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Spine: Siderius Plug’s Immortality in Ninety-nine Endnotes
SPINE is a solo TTRPG that looks like a book. In SPINE, you play as a researcher who has inherited this strange book from an estranged relative. You play by reading the book and following the prompts that you discover in the endnotes. But you soon discover a catch. You are being absorbed by the book — getting lost in it. The only way to lessen its power is by defacing the text.
Piece together the story without losing yourself in it.
Piece together the story without losing yourself in it.
144 pages, Paperback
Published October 14, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 3, 2026
I got this book because it was described as an interactive, ergodic piece of fiction. That's true, but it's actually a solo ttrpg!
Most of the book is in the form of instructional endnotes; the actual book itself is only about 65 pages. However, as you read, depending on which endnotes you cross-reference, you will have a different reading experience than someone else.
—and you are meant to pass this reading experience along to someone.
As you complete certain tasks assigned by endnotes, you modify the book or add to the narrative: some tasks require ripping or damaging pages, others demand notes in the margins, etc. This was incredibly fun AND makes me excited to lend the book to a friend, since they cannot complete the tasks I have crossed out. (I was nosy and read some endnotes I did not complete, and I'm envious of some the next reader will get to do).
This leads into my criticism though: lack of clarity with some of the rules. I was under the impression for each page, you choose one endnote to interact with. As I read some I did not complete, I realize that (I think) the author meant you could read any endnotes, but you only pick one task from those that have multiple. I am still unsure. However, in reading the notes I did not cross-reference initially, I realized I missed some substantial plot elements, because they were in the endnotes I thought I wasn't supposed to read. Likely user error, but I do genuinely think the rules could be clearer.
In any case, that doesn't knock a ton off for me because the experience was fun, I still got a good grasp on the reading, and that lack just means I'll have a point of conversation with the next person who reads my copy. For what it aimed to do as an interactive piece, 4 stars. Story itself, short and lacking a tad, but that is also in part because the reader adds to the story with their notes, interpretations, and explicit additions to the story (such as recounting a memory in the margins about something you get to make up happened!).
(Sidenote: I added my own rule to the beginning of the book—to leave notes when inclined, even when not instructed. That way whoever I hand it over to next does not feel like they are bound to interact with the text only when it directs them).
Most of the book is in the form of instructional endnotes; the actual book itself is only about 65 pages. However, as you read, depending on which endnotes you cross-reference, you will have a different reading experience than someone else.
—and you are meant to pass this reading experience along to someone.
As you complete certain tasks assigned by endnotes, you modify the book or add to the narrative: some tasks require ripping or damaging pages, others demand notes in the margins, etc. This was incredibly fun AND makes me excited to lend the book to a friend, since they cannot complete the tasks I have crossed out. (I was nosy and read some endnotes I did not complete, and I'm envious of some the next reader will get to do).
This leads into my criticism though: lack of clarity with some of the rules. I was under the impression for each page, you choose one endnote to interact with. As I read some I did not complete, I realize that (I think) the author meant you could read any endnotes, but you only pick one task from those that have multiple. I am still unsure. However, in reading the notes I did not cross-reference initially, I realized I missed some substantial plot elements, because they were in the endnotes I thought I wasn't supposed to read. Likely user error, but I do genuinely think the rules could be clearer.
In any case, that doesn't knock a ton off for me because the experience was fun, I still got a good grasp on the reading, and that lack just means I'll have a point of conversation with the next person who reads my copy. For what it aimed to do as an interactive piece, 4 stars. Story itself, short and lacking a tad, but that is also in part because the reader adds to the story with their notes, interpretations, and explicit additions to the story (such as recounting a memory in the margins about something you get to make up happened!).
(Sidenote: I added my own rule to the beginning of the book—to leave notes when inclined, even when not instructed. That way whoever I hand it over to next does not feel like they are bound to interact with the text only when it directs them).
July 25, 2026
Thank you to my wife for getting this book for me.
I enjoyed this book immensely, in many ways, it’s an essay on the meaning of literature itself. The ergodic nature of the book is enthralling (with multiple meanings in that one). I can’t wait to find someone to share it with.
I enjoyed this book immensely, in many ways, it’s an essay on the meaning of literature itself. The ergodic nature of the book is enthralling (with multiple meanings in that one). I can’t wait to find someone to share it with.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews