Haiku: A Journey Through Old Japan
A downloadable game
👑 Classic Explorer Workshop's Gold Explorer Award winner.
Welcome, traveler!
This is a solo RPG about a journey through Old Japan. You will encounter danger and beauty, reflect on your past, and— perhaps— find resolution at the road’s end.
Credits
- Designed by Sam Seer
- Art by Hasui Kawase (public domain)
- Cultural Consulting by 澤邊 佳那恵
- Layout based on Clayton Notestine’s Explorer’s Template
- Inspired by Matsuo Basho’s Narrow Road to the Interior, Shawn Tomkin’s Ironsworn, Jack Harrison’s Artefact, and Allison Arth’s Gentleman Bandit
- Dedicated to Matsuo Basho and Hasui Kawase
- Licensed CC-BY-SA 4.0
Download
Development log
- 🍃 Post your haikus & play reports here!43 days ago
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Absolutely enjoying your game! Not sure if I’m doing it right, but I’m writing a haiku for each move I make. For example, here’s my first Travel move:
Travel 1: Spirit, Lonesome, Fatigued
Up and down green hills
Speaking only to the wind
A will and a friend
I’m glad!
Short answer: If you’re having fun and writing haikus, you’re doing it right.
Long answer: At a minimum, you write a haiku whenever you make the “Reflect” Move. At a maximum, well— there is no maximum. I love the idea of a haiku “journal entry” for every Move.
P. S. That is a lovely haiku.
Thank you! And thanks for the game!
Absolutely. And you inspired me to create a place to put haikus / play reports. Post here!
Awesome!
Thanks to your game, we had a very good trip.
https://twitter.com/Think_cod/status/1683856868249309184?s=20
友よありがとう / thank you my friend !!
Stunningly gorgeous! A meditative take on journeys that could (in my opinion) be directly adapted to a Zelda-like world.
My assumption is that if we're using clackety dice (instead of paper dice), we'd be rolling a d10?
Thanks for the extremely kinds words, Benji! Makes me want to make a version specifically for Zelda 🫢💡
And that’s right— a clackety d10. Just read the 10 as “0” for the moves (as opposed to “10”).