Her Odyssey
A downloadable game
Day 5. It has not been an auspicious few days. Although my body still holds strong, I fear my wits are duller than ever, and doubts have begun to shake my resolve. I should have brought more food, a waterskin, warmer clothing. After the terrible miscommunication with the shopkeeper yesterday, I doubt anyone in this little village will be inclined to help me. And it won't be long before the shadow of my fears catches up to me...
Her Odyssey is a solo journaling RPG about a wanderer trying to return home - or find a new home.
Every mysterious hooded traveler has a story to tell. What's yours?
Build a rich world, create a character backstory, explore an ongoing adventure, or all three at once - with nothing more than a deck of standard playing cards and a handful of d4s.
Meant to be played by a single player at a slow, contemplative pace, Her Odyssey can be completed in a few hours - or it can become a daily ritual, taking you on a metaphorical journey alongside your wanderer for up to two months per playthrough. Dozens of open-ended Hazard prompts provide a starting point for all sorts of adventures and misadventures. Four optional variant rules allow you to customize your game for the perfect genre and level of difficulty.
Her Odyssey is built on Caltrop Core and became the forerunner of the Aspire SRD.
Her Odyssey is also available in Japanese! Translated by Malstrom, the Japanese version of Her Odyssey comes bundled with a custom CCFolia background for easy digital play.
What people are saying...
Perfect for a flight, daily journaling, or getting lost in the designs of your own mind, Her Odyssey is a journaling experience that uses intuitive yet simple mechanics to deliver a journey full of discovery. It should be a staple in any world-building collections.
This experience of discovering the story as you play, in the moment, reminds me of a Roger Zelazny work [...] You have a whole history together but the history is not clear to the reader - or in this case, the writer as well.
The emotionally explorative nature of [Her Odyssey] invites you to trade a piece of you for a piece of the game in a way that few others manage to.
Her Odyssey is a master class in taking a basic system like Caltrop Core and infusing it with your own creativity, to elevate it into its own beautiful piece of art--and SRD! When the community was just starting out, I believe this game was the first solo journaling TTRPG built on the system. I was blown away by its elegance. To this day, I am grateful Kaiya chose Caltrop Core to build Her Odyssey on, and now I'm flat-out privileged to watch it grow into Aspire!
Her Odyssey comes to print!
Her Odyssey is now available in print from Knave of Cups! New art and layout presented in a handmade mini-zine with a 3-color risograph cover and B&W interiors.
Knave of Cups has also curated an ambient Spotify playlist of background music full of good vibes to inspire you during your odyssey. Check it out on Spotify!
If you enjoy Her Odyssey, consider checking out these games as well:
- Untitled Moth Game, also by me, is a fairytale-themed solo journaling RPG about a cursed moth-maiden exploring a humble Village and navigating the foreboding Tyrant's Castle, trying to find and save her true love.
- You, Beyond the Pale, also by me, is a solo journaling RPG about being a lonely monster adrift and bewildered by the mortal world. What happens after the mortal world notices you?
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Her Odyssey coming to print!Mar 23, 2023
- 09 May 2022 - v1.01May 09, 2022
Comments
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I've had a game with very interesting ending. The character, exhausted and injured, was saved by some villagers - only to find out they intend to abuse her as cheap labor (the first joker). And right after that I revealed the second joker. Is this unfriendly comunity truly her nearly-forgotten home?
Thanks for the game.
You know, this is the second time that I’ve heard of this very rare ending occurring! The very first playtester for Her Odyssey drew the jokers as the 53rd and 54th cards of his deck, and his wanderer ended up inciting a mages’ revolution to make their false home into something that could be called a true home. I hope that you enjoyed your wanderer’s journey and that she finds a way to carve out a home for herself as well!
Could you upload the new version in a single page style instead of just the spreads? I wanted to print a little booklet of it. Thanks!
Knave of Cups isn’t planning on releasing a pages PDF of their print zine layout at present.
I'm trying Her Odyssey as my first foray into solo/journalling RPGs, and so far I'm just enjoying the character creation part. I did have a question, however: you mention once in the guide of putting a drawn card into a discard pile after use. Given that the game is intended to be played over the course of many days/sessions, how "required" or "recommended" is it to actually use a discard pile? I'd rather not risk misplacing some of my deck over the course of a long playthrough. I was originally planning on just re-shuffling every time I played...
That’s a reasonable concern! You can just place the cards at the bottom of your deck rather than using a discard pile.
(While you could certainly shuffle the deck between every draw, it’s a variant rule for a reason - I find it changes the feel of the game a slight but significant amount. It’s great if that extra layer of uncertainty is what you want to opt in for, but placing the cards at the bottom of the deck is a better way to get the standard experience if that’s what you want!)
Awesome, that's what I was thinking. Thanks! Really enjoying the game so far! Can't wait for my printed version to arrive ;)
I had the pleasure of playing Her Odyssey for my solo TTRPG Wednesday!
I did a mix of a first look and playthrough of the game. Had fun, got spooky, and glad I was able to share with my watchers!
Below is the VOD I uploaded on Youtube.
Thank you so much for sharing Clarice’s odyssey! I’m so glad she was able to find a new home after a short and sweet journey.
I love the designs and layout. Great job.
Dunno if you still will respond to comments but, I was wondering if it's within the expected play to choose not roll a stat check, especially if the value is impossible, or an attempt should always be made at surpassing the Omen score?
Hi! You can choose to modify your own play however you like, but the intended rule is to always at least try to roll a stat check. After all, even if there is no chance of meeting the Omen score, the stats you have not used for that day will still increase.
Ah, thank you for reply. I thought that might have been the intention, but it wasn't clear.
I loved this game! I had a lot of fun playing and want to return to Her Odyssey ASAP, and my full review can be found on my blog. However, as a quick summary: clean, simple, easy to learn mechanics, as well as amazing narrative freedom and potential for storytelling.
Oh wow, thank you so much! The point about a dyslexia-friendly version is well-made, and I'll be looking into reformatting the game with that in mind!
Definitely giving this a try. :) Been trying to get into Journaling RPG's for a while.
Wonderful, I hope you enjoy it!
Thank you so much for playing and for your lovely review!
This was lovely. I found the whole experience very peaceful and cathartic.
I played over several days and it felt like a pleasant ritual at the end of a long day.
Thank you for making this game!
Thank you so much for your kind comments! I'm so glad you enjoyed playing!
I love this game. It has the lovely simplicity of the Caltrop system, but with some great narrative twitches. I will definitely create a story with it. I already made a video explaining how to play it. In Spanish, though. Here…
This is amazing, thank you so much!
I love this idea so much and you've executed it so elegantly!
I was thinking about doing a solo journaling game for Caltrop Core and I think you've inspired me to go through with it :)
I'm so glad to hear it! Caltrop Core is such a great, flexible system. And the world could always use more solo journaling RPGs.
I agree on both fronts :D