{"product_id":"thousand-year-old-campfire-or-old-morris-cave","title":"Thousand Year Old Campfire, or Old Morris Cave + complimentary PDF","description":"\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThousand Year Old Campfire\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eor\u003cem\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eOld Morris Cave: A Continuous Use Campsite\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003ein Mammoth Cave National Park\u003c\/em\u003e,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003ean Excavation \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eThanks to Tim Hutchings, you will believe that a hole\u003cbr\u003efull of broken pots and animal bones can make\u003cbr\u003eyou feel emotions.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\n\u003cem\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e-Anna Anthropy\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\n\u003cem\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003eI don't know if I know how to explain this, but I must try.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eYou are buying a game. The game is disguised as a particular sort of regionally produced archaeology journal which I used to see for sale in state parks when I was a youth.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eIn this solo game you are creating the results of an excavation of a cave mouth which has been a frequently used campsite for a thousand or more years. You do this backwards, building up history from the bedrock up.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eYou will roll a die and add dirt, building the cave floor upwards over time. At some points there will be archaeological finds 'uncovered'; you will operate a flowchart to learn about that find and how it came to be there. I am very proud of these flowcharts–some of them are, maybe, the best art I've ever made.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eA flow chart might look like this:\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cimg alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1380\/9101\/files\/sdfasdfsadf_480x480_9361a26d-a11f-4558-8daa-4ad35646503b.webp?v=1717585458\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eYou operate the flowchart and then add things to your strata schematic. In this case you would draw in beads and follow the procedure for making a long-dead campfire. \u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eA finished strata chart might look like this:\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cimg alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1380\/9101\/files\/ScreenShot2023-07-13at12.50.24PM_480x480_cbeca191-a98f-4db4-ba96-b3e7e68633bb.webp?v=1717585476\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eI am inordinately happy with this game and am unable to do it justice here. Maybe I can rewrite this later and do better?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat are you actually buying?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• A soft-cover, digest-sized game booklet with 72 black and white pages. There's a flip through video in the thumbnails at the bottom of this page.\u003cbr\u003e• Digital PDFs of the rulebook and two varieties of play sheet.\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSo what do you need to play?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• The game rules, of course\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• a play sheet\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• a six-sided die\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• a pencil or pen\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• a blue ballpoint pen (optional, really)\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• 2-3 hours to spare, maybe more depending on how you play games\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSo what do you do?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• Roll a die to add layers to your strata chart, bottom to top\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• Navigate flowcharts using that six-sided die\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• Draw in the strata layers and the archaeological finds buried within\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDrawing? Do I need to be an artist?\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• Absolutely not.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJust to be clear: Is this a journaling game?\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• Not in the 'write a page of text' sense. In fact, you'll write no words at all unless you count the signature you add at the end. You DO accrete and record information over time, but it is the form of the strata chart.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat do you feel?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• Each flowchart is a snapshot of something that happened in the past. These might feel purely utilitarian, frustrating, charming, melancholy, wistful...  \u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAre there tricks?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• Yes. There is a layer of metatextuality on top of this that sweetens the game experience I think. It isn't vital to the play of the game.\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIs it replayable?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• I think so! I'd guess there are at least three good plays in it. The random progression will give a reasonably different experience each time. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDo I have to do anything extreme?\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• No? You don't have to mark in the book if you don't want to. You aren't expected to go out into the woods and hide your finished work in a hollow tree. I guess you can if you want to, though.\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIs there really an Old Morris Cave?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• No, the cave is fictitious though some of the material in the game is true. There really is a Mammoth Cave State Park and the land the cave is imagined to be on really was once owned by a man named Valentine Simons. There is such a thing as processual archaeology and I did (mostly by accident) engage with it in a way that one of my reviewers thought interesting. There are things in game that are real in other ways. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA thousand years ago there were only Native Americans in the region. How do you handle that?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• I had two American Indian cultural consultants go over the text. They had good notes. I had an archaeologist go over it, too, and he specializes in the return of Native American human remains to their tribal groups–he had the most challenging responses of all.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThank you Brian Sago and (unnamed paid consultant who disappeared and never formally gave me permission to credit them in any way). And thanks to Reno Nims, my archaeologist consultant!\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDid anyone else work on this?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• Dr. Ezra Claverie was my editor. He nailed the tone of an academic journal while also herding the numerous cats that make up a set of rules, even those as simple as these. I recommend him highly to those in need of a word fixer upper. (Ezra would've told me to hyphenate 'fixer-upper' I bet, but this page is all me and my own word badness so I refuse.)\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIs this like\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThousand Year Old Vampire\u003c\/em\u003e?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e•\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThousand Year Old Campfire\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis a descendant of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThousand Year Old Vampire\u003c\/em\u003e, sharing themes and some mechanics. There is nothing supernatural in this game, it is definitely less intense, there are no single characters for which you advocate, there are no resources to track and spend. You do not need to have played TYOV to enjoy TYOC–it is a self-contained experience. \u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAre there any warnings associate with play? \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• Yeah, I guess there are. There is animal and human death (but not graphic; we might learn that a bird flew into the cave, bonked its head and died). Certain unlikely paths contain themes of implied sexual harassment. I would be comfortable with a 12+ year old playing this game in the approved manner.\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIs the PDF text-to-audio friendly? \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e• I don't think it is. The flowcharts have the text embedded in the image so an automatic reader probably can't detect it. If you need this service please email me at dearleadergame@gmail.com. But even then there is a flow chart aspect and a read-out-loud rework would need to be a whole new doc because of the direction arrows... If folks have thoughts on this please let me know–as a one-person shop I don't know how to best handle something like this.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIs there any errata I should know about? \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e• Gosh darn it yes there is. Figure 13 has a dagger reference that should point at Entries 9 and 10, not 8 and 9. This error is obvious and you'd've picked up on it if you'd bumped into it during play. All acknowledgements to K.F.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Petit Guignol","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41866611982415,"sku":"TYOC","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1380\/9101\/files\/Campfire.png?v=1717585622","url":"https:\/\/amaansjunglebook.com\/products\/thousand-year-old-campfire-or-old-morris-cave","provider":"amaansjunglebook","version":"1.0","type":"link"}