Sleepaway

by Jay Dragon

Sleepaway gives us long hazy days, chilled summer nights, kids screaming and chasing fireflies, crackling campfires, and a gaunt, cruel monstrosity forever hiding just out of sight, always asking, “What do you do next?”

In Sleepaway, you play as a camp counselor at a not-so-ordinary summer camp besieged by a Strange and ominous cryptid. In the outside world, people grow increasingly alienated from their own identities, trapped in a miasma of advertising and corporate branding. Isolated from civilization, this summer camp is a beacon of safety, a refuge for misfit kids defined by their marginalization. As time pushes past and the world grows older, this camp also shelters the survivors of the Lindworm.

The Lindworm is a shapeshifter, or so the stories go; a creature that flays the skin of humans and hides within. As counselors of this summer camp, you’ve each been traumatized by the Lindworm, in your own ways.

You remember little of that time.

Just that you don’t want anyone else to experience it either, and you’ll keep this camp safe no matter what.

Genres: Role Playing Games

130 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Ian Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plague has made this impossible to play for the time being, but it's high on my list when friends begin to convene in person again. Reading it during the early months of quarantine brought me a lot of hope and joy. Extra special points for their focus on the transformative / gender-altering nature of Camp (Summer, not Sontag) and the way that you can become anything you want in a new and temporary community.

[AL أل · Rating 3 out of 5]

M'agrada que cada cop més es tradueixin jocs d'autoris queer i es visibilitzi el llenguatge neutre. En aquest cas, com l'autori és una persona no-binària, l'editorial ha decidit que l'ús del neomorfema -e s'havia d'usar com a neutre en la traducció al castellà. I ha respectat els neopronoms en anglès que no tenen cap traducció. Molt interessant la introducció sobre la traducció en llenguatge neutre no-binari.
Com m'agradaria traduir aquest llibre al català amb la -i 💚

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very atmospheric, with a lot of structures to set the tone and gameplay, though I could see folks new to GMless games being a bit confused. I highly recommend the Oneshot podcast with Brennan Lee Mulligan, Molly Ostertag, N Stevenson, and co to get a sense of how to play the game (note that they also have episodes for Possum Creek's other games as well, such as Wanderhome, which uses a similar structure to character, setting, and so on.

Useful even as a story-writing prompt if you can't get a group together to play!

[Chrisman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super dreamy and atmospheric.

Really challenging to get started with if you're not used to PbtA storygames.

There's no GM or dice or skills or anything. Just all story telling and collaboration.