Field Guide to Memory

Field Guide to Memory is a one-player, narrative, pen-and-paper journaling, indie role-playing game by Shing Yin Khor and Jeeyon Shim about the mentee of a missing cryptozoologist traveling across the United States in search of information about their missing mentor.

Gameplay

Field Guide to Memory is a "keepsake game" where players create a physical artifact as part of the game mechanics. Players follow daily prompts that ask them to write, create art, and do other physical activities in the real world, often involving nature.

Publication history

In December 2020, Shing Yin Khor and Jeeyon Shim launched a Kickstarter to fund the creation of the game. The crowdfunding campaign surpassed the goal of $18,000 and raised just over $62,000 with the support of 1817 backers. Initially, the game was run as a live game in February 2021 for Kickstarter backers who received the game prompts via email over the course of four weeks. The game was then repackaged as a PDF of daily prompts available for purchase on Itch.io.

Reception

Field Guide to Memory won the 2021 IndieCade Award in the best live game category. Jeeyon Shim was awarded the 2021 Diana Jones Award for "Best Emerging Designer" largely based on her work on Field Guide to Memory. Nerdist called it the best solo (one-player) tabletop role-playing game. Greg Loring-Albright at Drexel University wrote about the game in his Ph.D. research on keepsake games.

References