hello! i don't know if this is going to make much sense, but i wanted to let you know that i found myself absolutely staggered reading over the pdf for this game: not just for the elegance of the design or mechanics or writing, which are all of course wonderful, but also because it would not be inaccurate to say that i had a dream about this game before ever meeting it.
i had a drowning dream several years ago that has stuck with me like no dream ever did, about being thrown overboard and found by a siren whose tail locked into the curves of a human body like no human embrace ever could, and drowning in that embrace in a way that was both undeniably cruel and impossibly tender. and watching her hand reach to my lips and pull my breath out of my lungs. and feeling my body transform beneath her grip into something strange and covered head to toe in scales and no longer human as she swallowed the breath for herself. i know it's hard to describe dreams without sounding obnoxious and i know that maybe what i'm describing doesn't seem especially remarkable when put into words, but i've been chasing the specific feeling that that dream left me with for years, and today i *finally* found it mirrored exactly in the final playbill of this game.
so yeah -- i suppose i just wanted to reach out and let you know that you've managed to author a genuinely magical moment for me with the sailor and the siren. really, really looking forward to playing this one!
If you like romance, doom, and the great big sea, this game could be for you.
My girlfriend and I had a lot of fun playing through this game, though I'm not sure it holds a lot of replay value - maybe in a few months, we'll switch roles and try again, but the elegant simplicity of this story means there's only so much room for one playthrough to differ from the next. Still, even for just one round, it was a fascinating experience.
One thing that tripped us up is neither of us read too far ahead, worried about spoiling our own experience. My recommendation is that, at the very least, read each scene through beginning to end before you play that scene.
When we played, I curated a board of soundscapes to play in different scenes for immersion. This isn't necessary, but if you're interested, here are my recommendations: MyNoise - Sailboat for the opening scene / anything on the boat (if your game has a more modern ship, try MyNoise - Tanker at Sea) MyNoise - Irish Coast for anything on the surface of the water Talisk - Echo a sprightly tune in the north atlantic tradition, for playing over the other relevant soundscapes during the Dance MyNoise - In Utero for anything underwater MyNoise - Chapel Voices to be layered under In Utero for a haunting vocal effect during the Drowning
Got this in a bundle a long time ago and played it recently with a likeminded person. The game was short, but on point. Also had a laugh, when we both played an ace in the end :)
The Sailor And The Siren is a two-player, card-based rpg about exactly what it says in the title.
It's 11 pages, with solid layout and colorful ocean backgrounds that start above water, and then sink into the depths.
You play by playing cards of different suits to indicate how your character (the siren or the sailor) is regarding the other. Higher numbered cards take effect first, and specific cards played during specific parts of the game trigger additional narrative effects.
The Siren starts with a larger pool of cards, and has pretty strong narrative control throughout, so there are definite themes of uneven power dynamics alongside the themes of romance and predation.
Overall, if you like two-player games that are intense, and optionally either dark or romantic, you should pick up The Siren And The Sailor. If that's not quite your cup of tea but you still like the structure, S&S *is* mod-able, but you'll want to read it through once first to figure out where you want the storyline to diverge.
Hello! What a wonderful game :) My favourite part is how well you have interlaced the feeling of danger for the Sailor in all of the scenes that comes from interacting with such an otherworldly being, as well as how the Siren has to navigate through their feelings of love and hunger, how contrasting those are in some points and yet how understandingly similar they are in others.
A thing that was a bit disappointing is that, the way the scenes are structured, since First Sight always leads to either the Conversation or the Swim the part of the Dance about "Move on to the Conversation if the dance was above the water, or the Swim if the dance was below the water" will never be able to be fulfilled since each scene is played only once.
My favourite scene has to be the Dive because of the feeling of inevitability that comes with it. Even more so than the final one, I thought this was were the path to one end or another was written. However, I found all of the scenes absolutely gorgeous, and the picture they paint together is very well linked -- and yet it lends itself to a lot of different scenarios thanks to your use of cards and the roleplayers' actions.
