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“A drunk man will find his way home,
but a drunk bird may get lost forever.”

— Shizuo Kakutani

A solo journal game about random walks and chance encounters.

You live with a man and a bird. Stuck at home with no memories of your past lives, you never know when you will see your roommates again. To pass the time, you write notes in a journal. 

• A notebook and a pencil 
• 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d12, 1d20, and 1d100
• A way to seal and store notes (envelopes and a drawer)
• A 52-card deck (optional) - Fano Quest Deck recommended!

Every day, in game or in the real world, roll all the dice and record their values. Use the dice to determine the events of the day.

MAN (d4): Simulates a random walk on a 2D plane. When he leaves home, set his starting rolls to 1 and 2. Cancel pairs of rolls that add to 5. When there are no unpaired rolls left, he arrives home. Journal a bonus interaction where you read for him.

BIRD (d6): Simulates a random flight in 3D space. When it leaves home, set his starting rolls to 1, 2, and 3. Cancel pairs of rolls that add to 7. When there are no unpaired rolls left, he arrives home. Journal a bonus interaction where you read for him. If the bird is not released, use the roll for its daily plea. 

FORTUNE (d8): Determines how many bonus notes you can write per day. Start at level 0. Track rolls up to eight of each. After rolling a set of all eight values, level up. Maximum level is 8.

FAVOR (d12): Corresponds to one of the twelve zodiac signs or Olympians. Store daily notes with others of the same favor. Read and edit open notes of the daily favor.

FUTILITY (d20): Sets how many words or poetic feet you write on a note. 

FATE (d100): Determines life and death. Track rolls by circling values on a grid with numbers from 1 to 100. Rolling a rolled number leads to illness til the same or lower roll. If a higher number repeats during illness, it becomes a crossed deathmark. Rolling on a deathmark is death. Write your last words, and seal all open notes. Stop writing notes til the third day. Then, revive and add a random face card. The grid is reset after recovering from an illness or dying.

FOLIO (52+2 cards): Sets prompts and themes for writing. Use any prompt system you wish. Start with aces and numbers. Face cards and jokers are added by FATE, or when all cards in FOLIO are depleted. Save all drawn face cards. Black face cards unlock the black joker (man’s ending). Red face cards unlock the color joker (bird’s ending). You may also use any set of prompts without a deck.

(Spoiler warning.)

Black Joker (Man's Ending)

He reflects on being in a game, and on having life through meaning something to you.

Color Joker (Bird's Ending)

It mourns the day that it never comes back, a mathematical certainty. Yet it notes that life too must come to an end.

Play on after the endings. Leave home to remember everything. Unseal all notes. End the game.