Babel
A downloadable game
Close your eyes. When you open them, you find yourself lying in the dust in a vast deserted hall, clutching a journal which is empty, except for a title written on the cover- “Notes on The Unified Language from The Tower of Babel”.
Babel is a Wretched and Alone Journaling game based on Bruegel's painting of the Tower of Babel that uses a journal and recording device, block tower, deck of cards, letter tiles and a die to tell your story of self-discovery from within this legendary edifice.
Babel was originally conceived as part of Laurie O'Connel's Painting Jam
Purchase
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Community Copy
If you're in need and can't afford a copy of the game, help yourself to a community copy of the digital zine.
Comments
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Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity in providing community copies of your game. I’m a disabled pension who can’t afford much so these free gifts really help me out in playing games and keeping my mind active. I won’t be broke forever so plan on coming back when I’m able to help out.
I really appreciate your hard work and kindness in providing community copies.
A really evocative game backed up by some very deft use of mechanical systems as metaphor.
More than anything though the writing is excellent and really makes this particular game shine!
Absolutely recommend!
Babel is an absolutely gorgeous book. Vibrant colours, brilliant use throughout of an inspirational artwork, and lovely clean layout. If you can manage to get a print copy, it’s a joy to flip through.
It’s also a very good game. Based on the Wretched & Alone engine, it draws a really clear connection between the artefacts of play and game’s themes: the tumbling block tower is the Tower of Babel, a set of letter tiles represent The Unified Language you seek, and you record your diary in a journal from which you tear the first five pages - the first piece of the mystery.
As a solo journalling game, Babel contains a lot of prompts for the player to respond to. The prompt design is really strong, an excellent mix of physical actions and questions. The questions are expertly written: a very specific sense prompt followed by a very general question. This gives the player a lot to work with, while still staying general enough to make it easy to come up with things that fit the current character and narrative.
I really loved this game. Heartily recommend checking it out!
Babel is a single-player journaling rpg in which you play an amnesiac archaeologist exploring the tower of babel.
It's 20 pages, with strong graphic design, clean layout, and an overall really consistent and solid visual impression.
Mechanically, Babel uses the Wretched & Alone engine, so expect jenga and dice rolls and winning being a matter of luck as much as it is a matter of endurance. However, it also uses a scrabble set to track your progress towards remembering your True Name.
Atmosphere-wise, Babel has a strong eerie/gothic feel to it, while still maintaining a sense of mystery and grandeur. The quest you're on is significant, with major implications if you succeed, and the environment is sometimes dangerous, but not overtly scary.
Overall, if you want a journaling game where you feel like you're part of something bigger, and if you like suspense and maybe a sudden anticlimax, definitely check this out. If you haven't yet checked out any journaling games and you tend to like adventure and survival elements, this is probably also a neat place to start.
Thanks Kumada!