You were born in the After, you have never known a world full of people, but are daily reminded of Before by that strange world's artifacts strewn haphazardly across an endless wilderness.
A few, like you, remain...but feral. Scratching for survival, as likely to offer a fist as an open hand.
You do not know what came between the Before and After, does it haunt the world still? Survival in the wilds is test enough...what else lurks?
Homeward is a one-player game played with the Zine book, a settlement sheet and a standard deck of playing cards. It takes about 2 hours to play all the way through.
Core gameplay consists of 24 rounds that each represent a month in the world of Homeward. Each round you will:
Explore by drawing a card and resolving the matching event in an evolving Discoveries table. Be careful about what choices you make, these decisions will reverberate throughout your playthrough.
Use the resources you scavenge to build tools and structures to feed, strengthen and protect yourself and your burgeoning settlement. Luck alone will not be enough to overcome the challenges of Homeward.
Finally you will resolve events on your timeline where you may need to defend your home and allies against the dangers of the After. The wake of your path through the world is sure to draw the attention of the desperate and malicious.
Homeward’s story changes each time you play as the random events you discover or decisions you make open new events or block out others. The zine includes more than 200+ events to discover and it's designed for multiple replays with 20+ unique allies and endings to unlock each time you play.
NOTE: All images below are mockups using work in progress content.
Hiya! I'm Robert Jamison, an aspiring writer and game designer whose favorite place is the intersection between stories and play. I fell in love with GM'ing tabletop games in the 80's with AD&D and Shadowrun and have been creating worlds ever since for myself, friends and now for my kids.
I've recently gotten into solo games like 2D6 Dungeon/Realm and Thousand Year Old Vampire, and wanted to create something in the sweet spot between crunchy gameplay mechanics and rich-narrative storytelling. I hope that Homeward is both a devious puzzle for you to solve and also be your co-author in creating a memorable world and story.
My main thematic inspirations for Homeward’s world are books like A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World and shows like The Leftovers and Station Eleven.
The writing and artwork is my own, with some assistance from my talented daughter and artist Penelope. No AI is or will be used in the writing or artwork.
This is my second Kickstarter. My first project in 2023 was Archetype: a Deck of Inspiration, a tool to help writers, artists and GMs craft interesting characters. You can find it and other assorted writing and crafting projects on my website.
I love hearing from people, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out at homeward@rejamison.com, Bluesky or on Facebook.