Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Menagerie of the Void by Eran Aviram

Menagerie of the Void is a solo, zine-sized, journaling game that I backed during Kickstarter's Zine Quest 2021. You are traveling onboard an early starship when an alien zoo abducts you to serve as its keeper. The game revolves around creating, housing, and caring for bizarre creatures. It uses index cards and playing cards, and is something that you could pretty easily play in short stretches. The game ends when you master all of the robotic systems of the zoo (unlikely) or when your character gives up hope.

The book is 28 pages (included the covers), designed beautifully, and well-written. The art, though a little inconsistent in feel, really gets across the alien nature of the game and the zoo's weird organisms. Illustrations of the cards (thank you!) help you figure out how the game works. A number of random generators and outcomes for various events assure lots of replayability.

Overall this is a really solid little game book. I can't wait to try it out for real, and will be sure to write about my experience when I do.






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