ghostbox is a solo epistolary game about letters left mouldering in an abandoned postbox for weeks, months, years. You'll write one side of a conversation where the replies never come. You'll track what happens to the postbox over the years. And when the game ends, the postbox and its contents are lost forever.
Thoughts: This is a unique game that uses letters and solitaire to create an interesting experience.
You can find Ghostbox at https://marx-of-high-water.itch.io/ghostbox?ac=pEV55vHqdvG
Find our merch at https://my-store-d24802.creator-spring.com/
Find our games here at https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/20990/Black-Dragon-Dungeon-Company.php?affiliate_id=3362048
BDDC logo by https://www.instagram.com/craftyteapotfox/
You can find us on Twitter @bddc_pod or Tumblr @bddc-pod
You can support us on Patreon https://patreon.com/blackdragondungeoncompany for early releases and exclusive content.
Greetings, weary Wanderer and welcome back to Lonely, T T R P G,
SteelStash:the Solo Actual Play and Review podcast.
SteelStash:This week we are playing Ghost Box by Marx Shepherd.
SteelStash:There is a post box in the woods near your house.
SteelStash:It is very old, maybe a hundred years or more.
SteelStash:The paint is flaking.
SteelStash:There's rust in places.
SteelStash:But you think this post is still collected there because they
SteelStash:close post boxes that aren't used.
SteelStash:Don't.
SteelStash:And it is still used.
SteelStash:People keep putting their letters in there.
SteelStash:Lovers, spies, friends, humans, they still post their postcards and birthday
SteelStash:cards and driving licenses and passports.
SteelStash:The odd person might wonder why something doesn't get there on time,
SteelStash:but unless everybody realizes, nobody guesses, this post box is abandon.
SteelStash:Ghost Box is a solo epistolary game about letters left moldering in an abandoned
SteelStash:post box for weeks, months, years.
SteelStash:You'll write one side of a conversation where the replies never come.
SteelStash:You'll track what happens to the post box over the years and when the game ends,
SteelStash:the post in its contents are lost forever.
SteelStash:So diving on into gameplay, what you're gonna need is you're
SteelStash:gonna need a deck of cards.
SteelStash:You're gonna need some letters or something to write with, and you're
SteelStash:gonna need a little bit of time.
SteelStash:Now remember, this is a solo game, so you're in control of your own
SteelStash:safety from moment to moment.
SteelStash:Skip any prompts you don't wanna engage with.
SteelStash:Drop any suits you feel uncomfortable with.
SteelStash:Stop playing and walk away if it feels like it's too much.
SteelStash:Playing the game.
SteelStash:So Ghost Box is a narrative layer built on the top of the Solitaire game osmosis,
SteelStash:which is known as Treasure Trove.
SteelStash:If you already know this game, the only difference is that in this version you
SteelStash:can play through the deck as many times as you want, as opposed to being limited
SteelStash:to three if you don't know the game.
SteelStash:We're gonna go through that in just a second.
SteelStash:When you set up.
SteelStash:Feel free to choose which card from the exposed cards on the top of each stash
SteelStash:to play as the first card in the top row.
SteelStash:You'll be writing the most letters or fragments from this sender.
SteelStash:So diving on into osmosis, what you're gonna do is you're going to shuffle
SteelStash:your deck and then you're going to deal three cards, face down with one
SteelStash:card, face up in two to four rows, and those are gonna be called your stashes.
SteelStash:Next, you're going to turn over the first remaining card and place it immediately
SteelStash:in the top right row of this top stash, and that becomes your first row.
SteelStash:Now the way it works is.
SteelStash:Whatever card is in your row, whatever suit is in your row is the
SteelStash:only suit you can play in that row.
SteelStash:Now the order of cards doesn't matter, so you can go Ace three, two, king
SteelStash:jack, 10, nine, that doesn't matter.
SteelStash:But in order to start a new row, the card that you wanna put in, the new
SteelStash:row has to exist in the row above it.
SteelStash:So if you have ACE 2 45 in your top row, your second row can only
SteelStash:contain an ACE two, four, or five
SteelStash:of whatever the new suit is.
SteelStash:Now once you have your stash and row set up, the next thing you're gonna do is
SteelStash:you're going to deal three cards from your deck, and that becomes your hand.
