Just Passing Through
A downloadable game
Just Passing Through is a cozy fantasy inspired, gm-less duet armchair role playing game. It tells the story of two childhood friends coming back together after one has gone off on grand magical quests, and one has stayed at home, living a life that may be more ordinary, but is no less beautiful as a result. As the Voyager passes through town, they stop to visit the Villager. While the old friends share a cup of tea, they pick up where they left off.
**MAJOR UPDATE - V2.0 OUT NOW**
UPDATED IN VERSION 2:
- Beautiful ink illustrations by A. Valencia.
- Redesigned layout with a table of contents and re-organized structure.
- Formatted for a limited physical print run. Currently only available at Side Quest Books & Games in Somerville, MA.
- New Interlude and Token mechanics re-work both game pacing and game ending options, plus allow for narrative complications to be introduced by players.
- Revised character creation system, including a simple character sheet.
- Increased clarity around the stages of gameplay.
- Updated world-building, town-building, and friendship mechanics.
- All 52 question prompts from the deck of cards have been revised to more directly evoke a creative, open-ended response.
- Slight price increase ($10 > $12) to acknowledge the amount of work that went into preparing this update.
If you've already purchased the game, this update is available to you as part of your past purchase!
If you bought a physical copy of the game and would like a digital copy of just the character sheet, it's available here on my website.
Great For…
- A cozy game session with minimal writing and no math!
- An interlude in an existing campaign, between GM and Player!
- A cute date night!
- Creative character creation!
To Play, You Will Need
- A deck of playing cards with jokers
- A handful of tokens (shiny stones, pennies, acorns, etc)
- At least 40 minutes for an engaging conversation
- A comfortable space to sit together
- An easy way for both players to access the game book
- A warm beverage for each player
- The safety tool(s) of your choice
- Character sheets for each player
I recommend this list of safety tools from Drama Dice; it offers several options that could be a good fit for your game, including Lines & Veils and Tone Conversation. Because this game shares some overlap with live action role play (LARP), you may want to take a look at the most common LARP rules as well.
The original edition of this game was created for Folklore Jam 2024, focusing on the stories we tell ourselves and each other, and how those stories shape our choices. Stories and legends, worked into our lives, can shape and change meaning, or guide our choices. The original Jam Edition remains available once you've purchased the game, in case you feel attached to any aspect of that version!
Art by A. Valencia (find her on instagram). Additional cover art adapted from A Traveller and His Dog by Antonie Waterloo, public domain via The Met.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $12 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Community Copies
Support this game at or above a special price point to receive something exclusive.
Community Copies
If you are experiencing financial hardship, are part of a marginalized community, or the game would otherwise not be available to you, please take a community copy. For each purchase or review of the game, I will add a new community copy.
Educator Copies
If you are a teacher, librarian, or a paraprofessional in either field, these copies are for you. Thank you for the important and often undervalued work you do for your community!
Development log
- Just Passing Through v2.0 is now out!30 days ago
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Just Passing Through by Maggie Mahoney is a cosy duet TTRPG about two childhood friends having a cup of tea after one of them has gone on a voyage. The game uses a card based prompt mechanic where the players take turns to draw cards and follow the instructions on the prompts. I love how each player's prompts are split between things they want to share and questions they want to ask, which simulate an organic conversation between two friends who care for each other. When a player draws a joker, they have the option to end the conversation but they can choose to stay and chat for longer. It is very thematic to have a character having other things to attend to, but instead choose to make time for a friend who they haven’t seen in a long time. I highly recommend checking out this game!
Lovely game, Maggie. I particularly love the list of questions.
Thank you so much! I really enjoyed writing the question list, and thought a lot about what might be a meaningful topic, so that feedback is much appreciated!