page 2, para 1, "adven ture" adventure
-Page 2, para 2 "anything make you uncomfortable" makes
-Page 2, para 3 "characters story" character's
-Page 2, para 3 "and even location to" locations
-Page 2, para 2 "pull our the full length" pull out
-Page 2, The Cards, para 1 "looking u p" up
-Page 4, para 1, "reach you inevitable awaken" reach your inevitable awakening
-Page 4, para 2 "find answers the answers they seek" find the answers they seek
-Page 4, Huntsman of Beasts, "torn an bloodied attire" torn and bloodied attire
-Page 6, para 1, "use the cards value" card's
-Page 6, para 1, "page #" page number is missing
-Page 7, para 1, "rolls the d6 again" roll
-Page 7, last para, "I was the meal. ." extra .
-Page 9, para 2, "to use an Thing" a Thing
-Page 10, para 1, "choose an option from the below" from below
Thank you for the review and feedback! The issues you mentioned are on my list to be checked again and will be fixed in the next digital version release if they haven't already been found (I had an editor look it over). I do have an issue with run-on sentences and repetition in my writing and appreciate you catching it and listing the issues.
I got this as part of the racial equality bundle, and I just wanted to say that this looks AMAZING. I have always wanted to get into TTRPGs and a single-player experience like this might just be what I needed. Thanks and Godspeed to you
As someone who greatly struggles lately with inspiration and creative spark, this has been amazing! I def recommend this to anyone who is just wanting to sit back and see how a story plays out through rolls and draws!
Happy you found some creative juice from the game. That was a huge push for me to complete the project and it's great hearing others can get the same from the game.
I received this with the racial equality bundle and just wanted to say that I loved this experience. It's structured enough so that someone new to single player ttrpgs like me can figure it out, but it leaves lots up to the player, allowing you to change the experience to your liking. I greatly enjoyed this game and wanted to say thank you for it. :)
← Return to game
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
I started this off with no clue about my character, and ended with a full story world with lore in the back of my head that has infinite replay potential. The prompts where very intriguing though it wasn't all too clear to me at first you had to roll the d6 multiple times for some cards because of the way it was worded (like first for figuring out which table to use, and then for how hard the encounter is to overcome, or for the demeanor of a Being). I noticed the further I got the more liberties I started to take and stuck less to the rules of the game, and trusted more on my own writing.
As someone who struggles a lot with creative writing and starting on stories, games like these are incredible to get going and just trust the process and being surprised by twists and turns before running off with all the inspiration offered to create a story!
Glad to hear your experience with the game wasn't a bust! I find myself always starting the same way with solo-journal games; unsure of what my character is doing. There are a lot of other journal games on itch that I'm sure you will enjoy, many much better written than Wandering Dreams!
All the best in your future writing endeavours.
there will be more community copies?
I can add more now. Enjoy!
If you add more please lmk :)
I've added a few copies earned through reviews.
Enjoying the game so far but would love to have an epub or plaintext version to help me play on my phone!
Thanks for the request! I will try to do a epub version export over the next day for you. I'll post an update at that time, so watch your email for anything popping up about Wandering Dreams.
Ah, this game makes me happy on a fundamental level in a way very few things can. I am, at heart, a writer with an adoration for gothic fantasy and lovecraftian fantasy in equal measure. Hell, my own personal setting is called Torpor, and it is a realm of dreams. All I can say is that since I bought it last year, this game has been a delightful way to explore my own dreamy world through the lense of the prompts and places provided in this twenty four page wonder. It has done its duty in sparking inspiration, joy, and helping me explore the fundamental realm of my own little world. Though I have not yet ‘completed’ a run, I have started several, and each one has helped breathe life and legend (and usually over 10k words each time) into my little imaginary place. It makes me happy, and I’m starting yet another run tonight. Thanks for making it.
Thank you for the review! I'm elated to hear that my little game has brought you so much delight through worldbuilding to you. It is always amazing to hear feedback from players on how the game worked for them, and even if it didn't!
I hope you continue to enjoy wandering through the dreams of your world.
All the best,
- Cody
What is the difference between the demo and the full version, i mean what include the full version?
Demo version is the old 1.0 copy of the game. The full version has updated art, layout, and fixes a few of the rules wording.
There are a Spanish version??
There is not that I know of. I can provide the original texts to you, if that helps with translating?
Don't worry, I need to improve my English anyway. Thanks for you reply
This game rules. I've never really played a tabletop game that felt so strongly like a narrative rogue-like, and I absolutely loved the legacy mechanic, which again, is something I haven't seen in other TTRPGs. I talked about playing it on a podcast, since I have one of those now, but this is a really interesting piece of design and a fun game.
Thank you for the kind words. I am very happy to hear that you enjoyed the game so much!
Thanks for making a really interesting game!
Hi, I made a review and an example of story created while playing your wonderful game. On Twitch here, while I edit it to upload it to YouTube and maybe my podcast. In Spanish.
