This is so beautifully written in its own slightly melancholy way , and really well put together as well :) You should be proud :)

I’m not familiar with For the Queen, so I’m not sure how much of this game is a hack of that game, or uses its SRD, etc. However, I really like what you have here. The idea of being alone (or with others) in a maze with no memory or even knowledge of time, where you are, etc. is really intriguing. It also lends itself to a mood of its own: certainly curious, but it can be as frightening or exploratory as you want. I can even see different players trying to pull it in different ways, like the colorful door depicting a beautiful garden, but then the music one hears being something out of a horror movie. I could even see some little “hidden mechanic” where each player is getting glimpses of life prior to the maze as they explore. Maybe each time someone describes something, all players roll a d20 and if anyone gets a 20, this answer sparks something in their memory somehow. 

I also really love how even the game-end prompt has you ALL explain why you can’t leave, even though this exit has been your goal for the entire game. It’s very metaphorical of life: we’re in this slog, day after day, often not even remembering why we’re doing it or who we are in a given moment as we act for other people and put on hats at our jobs, schools, etc. that come with personas.

Honestly, I’m really struggling to come up with anything to critique here lol, it’s incredibly solid, and I love how the prompts are equally good at guiding players while leaving ALL the room for interpretation in any specific setting. And the X-Card use is great; I often have players remove the Jokers in my games, and never even considered using one as an X-Card!

PS: If you remove the images, take out the page breaks, and change the fonts to one they include in the jam, you could easily enter this into Minimalist TTRPG Jam 4 too!

- ✨Beth

I especially enjoyed the initial setting/storybuilding you started out with. You did a great job with few words really laying out the scenario. It painted a thorough picture while also giving just enough to spark the players imagination. 

I appreciate the options for different play counts and how the deck changes depending on the number of players. I like that the drama kind of amps up through the prompts with each suit added. This is nicely written and feels well balanced to account for different player counts.

~Angel

I took a moment to remember a long-distance ex of mine and then recognized that, yes, I consented to suffering my own ghosts when no one asked that of me. I don't think I can get through the rest of the game tonight, but I don't regret thinking about the weight I forgot about. 

I like the mechanics, but I was a little disappointed about... something, but I'm not sure why. The game gives me very strong vibes of "it is futile to even try to escape the maze", which are not to my taste at all. I think I am simply Not the right player for this game, and that's fine! I do appreciate that you created this atmosphere of hopelessness and exhaustion and that it kept throughout.

Always a sucker for a maze! Really cool idea for a multiplayer journaling game and I love how you scaled it for each player count. Great Job!

This is an interesting game. If I have a complaint (and I always do) the final question should not be the first question everyone sees. I think it would be more dramatic if it was hidden away at the end and everyone discovered it when the game ended. Over all I really liked the prompts.