We Eat Roses To Grow Thorns
A downloadable game
Pay Attention, This Will Only Take a Moment
A GMless game for 2-5 people, using a modified version of the Belonging Outside Belonging engine.
Princess, Thorn, Gardener, Thief, and lovely Petal endure the Manor, surrounded by the Hedge, home to the Visitors. They are stalked by The Dreaming Beast, and all the while The Master of the Estate draws ever closer.
Play to find out how they'll hurt each other.
You may never play the Gardener.
Content Warnings
Many.
This game includes elements of hostile game design. It is also autobiographical.
Download
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Comments
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Reading this lit my brain and made me feel things. Just so very cool.
This is beautiful, thank you.
Hello there, this is exactly the kind of interesting... game design? writing?... that I've been into recently. Just one question: I'm confused when the setting elements are supposed to play their moves, but is that confusion part of the design?
Setting elements can use their moves whenever their player wants to
Thankyou! I jsut wanted you to know that I think this piece of work is incredible. The unsettling manner of writing with the contradictory instructions perfectly sets up the tone and lets us imagine just what kind of experiences might bring one to create such a specific experience.
The discussion I had with my ex upon showing this to her was revelatory. She said I was the gardener, and I said that I can't be the gardener because nobody can be the gardener. I think I understand a little better what we had, what we lost, and what we could build anew in the ruins.
I hope you find happiness, prosperity and fulfilment in your days yet to come.
Really glad you enjoyed it! And thank you
This is a dark, disturbing and enticing game, but also a beautiful piece of game design. Rarely have I read games which content is 99% in the sheets, and beautifully intertwined at that.