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Jul. 22nd, 2011 12:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sevThis morning four-year-old Lila and I played two games of "Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple" with her imaginary friend, Salamander. (Salamander has been Lila's chief imaginary friend for several years, now; it's happy coincidence that her name was so appropriate for this game.)
For those of you unfamiliar with the game, it's "a slapstick fantasy storytelling game about helping people and getting into trouble....in a universe of open, endless skies. Many tiny worlds orbit around the Flying Temple in the center of the universe." There's a detailed description of play here if you want an explanation of how we did what we ended up doing. We ran two ten-target-word stories (most of the stories have twice that many targets), and if the stories we created sound a lot like the sort of story a preschooler would tell...that may say more about the players than about the game. :)
I played "Pilgrim Muddy Squirrel," who gets into trouble by making messes, and helps people by collecting things. Lila played "Pilgrim Bopping Catcher," who gets into trouble by hitting things and helps people by catching things. Salamander played "Pilgrim Screaming Salamander," who gets into trouble by being too loud, and helps people by playing with fire. Lila picked her and Salamander's names with a little prompting from me -- mostly describing how she wanted them to work, and giving yea or nay to my suggestions as to the names.
I had to remind Lila repeatedly throughout both games that the whole point of the game was getting in trouble. Whenever she had a result that made her Pilgrim get into trouble, I had to give her a plan for how we were going to get her out before she'd agree to be in trouble at all, much less be willing to negotiate what that trouble might be. She showed a strong preference for the ones where she got into and then immediately back out of trouble, unless I could promise her that Salamander or I would get her Pilgrim out of trouble as soon as it was our turn, but we had to get done with her turn before we could do that. Other than that, things went reasonably smoothly (all the way up until the end of the second game, where her ability to wait and/or follow rules was eroded by it being nearly naptime).
The first letter we answered was "Swallowed Whole," from a little girl named Melanie, whose house was swallowed by a whale.
Pilgrim Muddy Squirrel pulls a rope out of her pocket and ties it to the WHALE's nose, so the pilgrims will be able to find their way back out.
Unfortunately, on the way in, Muddy Squirrel's rope catches on the TREES and knocks off all the leaves, making a slippery mess in the whale's mouth.
Pilgrim Bopping Catcher slips on the leaves and slams right into the side of MELANIE's house, rattling the house and her head.
Fortunately, Melanie hears the noise and thinks it's knocking, and comes out to say hello.
Pilgrim Screaming Salamander notices it's dark inside the WHALE, so she lights a torch.
Her excited yell scares the CAT, who runs out of the whale's mouth, which makes Melanie very angry at Screaming Salamander.
Pilgrim Muddy Squirrel picks up all the leaves for her collection.
Unfortunately, while she's doing that, she kicks over the bowl of chocolate chips that Melanie was going to use to make COOKIES.
Pilgrim Bopping Catchre springs into action, catching the cholocate before it hits the WHALE's tongue.
Then she tries to swat a nearby fly but just blunders into the CAT's water dish, getting showered with water.
Pilgrim Screaming Salamander calms Melanie down, passionately explaining that the cat's freedom from the whale is a good thing.
Unfortunately, her loud voice attracts a burglar named Fred, who was passing by.
Pilgrim Muddy Squirrel helps MELANIE dry off Bopping Catcher with the leaves.
Unfortunately, she also manages to smear chocolate and water all over Melanie's HOUSE.
At this point, we've used all the words, so we go to the Epilogue:
Pilgrim Muddy Squirrel got first pick of the cookies because the whale, who didn't like chocolate, finally spat out Melanie's chocolate-covered house.
Pilgrim Bopping Catcher became fast friends with Melanie and they promised to keep in touch.
Pilgrim Screaming Salamander missed out on the cookies because she was out chasing the Burglar.
Muddy Squirrel kept more black than white stones, so she changed her banner and became Spotless Squirrel -- overcompensating for her previous messiness, causing trouble by making things vanish.
Bopping Catcher kept more black than white stones and wanted to maker her banner opposite so she could be just like Mommy, which meant she became Bopped Catcher, who gets into trouble by getting hit by things.
Screaming Salamander kept more white than black stones, so she changed her avatar and became Screaming Firefighter.
The second game we played a letter from Brandon, who'd accidentally summoned a rampaging monster.
Upon arriving in Bradon's City, Pilgrim Bopped Catcher catches and replaces a roof that the MONSTER had just knocked off.
Pilgrim Screaming Firefighter puts out a BUILDING that's on fire.
Pilgrim Spotless Squirrel collects some MONSTER scales and makes a monster-shrinking potion.
