''Wanderhome'' is an

indie role-playing game An indie role-playing game is a role-playing game published by individuals or small press publishers, in contrast to games published by large corporations. Indie tabletop role-playing game designers participate in various game distribution netwo ...

by game designer Jay Dragon about animal people in a

pastoral The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...

setting, based upon the Belonging Outside Belonging game system by

Avery Alder Avery Alder is a Canadian tabletop role-playing game designer. She designs games with themes of LGBTQ self-discovery, community building, and post-apocalyptic survival. In collaboration with Benjamin Rosenbaum, Alder invented the Belonging Outs ...

and

Benjamin Rosenbaum Benjamin Rosenbaum (born August 23, 1969) is an American science fiction, fantasy, and literary fiction writer, game designer, and computer programmer. His stories and novels have been finalists for the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, the Theodore ...

. It was published by Possum Creek Games soon after Dragon's ''Sleepaway''. Unlike typical

tabletop role-playing games A tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG or TRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a kind of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech and sometimes movements. Participants d ...

, ''Wanderhome'' does not use dice, turns, or a

gamemaster A gamemaster (GM; also known as game master, game manager, game moderator, referee, storyteller, or master of ceremonies) is a person who acts as a facilitator, organizer, officiant regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer r ...

, focusing instead on the characters' emotional journey. Dialogue takes the place of battles, and gameplay revolves around question prompts. The mood of ''Wanderhome'', according to Chase Carter for ''Polygon'', is cozy and wholesome, with an undercurrent of trauma from the land's past wars. It was influenced by the

Redwall ''Redwall'' is a series of children's fantasy novels by British writer Brian Jacques, published from 1986 to 2011. It is also the title of the first book of the series, published in 1986, as well as the name of the abbey featured in the book, ...

books and

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio based in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It has a strong presence in the animation industry and has exp ...

animated films. It was funded and fulfilled through

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

. ''Wanderhome'' won 2022 ENNIE Awards for Best Family-Friendly Game (Gold), Best Cover Art (Gold), and Best Interior Art (Silver). ''Wanderhome'' was nominated for the 2021

Nebula Award for Best Game Writing The Nebula Award for Best Game Writing is one of the Nebula Awards, presented each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy game writing. The Nebula Awards have been described as one of ...

. ''Wanderhome'' was featured in

Itch.io Itch.io (stylized in all lowercase) is a website for users to host, sell and download indie video games, indie role-playing games, game assets, comics, zines and music. Launched in March 2013 by Leaf Corcoran, the service hosts over 1,000,000 ...

's charity bundle for abortion funds.

References

ENnies winners Fantasy role-playing games Ghibli-inspired role-playing games Indie role-playing games Kickstarter-funded tabletop games LGBTQ-related tabletop games Role-playing games introduced in 2021 Tabletop games {{Rpg-stub