Hi all! Today I have an interview with Cody Trotter from scaryridge creative house about THE VIOLET SANCTION, which is currently on Kickstarter for Zine Quest 2. It sounds very interesting! Check it out below!
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What is THE VIOLET SANCTION, both as a product and as your vision?
i’m working on a zinequest game for kickstarter called THE VIOLET SANCTION, a cooperative urban fantasy adventure that takes place in seattle’s capitol hill neighborhood. it’s one of the epicenters of queer culture in the area, and it also happens to be my home. as a product, the game is a multiplayer choose-your-own-story style gamebook, divided into episodes. episodes, which are named after streets in the neighborhood, are non-linear, crossing paths with each other frequently, leading to a grand finale in the epilogue.
the game eschews dice, leveling, experience points, and most combat (there are social encounters, certainly). as a vision, THE VIOLET SANCTION is my first art project in a very long time, after years of processing life’s many traumas. a mid-life crisis, transitioning to nonbinary, escaping a job that was devouring me; this game is more than just a reincarnation of my artistic spirit, it is a manifesto for social change, for art, for evolution. i’m new to this whole process, but i’m hopeful in ways i haven’t been in ages.
This sounds like such a fascinating project! How do you handle resolution of any conflict or social encounters in lieu of dice?
the gamebooks express the setting and obstacles similarly to an adventure game, with a lot of the puzzles requiring specific actions at the right places. this can include dialogue choices, magic being cast, classic inventory puzzles, etc., but the charm of the system really comes from the cards. every character has their own customized deck, which are written on, manipulated, and sometime removed. a various points, the game queries cards in hand or on the table, then directs you to the next scene accordingly.
my favorite example is the 9 of hearts, which signifies the 9 lives of the cat-human shapeshifter class. as they “lose” lives, pips are shaded in or crossed out. rumor has it that cats on their last life share a drink at a speakeasy hidden down a dark alley…
other scenes are resolved by playing cards from your hand to determine outcomes, and one character class can even trade cards with other players. however, cards are never randomly drawn, instead it’s a strategy puzzle of figuring out what goes where and how.
As a nonbinary person, I’m always curious how other nonbinary people’s identity has influenced their design. How do you feel your transition to nonbinary identity has influenced the design and flavor of THE VIOLET SANCTION?
being nonbinary absolutely affects my writing and design. the game is largely de-gendered, with the exception of a few specific characters, like death herself, which was chosen intentionally. using THE VIOLET SANCTION as a platform for dismantling the gender binary and helping to solidify new language was incredibly important to the overall design. identifying as queer in general impacts the type of subjects i choose to tackle.
all art is politics, and education, and i think visibility for the queer spectrum is vital to our future. i spent my entire adolescence being told that my sexuality shouldn’t define me, that it was only a part of who i was, but then was simultaneously told i was a very small percentage of the population. as i’ve grown older and wiser, i meet people like me everywhere i go. i want the next generation to hear these stories and be able to do better for themselves.
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Thanks so much for the interview Cody! I hope you all enjoyed the interview and that you’ll check out THE VIOLET SANCTION on Kickstarter today!