Backwards Tabletop has announced a new and unsettling solo roleplaying game, SPINE, which is designed to look and feel like a mysterious book you’ve inherited. The beta version of the game is currently available on a ‘name your own price’ basis, meaning it can be downloaded for free.
Created by Asa Donald, SPINE presents a unique and meta concept where the act of playing the game is the act of reading a book. Players take on the role of a researcher who has come into possession of a strange collection of texts about immortality, inherited from a relative they barely knew. The game is played by reading the book and following prompts found within the endnotes.
However, the game and the book have a dark twist. The player’s character becomes absorbed by the book, possessed by it, and the only way to resist this insidious influence is to physically deface the text itself – annotating, drawing in, or even ripping the pages. The goal is to uncover the book’s secrets before your character is entirely consumed.
This physical interaction is central to the experience. In the press release, Asa Donald explained the design philosophy,
The book is the game, and the game is the book. The book is your anchor to the fictional world. The book is a prop too. And it’s also a keepsake, something that you annotate and draw in as the game progresses.”
Backwards Tabletop is a publisher known for exploring unusual and often dark themes, such as in their previous work on regional American gothic horror. SPINE continues this tradition, with its themes of possession and loss of bodily control prompting a safety warning within the game’s materials.
The release of SPINE taps into the growing popularity of solo roleplaying games, which have offered a vital and accessible way for people to engage with the hobby. Offering the beta as a ‘pay what you want’ download is also a familiar and welcome model for indie titles, similar to when the grunge mecha solo RPG Rust Never Sleeps launched.
The game features hand-carved block print art by Holly Freiberg (Hellwhalers: Leviathan) and prop design by Nala J. Wu, with developmental editing from Furt the Goblin.
S. Kaiya J., designer of Her Odyssey, had high praise for the game in a statement,
A thoroughly chilling yet engrossing experience. I found myself enthralled by the interconnected mysteries lurking within the pages, until I simply couldn’t put it down. Horror enthusiasts & linguistic puzzlers must explore!”
The beta edition of SPINE is available to claim for free on Itch.io until October 28th. Digital and printable booklet versions will be fully available on October 14th, with a physical print-on-demand version scheduled for release via Mixam on October 28th.
