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Tangled Blessings is a solo journaling or two-player RPG inspired by dark academia media, ghost stories, and graduate school. Featuring a wizarding college, wandering specters, assigned houses, curses, devils’ bargains and more supernatural flavor, Tangled Blessings blends horror and the fantastical to help players craft a story that spans their time at the academy - culminating in one final showdown against their rival.
A deck of tarot cards and a way to record the story are the only items required to play. Based on the ENnie-nominated Anamnesis game system by Samantha Leigh, players first draw from the tarot deck to discover which house they belong to and then they'll discover who of 22 possible rivals will shadow their time at the Academy. In two-player games, players rival each other, working together to unravel their shared and complicated history at the academy shrouded in darkness.
Who is Tangled Blessings For?
If your favorite stories ever involved sneaking around an ancient building, uncovering dangerous secrets, studying in a dusty library, practicing spells on the lawn, or making perilous deals with creatures lurking in the darkness… This game is for you.
If you ever romanticized the university or boarding school experience, add a dash of terrible magic and this game is for you.
This is your chance to study somewhere special and threatening. You’ll find magic mingled with risks. You’ll be a magnet for disaster, but you could also lead others to ruin.
Tangled Blessings in a snapshot
Supports solo play or two players without the need for a game master.
Estimated to offer a 2-4 hour experience.
Playable in one or multiple sessions with natural breaks.
Doesn’t require a character sheet because there are no skills to track.
Diceless; only tarot cards are required to play.
Inspired by dark academia, ghost stories, and graduate school.
Over 60 unique and thematic prompts.
22 unique and robust rival descriptions,
Includes several pieces of original art, NPC ideas, and more to inspire playthroughs.
Structured Journaling
Even if you’ve never played a journaling game before, Tangled Blessings makes it easy to dive in, walking you through the simple character creation process step by step. As you play, you’ll draw cards from your tarot deck and respond to prompts that guide you through 4 years at the academy. You can record your responses in whichever way pleases you most.
Two-Player
When you play with another person, you’ll take turns exploring what the Academy holds for you, adding to each other’s memories as you go. Just like in solo play, you’ll use a single tarot deck to uncover events where your characters cross paths.
Rivalry (for solo and two-player versions)
A highlight of many academic-centered tales is the rival.
In Tangled Blessings, your rival can be your best friend, a family member, a stranger, an enemy, a romantic interest or a combination of relations. Your rival is present in most of your memories at the academy. How your relationship evolves with them is up to you, but at the end of four years, you’ll still stand against each other in one final test of academic and magical mastery.
