Cabbagehead Games on small anxieties, solo games and being inspired by life.
The Queer Games Bundle is a collection of nearly 600 items by LGBTQ+ creators and teams, over 160 of which are independent tabletop games, all sold for just $60. Along with Caroline Delbert, I’m talking with creators from the bundle about their games and their making habits. Visit the bundle and consider buying it.
One of the simple joys of tabletop games is finding a little ruleset or grouping of mechanics that seems to perfectly encapsulate a feeling. I don’t mean an emotion — not always — but something less clearly defined and more tied to the external world. Indie designer Cabbagehead Games excels in capturing those feelings in their short TRPG experiences, three of which are in the bundle. Deadlight uses candles to recreate mundane anxieties, Bad Bad Brew encapsulates the feeling of sucking at a new craft through alchemy, and Paintings of The Long Forgotten contemplates art creation in a solarpunk utopia.
How long have you been making games?
I started making games this year. It was February when I made my first two games Deadlight and Shipbreakers. Then, I took a break until it was April before I started writing again. At this point, I’ve created 13 games in 5 months. It has been really fun! A few years ago, I wrote small homebrews and wargames in a local gaming club for friends. It was a way to pass the time and play something different. I could hardly call them games so I don’t think it really counts.
What tools do you like to use?
For most of my games, I switch between Canva and GIMP for art, layout, writing and editing. When I started Twitter, I saw a few Tweets calling writing in your layout tool a taboo act. I found it really funny but writing next to my layout helps me work faster. If I want to get notes down quickly, I like Google Docs and Notepad. I also employ a lot of physical techniques in my art (e.g., collages, painting and making my own textures).
What themes or genres do you like to explore?
I really like writing games with unconventional mechanics and funny settings. Things like playing a game physically really call to my roots in art, theater and making wargames for friends. I think it can potentially connect players more deeply with the material they are playing. I played OSR RPGs for years so I’m growing out of traditional dice rolls and skill checks.
Because I grew up in a relatively tight-knit community with a lot of traditions and expectations, I noticed most of my games are inspired by my life experiences. Most of my games like to explore the nature of someone’s occupation, identity and what they create. I think this has been more of an unconscious choice while I was learning how to create games. I’m also interested in lyric games lately so my upcoming projects have taken on a more emotional tone.
On my Itchio profile, I like to say I write ‘strange and cool TTRPGs that focus on personal, familiar and cultural stories’.
What are your favorite and least favorite aspects of making games?
Art is where I have the most fun when I make games. Whether its layout or illustrations, I really like the process of gathering references, creating moodboards, emulating, experimenting and testing. Something in the act just clicks for me.
Is there a game that has affected you recently?
I recently finished Citizen Sleeper and it stayed with me for a while. Its rich world, story and themes really resonated with me. I would like to write a game inspired by it in the future. I have been revisiting Umurangi Generation by Naphtali Faulkner, Returnal by Housemarque and Kitty Horrorshow’s Haunted Cities series. They all explore emotions and how it relates to their worlds in the game in very interesting ways. Kitty Horrorshow’s games are especially interesting to me because they each evoke horror in an unconventional way not found in movies.
For TTRPGs, Afterparty v2 by Rookery Games and Infinite Revolution by gwencie are two of the best role-playing games since I started creating. Afterparty v2 introduced me to poem games and helped me understand lyric design. I’m still reading it little by little on weekends. Infinite Revolution is a really cool game about playing heroes dressed in armor powered by light fighting against a void that is consuming the universe. It’s super cool and I could spend a whole day talking about it.
All three games have different forms (business card, pamphlet and table). Do you prefer designing games in alternative layouts to more traditional rulebooks and text documents?
I think I do but it just so happened to be that way. When I started making games, I wanted to try making them in different forms for the learning experience. After creating What da Fairy doin? in an A4 layout, I prefer alternative layouts because they feel more fun. It’s very hard to explain.
How did it feel to create Deadlight, a game explicitly about everyday anxieties?
It was tough! The first version of Deadlight had references to a larger universe around the game and four optional rules. I was trying to squeeze too many ideas into one game. In the second and current iteration, I stripped out a lot of those extraneous things to focus on the horror and anxiety aspects. That clicked more quickly in my head and I had more fun writing it.
You seem to have an affinity for games about creation and artwork. What about the act of creation inspires your own process?
It’s hard to put into words. There’s an energy I follow when I create art. When I do it, there is a mingling between trial-and-error problem-solving (finding the right format, choosing the right materials, finding the best manipulation technique) and connecting with my imagination to turn an idea into reality. It feels very crunchy but infinitely artful. I think that might be why some of my games feel inspired by the process behind turning an idea into a product through specific labor.
Do you prefer creating supplements for existing systems or bespoke rulesets, and why?
I prefer the former and I’m trying to expand into the latter right now. I don’t have any experience creating new mechanics. So SRDs are very helpful when I want to focus on creating a type of story or setting for players. Because I’m more inspired by lyric games and game poems, lately I’m trying to create new rulesets for more unique ideas. Existing systems aren’t as compatible with the emotional tones I’m trying to evoke.
How can games, especially solo games, become a part of people’s daily lives?
I think solo games can be great for daily routines and self-orientation. Maybe instead of seeing them as just ‘games’, they are more like tools or exercises like taking a walk every morning after you wake up. For example, Gossamer Dawn by Kay Marlow Allen is a lyric game you can insert into sleepless nights to help you get up, make a drink, take in the world around you and go to sleep. It’s a small solo game helping you reorient yourself when you overwork or exhaust yourself.
Check out more interviews from Caroline here, along with my series of TTRPG-focused interviews.