Thank you for taking the time to play and review it! I don't know any Spanish, sorry, but I appreciate it nonetheless.
Hi there! Just wanted to let you know that the "Ending the Game" section of the PDF has the same contents as the "Setup" section! I don't know if this is a mistake or not
Thanks for letting me know, that was a big error on my part. I will remove the "Setup" section one and republish the PDF today. You can just ignore it on your current version! :)
Hey there! Is there a preview available? I really like solo games, and I love Soulsborne stuff, but I'd like to know if this would be good for Campaign-style play (multiple sessions using the same character) or is more of a one-shot thing before investing on it.
Anyway, congrats for making such a cool sounding game, and for being able to materialize ideas into a product, that's a talent in and of itself :)
Hey Aldath,
I have been meaning to upload a few preview images for people to see what's inside. Give me a day to get that done! The game is designed to encourage multiple playthroughs with character customization and legacy rules that are easy to expand on.
Thank you for reaching out. If you want to grab a community copy (free) as well there will be a few going up today!
- Cody
No problem, I was like "ehhh I can do this!", went ahead and grabbed it. I really like it, but I would appreciate the previews anyways, for future consumers.
Again, good job and thanks for giving us this game! :D
If Bleak Spirit is Dark Souls, this is Bloodborne.
The layout is clean, the illustrations are nice, and it packs a lot of flavor into its 18 pages, so if you like storytelling games, and you like the lovecraftian gothic macabre of Bloodborne, this may be your jam. It *is* a solo game, and it works well as a writing prompt, but it could probably also be played with a team, with everyone making decisions for the central character.
There's combat (although it's optional,) and there's a lot of potential interactions with your encounters, so the game should be both exciting and stay pretty fresh throughout. That said, it does use a d6 random roll to determine a lot of narrative results, so whether things go well or ill for your character may depend a lot on luck.
There are typos in the current version, and I've documented the ones I found below in case it's helpful, but they're not super disruptive and don't mess with the meaning of any game content.
There's also a lot of things that are said in the rules, and then immediately re-stated, sometimes in the same sentence. This can be a little disruptive, but it's only really an issue when you're reading the encounter guidelines. Also, the game does have a quick reference for the rules on page 3 (and then repeated on page 17,) and it's very useful, so flip back to it if you ever get turned around.
On the very plus side, Wandering Spirit includes a legacy mode where you permanently change the game book each time you complete a character, and this is extremely cool. Honestly, the system is worth it for that alone.
Overall, I think I'd recommend this first and foremost to folks who like to write and who like gothic macabre in general or Bloodborne in specific. For folks who are not comfortable with their own writing, this game is a great way to tell a story without any pressure and with a cool atmosphere and maybe get past that block.
Wandering Spirit is also pretty well-suited for the solo ttrpg crowd. It's got just enough crunch via its dice rolls and mechanics to avoid being a purely just-tell-a-story game, but it's much more about flavor and atmosphere than it is about rolling. If you like branching path gamebooks, you'll probably also like this for similar reasons.
Minor Issues:
-Page 2, para 1, "adven ture" adventure
-Page 2, para 2 "anything make you uncomfortable" makes
-Page 2, para 3 "characters story" character's
-Page 2, para 3 "and even location to" locations
-Page 2, para 2 "pull our the full length" pull out
-Page 2, The Cards, para 1 "looking u p" up
-Page 4, para 1, "reach you inevitable awaken" reach your inevitable awakening
-Page 4, para 2 "find answers the answers they seek" find the answers they seek
-Page 4, Huntsman of Beasts, "torn an bloodied attire" torn and bloodied attire
-Page 6, para 1, "use the cards value" card's
-Page 6, para 1, "page #" page number is missing
-Page 7, para 1, "rolls the d6 again" roll
-Page 7, last para, "I was the meal. ." extra .
-Page 9, para 2, "to use an Thing" a Thing
-Page 10, para 1, "choose an option from the below" from below
Thank you for the review and feedback! The issues you mentioned are on my list to be checked again and will be fixed in the next digital version release if they haven't already been found (I had an editor look it over). I do have an issue with run-on sentences and repetition in my writing and appreciate you catching it and listing the issues.
No worries! It's a super cool game.
I got this as part of the racial equality bundle, and I just wanted to say that this looks AMAZING. I have always wanted to get into TTRPGs and a single-player experience like this might just be what I needed. Thanks and Godspeed to you
As someone who greatly struggles lately with inspiration and creative spark, this has been amazing! I def recommend this to anyone who is just wanting to sit back and see how a story plays out through rolls and draws!
Happy you found some creative juice from the game. That was a huge push for me to complete the project and it's great hearing others can get the same from the game.
I received this with the racial equality bundle and just wanted to say that I loved this experience. It's structured enough so that someone new to single player ttrpgs like me can figure it out, but it leaves lots up to the player, allowing you to change the experience to your liking. I greatly enjoyed this game and wanted to say thank you for it. :)
Glad to hear you enjoyed it!