Blank Page Boogie-Woogie

Let's Jam!

Blank Page Boogie-Woogie is a game about designing a game. All you need are a few friends, a sheet of paper and a pen - you'll invent everything else as you go! Write down your decisions as you go, record them on a voice note, or let them disappear forever...

The game walks you through each step, from deciding how many people will play, all the way through to how the game ends. There's lots of opportunity to break the rules and add in extra pieces, actions and ideas - a pen and paper is just the starting point.

Here's an example of a game we designed while playtesting:

Example: A Monster Haunted By 1000 Artists

At the start of the game, fold the piece of paper in half an prop it up against something. Draw a little monster on it - this is the 'boss' you have to defeat. It has 40 HP, so draw that somewhere too. Place a few small objects like beads on the flat part of the paper.

On each player's turn they close their eyes and draw a ghost on the paper. If they hit a bead they have to skip their turn. If they succeed, they can roll a dice onto the paper. If it lands inside a ghost, you deal that much damage to the boss. The more ghosts you successfully draw the bigger your chance of hitting the boss is! I think there was a way to lose but I forgot what it was.

It's surprisingly hard (and funny) to draw a ghost with your eyes closed. We eventually developed the strategy of placing our hands onto the paper and tracing around it, to avoid hitting the beads.

The game is pretty fun to play, and we all had a hand in designing and playing it together! The 'screenshots' for this game show us setting up and playing the game.

Made at Dagstuhl

Blank Page Boogie-Woogie was designed at Dagstuhl Seminar 25292, as part of the working group Handmade Blaseball. It is based on a game designing system made with Younès Rabii, Claus Aranha, Brian Bucklew, Remy Devaux, Matthew Guzdial and Florence Smith Nicholls. You can find more things made at this seminar here.