SteelStash:Now, like normal solitaire rules with your hand, that top card has to be played.
SteelStash:. So if you can't play the top card, you can't play any of the cards under it.
SteelStash:That entire hand goes into the discard pile.
SteelStash:And of course, if you remove a card from your stash and place it in
SteelStash:your row, then reveal the next card.
SteelStash:So again, that's gonna be the basic setup for this.
SteelStash:You're going to deal two to four stashes.
SteelStash:You're going to set up your first row, and then you're gonna deal your hand,
SteelStash:and you're going to move your cards from your stash or your hand to the row.
SteelStash:Now whenever a card goes from a stash into a row, write a letter or fragment
SteelStash:using a prompt from that card, which are listed by suit and in rank.
SteelStash:After these rules, the value of the previous card in the row is how
SteelStash:many days, weeks, months, or years.
SteelStash:It has been since the last letter from that sender was posted.
SteelStash:Each sender tells you what timescale to use.
SteelStash:If you want to, you can also write letters or fragments whenever a
SteelStash:card is played into a row from your hand or the discard pile.
SteelStash:And of course, you may always skip a prompt for whatever reason,
SteelStash:however you play your card.
SteelStash:Use the prompt to guide the content of what you write.
SteelStash:There is a text and subtext in each prompt with the subtext, dealing
SteelStash:with the deeper emotional context.
SteelStash:Use or ignore either as you.
SteelStash:For a full letter, address what you write to your subject and
SteelStash:sign it from the sender themself.
SteelStash:Remember that the date moves on by as many days, weeks, months, or years
SteelStash:as the previous card in that row.
SteelStash:Sometimes the letter in the post box gets damaged by whatever is
SteelStash:gradually making it unusable so that a fragment is all that is left.
SteelStash:So if you like, just write a few lines for a prompt.
SteelStash:Don't feel beholden to writing a full letter each.
SteelStash:Dilapidation.
SteelStash:Whenever you have turned over all hands in the deck, then something has happened
SteelStash:to make the post box harder to use.
SteelStash:Count the number of cards in the top row and look for that
SteelStash:change prompt in the list.
SteelStash:Then respond to that prompt aloud.
SteelStash:After this, turn over the discard pile and start drawing hands again.
SteelStash:Ending the game.
SteelStash:When you go through the whole deck without being able to play
SteelStash:new cards, the game is over.
SteelStash:When the game ends, the post box becomes entirely unusable.
SteelStash:What happens to it?
SteelStash:Speaking aloud?
SteelStash:Narrate a short scene showing its final state.
SteelStash:The senders.
SteelStash:Each of the four suits in the deck represents a different type of letter loss
SteelStash:in the post box from a different sender.
SteelStash:Like a series of letters in a museum, only one side of the conversation is presented.
SteelStash:You can choose which senders you like to play based on how
SteelStash:you feel, what they might deal with, and how much time you have.
SteelStash:You need to at least pick two senders for the game.
SteelStash:Each description of the sender gives you its suit, its name, some themes
SteelStash:and ideas, the timescale of the letters, what troubling contents you
SteelStash:might encounter, and an idea of the emotional overtones of the letters.
SteelStash:It also gives you three questions answered before you start playing.
SteelStash:When you do start playing, decide which two or more of
SteelStash:these senders you'll explore.
SteelStash:Take out the other suit.
SteelStash:Remember, jokers are optional
SteelStash:using the jokers.
SteelStash:It's an optional rule.
SteelStash:It helps out with the actual game.
SteelStash:Makes it a little bit easier to win.
SteelStash:We will not be using jokers in this play through.
SteelStash:Also, remember, removing senders means that there are fewer letters
SteelStash:that you must write, but that you are more likely to have to write.
SteelStash:The rank of the card within the suit gives you two things.
SteelStash:The prompt for the letter and how long it's been since the
SteelStash:last letter from the sender.
SteelStash:Number cards equal their value.
SteelStash:Face cards are Jack 11, queen 12 King, 13.
SteelStash:Now, as for your senders, you have hearts, which is the forlorn, a love
SteelStash:Lauren writer, over many weeks or even months, these love letters are written,
SteelStash:sent, never received, never read.
