About this project
*** UPDATE 11-29-11 ***
Hey everyone. My estimated delivery date turned out to be... ambitious. Because of time spent printing, shipping to Skull Mountain, organization and shipping out, it's going to take up to a month more to get things moving. I should have the PDF ready as soon as I input all the names in the "special thanks" section.
$7000: Sprint goal (because Jared has OCD and likes round numbers)
$6500: An additional, brand-new Parsely game (name/theme TBD)
$5000: $50+ pledges get shirt, buttons and patch. $25 gets patch (images at bottom of page).
$3000: 1-page PDF/print expansion to Z-Ward.
$2000: "Thank you" donations to Kevin MacLeod and Brian Mayer.
Z-Ward: a survival-horror Parsely game.
Your sister was sent away to a mental hospital nine weeks ago. But then something terrible happened...or so she says.
Is she crazy? Or have the End Times finally come to Z-Ward?
What is a Parsely Game?
“Very rarely do new game concepts come along which impress me, but this one stands out as being something truly revolutionary. And yet, like many of the most brilliant ideas, it’s so fiendishly simply that you say, ‘Why hasn’t anybody thought of this before?’” - Andrew Looney, designer of Fluxx
Parsely games are massively multiplayer, live-action text adventure games inspired by Ye Olde Text Parsers from days of yore. Instead of a computer program, a real live human interprets the player's input and responds to those commands, literally and (often) ironically. It's like roleplay-meets-karaoke.
Listen to what the Library Gamer has to say:
The best thing about Parsely games (besides price) is that they can be played anywhere with any number of people! My smallest games were with a friend or two. My largest game ever was with 400+ people at Pax East in Boston.
If you're a nerd, you'll love Parsely games.
Game Specs
Z-Ward will be published in the same format as the other Parsely games (like Action Castle and Pumpkin Town): a z-fold pamphlet printed on 11″ x 17″ high quality, glossy color stock. The kickstarter pledges will cover the art budget, a print run of 1,000 copies and shipping costs.
The rest will go towards therapy.
Learn more at www.memento-mori.com
Special Rewards
Here are images of the special rewards (shirt, buttons, patch):
FAQ
-
Besides the extra books/PDFs, the first backers to pledge $100+ get characters in the game named after them. For $50, your name will appear in the "special thanks" section of the Z-Ward game.
-
Nope! I have great support from longtime Parsely contributor Tony Dowler (the dude who drew most of the Parsely game maps) and from friends who contribute to the project by playtesting the game with me—enduring the inevitable broken logic or impenetrable puzzles of early drafts.
Oh, and all of you! You guys are helping this project too by supporting it! So thanks. :)
-
Good question!
I'm probably going to expand the print run to 1000 copies. The extra expense isn't too much higher than a 500-copy run so the price per unit drops considerably.
Because I hit 200% of my goal I'm donating some money to a gaming blog I like and also some money to the musician who made the royalty-free music I use in the trailer.
At 300% I'm going to write a little expansion to Z-Ward, free to all my backers.
I have some more ideas:
• Print up some Parsely T-shirts (>YOU NOW HAVE A SHIRT)
• Design and print another Parsely game (genre TBD)
• Gather funds to attend Fastaval 2012 in Denmark (travel and con registration)
• Gather funds to attend GenCon 2012 in Indianapolis as an exhibitor (pay for booth space)We'll see!
-
Shipping is included in the pledge prices. When I put up a t-shirt reward, it will also include shipping (for that one I might do an international pledge and a US-only pledge).
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.
281
Backers
$7,694
pledged of $1,000 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on November 30.
Pledge $2 or more Pledge $2 or more
You get Z-Ward as a PDF. Keen! This is an advance copy — any errata or post-publication changes (like thank you's) will be added to future versions, which you'll totally get.
Pledge $5 or more Pledge $5 or more
This is the same as the $2 reward but I'll throw in the Action Castle PDF (which contains all the basic rules to Parsely, as well as the kick-ass game that started all this insanity)! Plus: a Parsely PDF micro-green (a mini-game, yay).
Pledge $10 or more Pledge $10 or more
You get both the print version of Z-Ward (shipping included) and a free PDF version of the game (as soon as it's available in November), plus your name recorded on the Z-Ward web page's "Board of Trustees."
Pledge $15 or more Pledge $15 or more
This level nets you the $10 reward plus PDFs of all of the other Parsely games—that's more than a half-dozen games! You'll also get a big wet virtual kiss on the Z-Ward web page.
Pledge $20 or more Pledge $20 or more
Imagine the $15 reward but with a second copy of Z-Ward. Can you do that? THAT'S WHAT THIS IS! All of the Parsely PDFs and two printed versions of Z-Ward—give one to a friend who beats the game!
Pledge $25 or more Pledge $25 or more
You'll receive the print and PDF versions of Z-Ward (shipping included) and your name recorded on the Z-Ward web page's Board of Trustees. We'll also send you a Parsely starter pack featuring print versions of Action Castle 1 and 2!
Pledge $50 or more Pledge $50 or more
This is one of the big ones. Donate 50 clams and you'll receive the entire Parsely series (a total of 8 games in both print and PDF) and your name in the game (listed in the "in-patient roster"). I know, right? Madness!
Pledge $100 or more Pledge $100 or more
For a solid Benjamin, you'll get everything from the $50 reward, plus signed copies of my RPG books: Lacuna and InSpectres. Be one of the first five $100+ pledges and you'll get a Z-Ward NPC named after you! Right now, they don't have names. Sad panda.
Pledge $250 or more Pledge $250 or more
What can you get for $250? Plenty. Get all the rewards mentioned thus far and I'll get on the train to anywhere within NY, CT, NJ or PA and run through some Parsely games with you and your friends. A great deal for local convention organizers.
Pledge $500 or more Pledge $500 or more
A generous albeit ridiculous pledge of $500 gets you the above-mentioned goodies plus I will hand-deliver these suckers to anywhere within the East Coast of the US and we'll play some Z-Ward and other games. That means a plane ride, kids...and I hate flyin'.
Pledge $750 or more Pledge $750 or more
This is crazy-town. You've been warned! For 750 simoleons you'll get all the stuff listed above but I'll travel to anywhere within the continental United States — ugh, more planes.
Pledge $1,500 or more Pledge $1,500 or more
The Pledge-pocalyse is here. For $1500, I will rock the house. YOUR HOUSE. Not only will I bring copies of all my games to your domicile/convention, but I'll design and publish a custom Parsely game based on a theme and genre of your choosing! Of course, you'll get your name in the credits, creative input and a big thank you for supporting my Parsely games. To top it off, you'll receive 30 copies of the finished product to pass on to friends and family members. There is no way anyone is going to do this but what the hell? I'm insane...!
Project By
Has not connected their Facebook account.
Jared A. Sorensen writes, designs and publishes games for no good reason. He is credited as one of the "founding fathers" of the indie RPG movement and is the creator of numerous RPGs and games including FreeMarket, Lacuna, InSpectres and the Parsely series. Jared is also a veteran of the computer games industry and has worked for the likes of Turbine, Mattel, Atari, LucasArts and PF.Magic.
