
Scribe: Journaling the Bronze Age Collapse - A Wretched & Alone Game
On Quisicosas since 11 March 2023
Featured in the newsletter of
11 March 2023 (on Substack)
What it is about
“ My father behold, the enemy’s ships came, my cities were burned, and they did evil things in my country. ” - Ammurapi, likely the final king of Ugarit Scribe is a solo journaling game about watching the collapse of civilisation in the Late Bronze Age, and trying to ensure your kingdom survives it. It is a game about isolation, in a world where few can read or write, and with each kingdom that falls, those who you can turn to for help grow fewer and fewer. This game requires a standard deck of 52 playing cards, a 6-sided die, 10 tokens, a tumbling block tower (optional), and something to write on - a notebook, piece of paper, or digital document. Scribe uses the Wretched & Alone rules system to present prompts that reflect the broad range of conditions that led to the collapse of many of the complex societies of the Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean, backed by archaeological research. In play, you will generate your own chain of events that each make subsequent disasters worse - and will leave the Late Bronze Age world unable to recover. The Wretched was created by Chris Bissette. Version 2.0 release Scribe version 2.0 features updated events based on new research since the first publication, and provides details on more of the world of the Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean.
