Lost in the Wasteland: A Solo Post-Apocalyptic Adventure Game

Lost in the Wastelands Life is hard in the Wasteland. The world’s a hellscape now. You’ve got yer muties, human and animals. You’ve got yer aliens, cybernetic horrors, and dangers just dealin’ with the environment. Tread careful out there, wanderer. The outpost is just yonder over the next hill. Oops, something’s caught yer scent, and you’re out of ammo. Ya might wanna run. Run! You idiot! Run! Your wasteland can be after a natural disaster, an alien invasion, an invasion in progress, a world gone mad with cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence after a cyber war, or a mix of all of them. It’s up to you to make your choices. You have situations to move you along your journey, characters who are there to help or hinder your efforts, twists of fate, and love-and-hate relationships. Pull a card and let fate decide the outcome. Journal your adventure. Have your friends along with you. After all, you’ll always need a ready supply of ammo and fresh meat. Watch your back. Materials you will need. You will need some simple items as follows: • A Standard Deck of Playing Cards (with Jokers): I own several decks with different face card themes. You can use a standard deck or a unique one to play solo games with themes. Every card will have a different meaning as you draw one. They produce the adventures to start you on your way, a side quest, a discovery, how your character may feel, or people or creatures you will meet along the way. • Paper and pencil, or a writing program: I prefer a writing program or a spreadsheet to log in order with your ideas as you travel the world. Now, before you begin, you have to decide who you are: 1. Are you an alien, a human, a hybrid, an adult, a teen, or younger? Do you have cybernetics? Are you from an outpost or a failed bunker? Are you strong, weak, have a mutation, or mainline human? 2. Choose Your Role: Are you seeking something? Were you forced out of your community due to an outbreak, a culling, or mutant slavers? Are you brave or just lucky? Any bad habits? A risk taker or risk avoider? Are you a good person or morally fluid? Do you have an axe to grind into someone’s head or a ronin seeking employment? 3. Prepare your Deck: Shuffle your deck of playing cards and place the stack face down. With your character’s nature made, your role in the story selected, and your cards ready, it’s time to head into the wasteland. Gameplay: Each card creates a new event or discovery for your character; make sure to chronicle them in order. A series of turns of fate may reflect on the card you have two cards later. 1. Draw a single card at a time from the deck. 2. The prompts below will tell you the card’s meaning by number and suit. Try to imagine the scene with all five senses. What is the horror at Whispering Oaks? That’s up to you. An unstoppable masked killer? A Ghost? 3. Write your entry describing the moment using your senses. Imagine it’s a scene in a movie, comic, or novel, and play with it. Use that imagination! 4. After writing down your scene, draw the next card to continue your adventure. When you reach the end of the deck, you can either imagine going back to town or use it as a cliffhanger for your next story after you shuffle the deck. You just completed “Book One” of your story. As a writer, gamer, and game creator, I like to help other like-minded individuals create their worlds. You may use this solo game as an aid to your writing or ideas for your own game. If you are an introvert, stuck at home with a sick day, a fan fiction writer, or just want to try something new, this is your solo adventure. There is endless replayability and the only limits are your imagination. Tools you'll need: A Deck of Standard Playing Cards with Jokers and something to record your choices. Paper or a word processing program. Begin your adventure and create your worlds!