This was originally a Twitter thread
As “The Box” is out on Itch, I want to make a short design thread about the game and its inspirations! So, the game started out as an experiment. An experiment to see if I could make a game with little to no setting.
Now I’ve made open and setting-neutral games in the past. But they still evoke a specific genre or “feel” of narrative. I want to try and make something that was as blank as possible.
The Inspiration
A project I’m working on with Mimolette Monster was also a big inspiration. This project has involved us talking about objects that defy the laws of reality. How do you explain things, that by their nature, don’t conform to the normal rules?
This is partially why The Box focuses on 2 objects. The container and the thing it contains. Having the stored item “out of sight” at the start allows the player to shape it more naturally during play, rather than becoming stuck with the first thing they think of.
A problem I’ve always had with journaling exercises that ask you to think of something and then manipulate it, is that I get stuck on the first thing I think of. My brain has already committed. So hiding the object lets it take shape more naturally.
Also, having the object hidden helps build the atmosphere, as the way an object is kept can tell you a lot about it. This is why I picked a box. Boxes can be anything from large house moving boxes to tiny little packets. They are the most versatile storage method.
This versatility gives the player room to shape their box however they want. And I tried to reflect this with the prompts, keeping them as open as possible, so the player can define what their box is, be it normal or supernatural.
Walking Away
One of my favorite elements of the game is that players get the option to simply not open the box. You can simply decide that the mystery is more interesting than the object and put the box away. This gives the player full control of the story.
Each of these choices involves manipulating the prompt cards in some way. If you decide to keep the box closed, for instance, you sweep away the drawn cards. This was important to me, as I didn’t want players to be able to look at the cards after their decision.
There are no right answers in this game. Your story is your story. When you make a decision, the cards are removed because they no longer matter. Their random nature has been replaced by your created narrative, so the unrevealed cards hold no power over the box.
So that’s The Box. It is, as the title suggests about a box. But everything else is up to the player.
Jonathon Greenall is a freelance writer, artist, and tabletop roleplaying game designer who has written for CBR, Polygon, Nintendo Life, Gayley Dreadful, Enbylife, and many other publications. They have also published several popular and highly-praised tabletop roleplaying games including “You Have One Ability….The Ability To Fuck This Up,” “Macarons, Milkshakes, And Magic,” and “Wander Wizards.”
Jonathon has always been fascinated by media, from the big hitters to the small, obscure, and often overlooked titles that linger on the sidelines, capturing both the on and off-camera stories that make these shows so fascinating.
Jonathon is also a major anime fan, having been exposed to the medium through shows like Sailor Moon and Revolutionary Girl Utena. Since then, Jonathon has maintained a passion for anime, watching most new shows each season and hunting down overlooked gems from previous ones.