The Skeletons
The Skeletons
softcover book
Years fly by like dead leaves. Everything is darkness. Everything is silence. You stand vigilant before the sarcophagus without thought or breath-such is your compulsion. You do not remember your name and still you watch. The flesh has fallen off your bones and still you watch.
And then one day there is light and motion and you weigh your bearded axe and raise your shield, lusting for the fray, eager to measure your skill against these tomb-robbing children so full of blood. You’ll never be alive again, but in this moment-in the chaos between violation and destruction-you truly live, and you remember what you once were, and you taste the sun.
The Skeletons is meditative structured freeform game for 1-6 players. You'll need a few hours and a private space.
The Skeletons flips the script on the classic dungeon crawl— here you play not the intruders, but the guardians, cursed to spend all of eternity defending a tomb. As time passes, both the tomb and its guardians will change. Ferocious battles are fought and won, and the skeletons slowly remember who and what they once were. Melancholy, introspective and spanning epochs, The Skeletons is unlike anything you’ve ever played.
Time: A few hours
For: 1-6 Players
Ages: All
Couldn't load pickup availability
What's Included
What's Included
60 page softcover booklet, that includes the rules for the basic game, as well as variant settings by Jason Morningstar and Sara Williamson
PDF edition
Get the Digital Version
Get the Digital Version
Free Downloads
Free Downloads
For Retailers
For Retailers
Are you a retailer or distributor interested in stocking our games? See our retailer information page to see how we can help!
Game Pitch
Years fly by like dead leaves. Everything is darkness. Everything is silence. You stand vigilant before the sarcophagus without thought or breath-such is your compulsion. You do not remember your name and still you watch. The flesh has fallen off your bones and still you watch.
And then one day there is light and motion and you weigh your bearded axe and raise your shield, lusting for the fray, eager to measure your skill against these tomb-robbing children so full of blood. You’ll never be alive again, but in this moment-in the chaos between violation and destruction-you truly live, and you remember what you once were, and you taste the sun.
The Skeletons flips the script on the classic dungeon crawl— here you play not the intruders, but the guardians, cursed to spend all of eternity defending a tomb. As time passes, both the tomb and its guardians will change. Ferocious battles are fought and won, and the skeletons slowly remember who and what they once were. Melancholy, introspective and spanning epochs, The Skeletons is unlike anything you’ve ever played.
Soundtrack
Developer and fan Larry Lade produced a handy web app to provide evocative, mournful audio cues to the game’s meditative intervals. You can find the app here: The Skeleton Tomb
Praise
-
“One thing that impressed me was the concept of time passing. During many points of the game, time will pass, and that informs how long the players then sit, in the dark, in silence (or with appropriate ambient music playing). I also liked the way the play seemed smooth and simple, with questions and cues.” – Tomer Gurantz, Art of Story Through Gaming: The Skeletons
-
“An excellent example of how gamification can foster creativity and how games can become vehicles for helping students think about writing from an unexpected and unconventional angle. I love how the game challenges kids to flesh out (ha! get it?) their characters gradually. The idea of only being able to answer a few questions at a time after each round is genius.”
–Steve Krueger, English Department Chair, Trinity Preparatory School
-
“This is a really fun game that was really great and easy to play. The mechanics were light enough to not be a pain but existent enough that I didn't feel abandoned by the writers or anything. Great replayability potential, and it led us in some storytelling directions I don't think we would have gone on our own.”
–Annie C, DriveThruRPG
Videos
