Red Heart, Red Claw was a bit of a cheat. I wrote it in November and December of 2012, not 2013, and I wrote it before I decided to do the 1330 Project, so it gave me a bit of a head start. Still, finishing it—flawed as the game is—helped inspire the 1330 Project.
Red Heart, Red Claw isn’t the first game I’ve attempted—it’s not even the best one I’ve attempted—but it is the first one I’ve finished, and for that I’m pretty proud of it. Though I must say that “finished” here comes with an asterisk—the game still requires work, and there’s a lot I’m still unhappy with—but there’s a complete set of rules here, and if someone decided to put themselves through it they very well could play a full game of it. Not that I would know—I haven’t yet. The game was written as a Christmas gift to my girlfriend, who’s in love with Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. It was written as an art piece and a romantic gesture, I suppose, more than it was a game to be played by the masses (I don’t expect it to have mass appeal) but that doesn’t mean I don’t want it to be an enjoyable game. Unfortunately, my girlfriend and I haven’t had the opportunity to play it together.
It is a two player game, in which players take on the roles of Beauty and the Beast. It’s a little darker than the Disney version though—the Beauty and the Beast are all alone in the Beast’s palace, and they only have seven days to fall in love with one another or else the Beast will become a true monster, with the Beauty trapped in his palace prison. This is complicated by the Beast’s cruel nature and the Beauty’s fears and reservations. They need to use what little love they have to make the other fall in love with them, while—theoretically—finding love for themselves. That’s the idea, at least.
It uses Tarot cards and d10 dice to resolve conflicts, and for the most part tests are simple—if a player wants to do something, they play an appropriate card from their hand and roll a d10. If the result is 11 or greater, their action succeeds. Tests attempting to overcome Cruelties and Fears are a bit more complicated, however, and involve pitting one player against another in tests in which both players want to win, but quite possibly cannot.
There are a few things I’m aware are flawed with the first edition of the game, but the tests system is one that would make or break it entirely. If the tests are broken, the game won’t work at all, and I won’t know it until I play it. I believe in theory that the test system should work, but working does not necessarily mean it will work in a way that’s fun.
A more manageable flaw lies in a number of the loves. This is a simple mental block on my part. A few of the “Loves”, ways in which a person expresses love for another, don’t fit the feel that I would prefer them to—they’re more things that people love than ways to express love. “Food” is an example of this. It’s simply not satisfactory. “Games” was one that was replaced by “Playfulness”, which I found more satisfactory, and I hope to replace some of the others as the game is revised. Some of the definitions, not just of the Loves, but of all of the traits as well, are unsatisfactory, and I hope to clean those up to make those clearer.
There are, of course, things that I’m happy with about this game. I’m happy, for instance, that it is a game that has no focus on physical violence. It is based entirely on trying to perform actions of love, and there is no focus on physical violence (though, depending on the Beast and the Beauty, I suppose physical violence may occur). I’m happy as well with an attempted test system that is not based on skill stats and dice rolls, but instead on narrative and storytelling. Characters don’t have a lot of stats and things in this game—only their emotions, and I’m kind of proud of that.
Overall, this is simply a game that requires playtesting more than anything else—until then, I won’t know if this was simply an art project or if it has the potential to become a full-fledged game. Regardless, it requires work.
But as a first step, I’m pretty happy with it.
Sharkbull
You can download Red Heart, Red Claw here for free. If you have any feedback I’d love to hear about it.
The 1330 Project 