Create a child’s imaginary friend in RPG Little Katy’s Tea Party
Drinking in the atmosphere.
Become an imaginary friend and provide a child with support in the upcoming roleplaying game Little Katy’s Tea Party.
A rules-light RPG, Little Katy’s Tea Party is about an imaginary friend discussing the experiences of the child who created them by drinking tea. Katy is long gone by the time the imaginary character begins their tale, but they remember moments from her childhood when she needed them. Little Katy’s Tea Party focuses on the recollections of the girl’s imaginary friend and whether they believe they did all they could have done to protect her.
Unlike many other roleplaying games, Little Katy’s Tea Party does not have a games master. Instead, one person takes the role of the Host and is responsible for explaining the game’s rules and facilitating the playthrough. The group chooses which scenario they want to experience, before creating a character that will take on a certain role in the story. The Imaginary Friend is the protagonist of the tale, whilst another player becomes Katy - the subject of the discussion - and the remaining player takes the role of the Shadow that represents the discomfort found in Katy’s childhood.
Should there be more than three players, a fourth and a fifth player can become the Shade - a role that helps the Shadow - or the Companion imaginary character, who takes a supporting role to the main Friend.
The playthrough then progresses via a series of scenes in which the player in the role of Katy selects a discomfort to approach. The Friend then attempts to provide Katy with support to overcome their difficulty. A Friend can try to protect Katy, mentor her or reveal a new point of view to Katy. Depending on how the player in the role of Katy feels about their Friend’s response, they can decide whether they have been protected or supported in this situation by either drinking their tea or leaving it cold.
If Katy feels protected or supported but still scarred by her experience, then they drink their tea twice and the scene ends. If they don’t feel scarred or Katy’s friend chooses to sacrifice their relationship to help her cope with not feeling protected, then the game continues. Whenever Katy has not felt protected and their Friend has not sacrificed their relationship, the game ends with a Nightmare and Katy’s future is shaped by that. Players then conclude the game by deciding how Katy remembers her childhood and what her destiny was.
Players are encouraged to discuss lines - topics that must never be discussed - and veils, subjects that need to be treated carefully, with one another before they begin the game, as well as making sure to check in with each other throughout the playthrough.
Little Katy’s Tea Party was created by Edoardo Cremaschi - otherwise known as Nuclear Manatee - who has previously created RPGs such as Origami Enlightenment, a two-player game that focuses on a discussion about inner peace between a teacher and their student. The game’s storytelling was created by Daniele Fusetto, a translator responsible for the Italian language versions of RPGs such as Blades in the Dark and Dialect.
The Kickstarter campaign for Little Katy’s Tea Party - which is part of the Zinequest 3 event happening this month - is live until March 8th, with a pledge of €12 (£11/$14) getting backers a physical copy of the game set to release in October.