PERSUADE THE THORNS

"Child of the Moon, the thorns are not your friends..." This solo survival / horror game is a high stakes, high risk exploration of the metaphorical destruction of the self and the dismantling of oppressed & marginalised cultures by dominant cultures within post-colonial societies. Play as the child of the moon, journeying through the kingdom of the sun, sacrificing everything that makes you who you are as you try desperately to find your home. In this hostile landscape there is ample misery, horror and despair but hope, when it does come, is strong and sharp as arrows shot from the bow of the horned moon. (I am aware of the argument circulating in the community that games should not be political, however I believe that all games, all art, everything we create, is a political statement with a degree of power and resonance - certainly every game I make is political, and this game is especially and deliberately so.) The title page of the book shows a forest sprawled below a mountainous landscape. The words 'persuade the thorns' are set in dark grey letters in the centre and are surrounded by twining thorn vines which look like barbed wire running across the page. The thorns seem symbolic of the perimeter fence of a concentration camp or refugee enclosure and the whole image is bathed in tones of blood red. Child of the Moon, little wandering creature whose skin is ash grey and pock marked with tiny crater-scars where the universe has tried to stone you out of existence... Child of the Moon, whose blood is silver and quick, whose eyes are ink-dark pools that cradle pain like a precious jewel... Child of the Moon, you are lost in the Kingdom of the Sun. You must make your way to the mountains, across a twisted forest of thorns, and climb up to those lofty peaks, reach out your arms to your Celestial Mother and beg her to take you home. Child of the Moon, little fragile vessel of bleeding light, the thorns are not your friends. They bar your way and you cannot get through without some sort of sacrifice. But what will you give? Each drop of silver blood is much more than blood to you - it is a drop of self; a memory, an experience, a desire, a hope, a dream... a little piece of who you are... But you must give it - each thorn that bars your way demands a single drop of you, and you must pray it is enough, you must pray you can persuade the thorns to let you pass, or you will perish here beneath the unfeeling light of the heartless sun. This is a high stakes game and failure is almost as likely as success. This is deliberate, to force the focus of the game away from reaching the finishing line alive, and towards journaling the journey and what it reveals about the character before they (probably) meet their end or (hopefully) reach their goal. It is a game of horror, blood and sacrifice that encourages players to delve deep into the realms of memory and identity - mirroring the stripping away of culture and history and in turn 'sense of self' from marginalised and persecuted people. If these themes may upset you then this may not be the game for you. It also deals with relationships between mother and child. There is very little graphic description in the game, instead you are encouraged to journal the level of horror, misery and devestation that you find most appealing. Never feel obliged to journal something that pushes you out of your safety zone.