Alone On A Journey
A downloadable game
Alone On A Journey is a zine featuring three solo journaling and exploration games and a guide to writing a hack of those games.
Alone Among the Stars: Wander through space and experience wondrous sights.
Alone in the Ancient City: Explore the many districts of an ancient city.
Alone Among the Shifting Trees: Come across objects deep in a strange forest.
To play, you will need a journal and something to write with, a six sided die, and a standard deck of 52 playing cards.
Alone Among the Stars andAlone in the Ancient City were originally published as separate games. You can also find other Alone games on Itch in theAlone at the Table collection.
Cover and insert art byShannon Kao
Graphic design and layout byQuinn Vega
Alone On A Journey is licensed under theAnti-Capitalist Attribution Cooperative License.
| Status | Released |
| Category | Physical game |
| Rating | Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars (63 total ratings) |
| Author | noroadhome |
| Genre | Card Game |
| Tags | Exploration,journaling,poc-made,Singleplayer,solo,Space,Tabletop role-playing game,Walking simulator,worldbuilding |
| Average session | About a half-hour |
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $10 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Exclusive content
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Claim a Community Copy
Claim a free copy of Alone On A Journey if you are marginalized or in need.
Donate a Community Copy
Buy a copy of the digital zine and donate a community copy!
Additional tips over $20 will be donated as multiple copies.
Development log
Comments
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I want to thank those who have donated a community copy. I'm going into hospital soon for a big surgery following another big surgery and after everything this will be great to play whilst recovering because I couldn't have afforded this otherwise. I will support the developer as soon as I can. Swings and roundabouts. Much love x
I usually add them as people donate copies so it does tend to be pretty infrequent! If you're curious about the game, you could giveAlone Among the Stars a shot, which is the first game of the three and is available PWYW!
Alone On A Journey is a small series of solo journaling rpgs. You use a die and a deck of cards to work through extremely open-ended prompts focused by a choice of genre.
The print book is 29 pages, with a gorgeous full-color cover that is reprised throughout the book as interior black and white illustrations.
Mechanically, the games in Alone are very simple. You can learn one in under a minute. They're also designed around playing in bite-sized chunks, and can be used secondarily as a way of building worlds---Alone In The Ancient City is a really solid, eye-level city builder.
An important and interesting part of the book is that it includes a lot of guidance on how to hack its engine. I think this chapter makes Alone a *really good* pickup for anyone who's getting into rpg design---the writing is accessible, the directions are clear, and its engine is a really strong foundation to build solo games on.
Overall, Alone On A Journey is ideal for anyone who likes shorter, cozier solo rpgs. It feels grounded and well-paced, and the print version comes with some journaling pages built in.
Thank you! I’ll take a look at Alone Among the Stars and I would be grateful for a free copy. I spend an insane amount of money for my students already and every place I can save helps. My email is sharyna (at) gmail (dot) com
Thank you so much! I am hoping to have a library of games that they can try to find where they can be passionate about words.
Have just embarked on my first journey and am thoroughly enjoying it so far, it is an excellent distraction and quite meditative. Also it has been quite cathartic in releasing my imagination once more, that the day to day, often tries to drown out. A wonderful outlet for a wandering mind. Thank you!
Hello! First - I'm in love with the Alone games. I got the physical copy and have started making some hacks of my own.
Second, I wanted to check with you about a possible use of Alone On A Journey. I believe it would qualify under your Anti-Capitalist Attribution Cooperative License, but it's always best to ask.
I'd like to create an application for playing Alone On A Journey on PC (and possibly on Android). This is primarily a learning project for me to sharpen some developer skills, but I'd like to check in with you first if this is 1) OK, 2) OK to release as open source, and 3) (if the Android version comes to fruition) if it would be OK to release on the Play store as a free, non-commercial app.
Thanks - and thanks for all the great games!
I really enjoy the Alone hacks. Alone Among the Stars and Alone in the Ancient City are among my favorites and reprinted here, alongside a new hack with a spooky deep forest atmosphere that feels very different from a similar hack (Alone on the Rocky Beach, not present here). I think of Stars and City as medium weight in terms of time investment, and Forest as lighter.
I love having these games gathered together, though I wish Beach had been added.
