SPINE
A Solo TTRPG About Losing Yourself in a Book
SPINE is a solo tabletop RPG that looks like a book. In SPINE, you play as a researcher who has inherited this strange book from an estranged relative. What’s inside the book is equally peculiar, a collection of excerpts about immortality and several magicians who sought it. These excerpts include texts of diverse genres — an essay, biography, diary, and collection of poetry — all by different authors and sewn together at the spine by a self-important scholar.

You soon discover a catch. You are enthralled by the book, and you realize you are becoming completely absorbed by it. The only way to lessen its power is by defacing the text.

You play by reading. For each page, you must pick one of its endnotes and follow its prompts. Some prompts instruct you to advance your clock at the back of the book, which represents the degree to which you are absorbed in the book. Your goal is to piece together the story without losing yourself in it.