Until the Last Ferry

Make the town’s last visitor’s guide. You have a room above the post office and a job to finish before the last ferry leaves. Merewick needs a visitor’s guide. The trouble is, soon there won’t be any visitors. You’re making a book for people who may never get to come here: what to cook, how to mend something, which stories the residents want told. Until the Last Ferry is a solo journaling RPG for one player. Bring a notebook, a pencil, and an ordinary deck of cards. Over six chapters and twelve visits, you’ll make a guide you can keep. There’s still time to get to know the place. The baker tells you to put seven as her opening time. Six, if you’re already here. Don’t print six. The repairer’s own kettle leaks. He’s busy with someone else’s umbrella. You copy a recipe, learn your way around the square, and start making promises to people. It would be easy to settle into this. Then your map needs a district you didn’t see yesterday. Someone has corrected the recipe in your notebook. You left that space blank. The residents have their own explanations. You’ll return to earlier pages, add what changed, and decide what you’re willing to put in the guide. Some of what people tell you is meant to stay between you. The ferry is leaving either way. There’s still a book to make, and someone to give it to. Your journal is part of the game. Draw one card at each visit. Its suit changes the scene. Make a choice, write or draw your response, and keep track of the promises you make. Later visits bring you back to what you’ve already made. Draw a town map, then make room for the street you weren’t expecting. Copy a bakery recipe and fold a pocket for the scraps that arrive later. Make a portrait from someone’s belongings. You don’t have to draw a face. Keep paper plant specimens, record the windows after dark, and make a festival invitation. Write a letter early on. Fold it shut. Near the end, open it and answer it. You finish with your own guide to Merewick: a journal of things you noticed, people you got to know, and choices you made. Rough sketches and a few handwritten lines work. So does spending an evening on one spread because you like making it. No game master or group needed. There’s no combat, score, or test of your drawing ability. Stop between visits and come back when you want. What you get 30-page illustrated game PDF: the complete six-chapter story, twelve visits, rules, card prompts, journal activities, choices, and endings. 17-page paper-piece PDF: optional maps, letters, bakery scraps, specimens, windows, invitations, tickets, and labels, with cutting and folding instructions. Use your own notebook with roughly 30 blank pages or loose paper, a pen or pencil, and a standard playing-card deck without jokers. Printing is optional. Every paper activity has a drawing or writing alternative. Scissors and glue or tape are useful if you want to make the pieces. The game book is 7 × 9 inches. Paper pieces are US Letter; on A4, use Fit and scale related pieces consistently. Print only the sheets you want. Digital PDFs in English. No physical book, notebook, cards, or supplies are shipped.