The Truth is Woven in Starlight

I hope you've been kind to your neighborhood cats, my lovelies. As the season crawls its way toward the first riming, the film that separates us from the strange and the weird also thins, its viscous membrane tempting the unwary into dangerous deals and luscious irresponsibilities.

We are not yet in the fullness of that autumn evening, but some of us can already feel its influence, in the way we sit on the porch and meet the gaze of a mockingbird tending her nest, in the smell of the wind that unlocks a deep sensuality that has lain dormant since spring. In the want of a fingertip, gently caressing our arm, or neck, or lips.

Maybe it's just a vitamin deficiency. Maybe you haven't been taking your walks like you said you were going to. Maybe you forgot to drink enough water today. Or maybe you have something of a witch inside you, waiting to be released.

Today, we're thrilled to reveal Starlight, now available in its Alpha state through the Cybernetic Coven Patreon. More details below.

Starlight

The end is inevitable: the Witch will always return at the center of the impossible. What can you learn about the Witch, before they consume you? What will you ask of them, in your final moments? Can you guess what really happened?

Starlight is a mystery game of uncertain truths and impossible Witches. Or rather, it is various games, different lenses that allow you to see different facets of the game-box – a sealed container that houses the Witch and their mystery. As you take the game-box through each game, the mystery transforms itself beneath layers of interpretation, revealing terrifying complexities and impossible truths.

Every game ends the same, of course: the witch always returns, and their victims always meet their end. It is you, the players observing these events, that will change. Will you see things differently? Will you see yourself differently? Or will you stubbornly hold fast to the person you were before, to the same unshifting absolutes that brought you to the game-box in the first place?

Perhaps, eventually, you will find an answer that satisfies you enough to put the game-box away for good. 

The First Game: The Witch’s Return

Each game of Starlight provides a slightly different set of rules with which to play out the events of the game-box. You can play the same game multiple times, or use them to create a series retelling the same story with different parameters.

The first game, The Witch’s Return, introduces players to the Witch and her victims, and to the mystery contained within the game-box. You will uncover the simplest answers to the game-box’s questions: who died here, and how, and how was the Witch involved?

For some, these simple answers may be enough to accept the Witch and their power, to close the game-box, to move on with your life.

But for those of you with a more curious mind, who are not satisfied with simple answers, who find yourselves trapped in the game-box even when you put it back on the shelf, who feel something gnawing at the back of your skull? For you, the other games in the series may offer the complexity you seek, the information you need to master the game-box, solve the Witch’s riddle, and end your torment.

The Game-Box: One Night Only

Every game of Starlight is played using a game-box: a set of details describing the scenario wherein the mystery’s events occurred, a full list of characters that are available, and some additional guidance to help you frame the story with your group.

The Witch’s Return includes the first game-box, One Night Only, which contains the mystery of a doomed performance on a cursed stage.

Local starlet Nora was scheduled to perform at the grand reopening of the infamous Gaslight Theater, when an impossible disaster reduced the venue to rubble. With no survivors to tell the story of what really happened, and precious few fragments remaining to serve as evidence, conspiracies and ghost stories abound.

What really happened here? The Witch seems to offer answers, through the guise of the theater’s ghost, Ellen. But only you can unravel the mystery and find the truth woven in starlight.

The Future

You can support our continuous work on Starlight: more games and more game-boxes. Play the Alpha, give us feedback and follow up further development! 

About Cybernetic Coven

The Cybernetic Coven, or CyCo, is a participatory cooperative and artist collective. CyCo focuses on sustainable and healthy work practices, protecting individual members from the risks of the attention economy, supporting the creation of meaningful art that would not be profitable, and rewarding labor according to effort or solidarity. You can learn more on the CyCo website.