However, when the POTION vanishes into the monster's mouth, she realizes that she forgot to uncork it!
(kept none) Pilgrim Bopped Catcher climbs up a building to try to BAIT the monster, but the monster bops her right off -- kabonk! (Lila was very insistent that I include the sound-effect.)
Pilgrim Screaming Firefighter sweeps the MONSTER's fire away, so that Bopped Catcher doesn't fall into it.
Screaming Firefighter lets out a GIANT roar, and the monster begins chasing her instead!
Pilgrim Spotless Squirrel collects some rope, makes a lasso, and plucks the potion right back out of the monster's mouth.
She runs off into the CITY, but soon gets lost (between the baker's and the blacksmith's ... is this city alphabetized?)
Pilgrim Bopped Catcher catches an apple falling from a tree and throws it onto a ROOF, attracting the Monster's attention away form Screaming Firefighter.
Unfortunately ,the apple topples off the roof, hits Bopped Catcher and covers her in applesauce, so the monster wants her instead.
Pilgrim Screaming Firefighter raises a curtain of flame between the monster and Bopped Catcher, hiding her from view.
The monster hops on top of a building to avoid the roar of the flames, and might smoosh Screaming Firefighter!
Pilgrim Spotless Squirrel collects a map from a fleeing citizen and uses it to find her way back to her friends.
Pilgrim Bopping Catcher is hit by the door as she runs into a HOUSE, trapping her inside.
She catches the shrinking potion that Spotless Squirrel tosses her through a window, uncorks it, and throws it out another window to land right in the Monster's mouth!
At this point, we've used all the words, so we have an Epilogue:
Bopped Catcher receives a barrel of apples as a reward.
Screaming Firefighter catches the shrunken monster and keeps it for a pet.
Spotless Squirrel is given a new backpack as a reward, but only because she promised she'd stuff it full of supplies and stop "collecting" things from the people around her.
Pilgrim Spotless Squirrel kept more white stones and so changes her avatar, becoming Pilgrim Spotless Kangaroo.
Pilgrim Bopped Catcher kept the same number of each color and insisted on a complete change, so I couldn't talk her out of becoming Pilgrim Sky Jumper, who gets into trouble by getting caught in clouds and helps people by jumping. (I think the changes are supposed to be evolutions from the previous name, but Lila was very insistent.)
Pilgrim Screaming Firefighter kept more black stones than white, and became Pilgrim Whispering Firefighter.
For those of you unfamiliar with the game, it's "a slapstick fantasy storytelling game about helping people and getting into trouble....in a universe of open, endless skies. Many tiny worlds orbit around the Flying Temple in the center of the universe." There's a detailed description of play here if you want an explanation of how we did what we ended up doing. We ran two ten-target-word stories (most of the stories have twice that many targets), and if the stories we created sound a lot like the sort of story a preschooler would tell...that may say more about the players than about the game. :)
I played "Pilgrim Muddy Squirrel," who gets into trouble by making messes, and helps people by collecting things. Lila played "Pilgrim Bopping Catcher," who gets into trouble by hitting things and helps people by catching things. Salamander played "Pilgrim Screaming Salamander," who gets into trouble by being too loud, and helps people by playing with fire. Lila picked her and Salamander's names with a little prompting from me -- mostly describing how she wanted them to work, and giving yea or nay to my suggestions as to the names.
I had to remind Lila repeatedly throughout both games that the whole point of the game was getting in trouble. Whenever she had a result that made her Pilgrim get into trouble, I had to give her a plan for how we were going to get her out before she'd agree to be in trouble at all, much less be willing to negotiate what that trouble might be. She showed a strong preference for the ones where she got into and then immediately back out of trouble, unless I could promise her that Salamander or I would get her Pilgrim out of trouble as soon as it was our turn, but we had to get done with her turn before we could do that. Other than that, things went reasonably smoothly (all the way up until the end of the second game, where her ability to wait and/or follow rules was eroded by it being nearly naptime).
The first letter we answered was "Swallowed Whole," from a little girl named Melanie, whose house was swallowed by a whale.
Pilgrim Muddy Squirrel pulls a rope out of her pocket and ties it to the WHALE's nose, so the pilgrims will be able to find their way back out.Unfortunately, on the way in, Muddy Squirrel's rope catches on the TREES and knocks off all the leaves, making a slippery mess in the whale's mouth.
Pilgrim Bopping Catcher slips on the leaves and slams right into the side of MELANIE's house, rattling the house and her head.Fortunately, Melanie hears the noise and thinks it's knocking, and comes out to say hello.
