Kicking & Screaming & Crying

**8/1/2026 UPDATE** Clarified word choice in the Processing stage, and added d6 to listed starting materials. Created an optional business-card size printable "Processing Evaluation Card" that takes the Processing meter and puts it on a card where you can move left/right with a business card more easily. (Made as a PNG so you can easily size to your preference.) Community copies re-upped! You're experiencing a big feeling, and you want to do something about it. Luckily, you can freeze time. Not always - but for now, you have the time you need. Collect your journaling supplies and repeat the loop until you’ve processed what you feel. This solo journaling game invites you to directly explore big feelings, whether real or created. Take care; you can step away if you need to, and come back if you want. All you need is journaling supplies and a paper clip (or another way to track your progress on the Processing scale.) Available as a one-page sheet, an 8-page mini folding zine, and a plain text version.  Optional Processing Evaluation Card can help you to track how your processing is going. I'm working (slowly!) on making a foldable business card version of THIS game, but in the mean time, if you are looking for an easy way to track the 1-6 slider... (NEWLY ADDED) Use the Processing Evaluation Card grab a copy of Whelm! for free, print it out, and use that + a paperclip cut/fold an extra copy of the one-page game stick a paperclip on the bottom of the correct zine page and do it that way. Kicking & Screaming & Crying came about as an experiment, using my micro ttrpg Whelm! as a base. I'm working on developing an SRD/creation guide, and part of that process has been experimenting with what exactly the game can build out into. This solo journaling game keeps a lot of the core aspects of Whelm!, but re-imagines them in some pretty big ways. Keep your eyes open for a guide on how to Whelm! your game, coming soon to an internet near you. (And probably some more Whelm! experiments in the process!) Art used is by Alderdoodle ! (Thank you for making such awesome resources!) Fonts used are Abel by MADType, Diesel by Misprinted Type, and Shortcut by Misprinted Type. This game uses Whelm! by Maggie French, available under a CC BY 4.0 license. (The text of Kicking & Screaming & Crying is also available under a CC BY 4.0 license.) This game was made for One-Page RPG Jam 2026 . It is dedicated to my friend Caroline, who said the title once while we were having a long conversation about these themes/topics, late at night, at a wedding. The idea then lived in my Game Notes doc until this summer. Caroline feels her big feelings whenever she needs to, and encourages me to as well.