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played this again last week, and once again had a (tragically) good time!
hello! i don't know if this is going to make much sense, but i wanted to let you know that i found myself absolutely staggered reading over the pdf for this game: not just for the elegance of the design or mechanics or writing, which are all of course wonderful, but also because it would not be inaccurate to say that i had a dream about this game before ever meeting it.
i had a drowning dream several years ago that has stuck with me like no dream ever did, about being thrown overboard and found by a siren whose tail locked into the curves of a human body like no human embrace ever could, and drowning in that embrace in a way that was both undeniably cruel and impossibly tender. and watching her hand reach to my lips and pull my breath out of my lungs. and feeling my body transform beneath her grip into something strange and covered head to toe in scales and no longer human as she swallowed the breath for herself. i know it's hard to describe dreams without sounding obnoxious and i know that maybe what i'm describing doesn't seem especially remarkable when put into words, but i've been chasing the specific feeling that that dream left me with for years, and today i *finally* found it mirrored exactly in the final playbill of this game.
so yeah -- i suppose i just wanted to reach out and let you know that you've managed to author a genuinely magical moment for me with the sailor and the siren. really, really looking forward to playing this one!
Thank you! Glad I could recreate that feeling, it's based quite a bit off of my own drowning dreams.
If you like romance, doom, and the great big sea, this game could be for you.
My girlfriend and I had a lot of fun playing through this game, though I'm not sure it holds a lot of replay value - maybe in a few months, we'll switch roles and try again, but the elegant simplicity of this story means there's only so much room for one playthrough to differ from the next. Still, even for just one round, it was a fascinating experience.
One thing that tripped us up is neither of us read too far ahead, worried about spoiling our own experience. My recommendation is that, at the very least, read each scene through beginning to end before you play that scene.
When we played, I curated a board of soundscapes to play in different scenes for immersion. This isn't necessary, but if you're interested, here are my recommendations:
MyNoise - Sailboat for the opening scene / anything on the boat (if your game has a more modern ship, try MyNoise - Tanker at Sea)
MyNoise - Irish Coast for anything on the surface of the water
Talisk - Echo a sprightly tune in the north atlantic tradition, for playing over the other relevant soundscapes during the Dance
MyNoise - In Utero for anything underwater
MyNoise - Chapel Voices to be layered under In Utero for a haunting vocal effect during the Drowning
Got this in a bundle a long time ago and played it recently with a likeminded person. The game was short, but on point. Also had a laugh, when we both played an ace in the end :)
The Sailor And The Siren is a two-player, card-based rpg about exactly what it says in the title.
It's 11 pages, with solid layout and colorful ocean backgrounds that start above water, and then sink into the depths.
You play by playing cards of different suits to indicate how your character (the siren or the sailor) is regarding the other. Higher numbered cards take effect first, and specific cards played during specific parts of the game trigger additional narrative effects.
The Siren starts with a larger pool of cards, and has pretty strong narrative control throughout, so there are definite themes of uneven power dynamics alongside the themes of romance and predation.
Overall, if you like two-player games that are intense, and optionally either dark or romantic, you should pick up The Siren And The Sailor. If that's not quite your cup of tea but you still like the structure, S&S *is* mod-able, but you'll want to read it through once first to figure out where you want the storyline to diverge.
Hello! What a wonderful game :) My favourite part is how well you have interlaced the feeling of danger for the Sailor in all of the scenes that comes from interacting with such an otherworldly being, as well as how the Siren has to navigate through their feelings of love and hunger, how contrasting those are in some points and yet how understandingly similar they are in others.
A thing that was a bit disappointing is that, the way the scenes are structured, since First Sight always leads to either the Conversation or the Swim the part of the Dance about "Move on to the Conversation if the dance was above the water, or the Swim if the dance was below the water" will never be able to be fulfilled since each scene is played only once.
My favourite scene has to be the Dive because of the feeling of inevitability that comes with it. Even more so than the final one, I thought this was were the path to one end or another was written. However, I found all of the scenes absolutely gorgeous, and the picture they paint together is very well linked -- and yet it lends itself to a lot of different scenarios thanks to your use of cards and the roleplayers' actions.
Thank you so much for sharing this game <3