Pilgrim Screaming Salamander notices it's dark inside the WHALE, so she lights a torch.Her excited yell scares the CAT, who runs out of the whale's mouth, which makes Melanie very angry at Screaming Salamander.
Pilgrim Muddy Squirrel picks up all the leaves for her collection.Unfortunately, while she's doing that, she kicks over the bowl of chocolate chips that Melanie was going to use to make COOKIES.
Pilgrim Bopping Catchre springs into action, catching the cholocate before it hits the WHALE's tongue.Then she tries to swat a nearby fly but just blunders into the CAT's water dish, getting showered with water.
Pilgrim Screaming Salamander calms Melanie down, passionately explaining that the cat's freedom from the whale is a good thing.Unfortunately, her loud voice attracts a burglar named Fred, who was passing by.
Pilgrim Muddy Squirrel helps MELANIE dry off Bopping Catcher with the leaves. Unfortunately, she also manages to smear chocolate and water all over Melanie's HOUSE.
At this point, we've used all the words, so we go to the Epilogue:
Pilgrim Muddy Squirrel got first pick of the cookies because the whale, who didn't like chocolate, finally spat out Melanie's chocolate-covered house.
Pilgrim Bopping Catcher became fast friends with Melanie and they promised to keep in touch.
Pilgrim Screaming Salamander missed out on the cookies because she was out chasing the Burglar.
Muddy Squirrel kept more black than white stones, so she changed her banner and became Spotless Squirrel -- overcompensating for her previous messiness, causing trouble by making things vanish.
Bopping Catcher kept more black than white stones and wanted to maker her banner opposite so she could be just like Mommy, which meant she became Bopped Catcher, who gets into trouble by getting hit by things.
Screaming Salamander kept more white than black stones, so she changed her avatar and became Screaming Firefighter.
The second game we played a letter from Brandon, who'd accidentally summoned a rampaging monster.
Upon arriving in Bradon's City, Pilgrim Bopped Catcher catches and replaces a roof that the MONSTER had just knocked off. Pilgrim Screaming Firefighter puts out a BUILDING that's on fire. Pilgrim Spotless Squirrel collects some MONSTER scales and makes a monster-shrinking potion.However, when the POTION vanishes into the monster's mouth, she realizes that she forgot to uncork it!
(kept none) Pilgrim Bopped Catcher climbs up a building to try to BAIT the monster, but the monster bops her right off -- kabonk! (Lila was very insistent that I include the sound-effect.)
Pilgrim Screaming Firefighter sweeps the MONSTER's fire away, so that Bopped Catcher doesn't fall into it.Screaming Firefighter lets out a GIANT roar, and the monster begins chasing her instead!
Pilgrim Spotless Squirrel collects some rope, makes a lasso, and plucks the potion right back out of the monster's mouth.She runs off into the CITY, but soon gets lost (between the baker's and the blacksmith's ... is this city alphabetized?)
Pilgrim Bopped Catcher catches an apple falling from a tree and throws it onto a ROOF, attracting the Monster's attention away form Screaming Firefighter.Unfortunately ,the apple topples off the roof, hits Bopped Catcher and covers her in applesauce, so the monster wants her instead.
Pilgrim Screaming Firefighter raises a curtain of flame between the monster and Bopped Catcher, hiding her from view.The monster hops on top of a building to avoid the roar of the flames, and might smoosh Screaming Firefighter!
Pilgrim Spotless Squirrel collects a map from a fleeing citizen and uses it to find her way back to her friends. Pilgrim Bopping Catcher is hit by the door as she runs into a HOUSE, trapping her inside.She catches the shrinking potion that Spotless Squirrel tosses her through a window, uncorks it, and throws it out another window to land right in the Monster's mouth!
At this point, we've used all the words, so we have an Epilogue:
Bopped Catcher receives a barrel of apples as a reward.
Screaming Firefighter catches the shrunken monster and keeps it for a pet.
Spotless Squirrel is given a new backpack as a reward, but only because she promised she'd stuff it full of supplies and stop "collecting" things from the people around her.
Pilgrim Spotless Squirrel kept more white stones and so changes her avatar, becoming Pilgrim Spotless Kangaroo.
Pilgrim Bopped Catcher kept the same number of each color and insisted on a complete change, so I couldn't talk her out of becoming Pilgrim Sky Jumper, who gets into trouble by getting caught in clouds and helps people by jumping. (I think the changes are supposed to be evolutions from the previous name, but Lila was very insistent.)
Pilgrim Screaming Firefighter kept more black stones than white, and became Pilgrim Whispering Firefighter.