SteelStash:They might deal with relationships, sexuality, rejection, jealousy,
SteelStash:infidelity, obsession, coercive control, and other forms of abuse.
SteelStash:They may be very sad and empty
SteelStash:spades are the sleeping, penned by an agent given a purpose, never realized.
SteelStash:These are the reports and missives to a handler who has assumed the right or lost.
SteelStash:They are sent over many months or even years.
SteelStash:They might deal with surveillance, police, military trust, betrayal,
SteelStash:deceit, blackmail, torture, interrogation, warfare, and
SteelStash:other forms of state violence.
SteelStash:They may also be very cold and calculating.
SteelStash:Clubs are the left behind written with love from one friend to another,
SteelStash:who has perhaps forgotten them or assumed they have been forgotten.
SteelStash:They are sent over many years.
SteelStash:They might deal with the life of events of all kinds and
SteelStash:potentially intensively and deeply.
SteelStash:These series of letters is more open to your own ideas.
SteelStash:These letters might be warm and tender.
SteelStash:Diamonds are the opportune, prepared hastily, but with good intentions.
SteelStash:These are from any number of chance, passerby and our postcards.
SteelStash:Thank you.
SteelStash:Notes and cards of all occasions, birthdays, weddings, funerals,
SteelStash:graduations, driving tests get well, soon, invitations and so on.
SteelStash:There is no time scale to these letters.
SteelStash:They come as they are.
SteelStash:They deal with life events in a shallow but tangible way.
SteelStash:These letters might be funny and touch.
SteelStash:So for today, we're gonna be dealing with
SteelStash:the sleeping and the opportune.
SteelStash:So once again, the sleeping is penned by an agent given a purpose.
SteelStash:Never realized.
SteelStash:When you choose the sender answer, who is the sender?
SteelStash:Where have they been sent?
SteelStash:What was their mission?
SteelStash:And for the opportune, when you choose this answer, where was this post box?
SteelStash:Why is it not more used?
SteelStash:Who gets the opportunity to use it?
SteelStash:but we're not gonna answer those questions.
SteelStash:Instead, we're gonna dive right on in.
SteelStash:So the first card I got starting off my first row
SteelStash:is going to be the
SteelStash:Jack of Diamonds.
SteelStash:So the Jack of Diamonds, a raunchy seaside postcard.
SteelStash:Why is it inappropriate?
SteelStash:So this is going to be a postcard from a, a Seaside pier, and.
SteelStash:It's gonna be one of those tourists, pi think like Pier 39 over in San
SteelStash:Francisco, but a little off the beaten track where they can get away with
SteelStash:putting things on their postcard, like give her the crabs that she'll enjoy.
SteelStash:Now in my stash, I have a five of diamonds and a three of spades.
SteelStash:So I only have diamonds out on the board, or I only have a row of diamonds up front.
SteelStash:My three cannot be played yet, so we're gonna go ahead and
SteelStash:play that five of diamond.
SteelStash:Again, diamonds are time immaterial, so the timing doesn't matter.
SteelStash:With a five, we have a shocking letter to an angry aunt.
SteelStash:What confessions are held within?
SteelStash:So I think that this letter is, this letter is definitely a
SteelStash:confession and it is a confession of.
SteelStash:It is a confession of sorrow and remorse as
SteelStash:the sender never meant to abandon the aunt and her child.
SteelStash:and his child actually, that,
SteelStash:that what happened so many years ago was not,
SteelStash:was not what meant to happen and that.
SteelStash:they couldn't jeopardize their life with the aunt's sister,
SteelStash:but this is all coming from, this is all coming from the father's.
SteelStash:Other child.
SteelStash:So the aunt's, the aunt's nephew, is writing this, talking about his
SteelStash:father and what everybody has learned about the relationship between his
SteelStash:father and the aunt and the cousin who's actually a half sibling to them.
SteelStash:And.
SteelStash:just how messed up up a situation this all was.
SteelStash:And of course, you know,
SteelStash:mom, the aunt's sister.
SteelStash:. Like she doesn't, she doesn't want much to do with the family
SteelStash:now at this point, obviously.
SteelStash:But given time.
SteelStash:Given time, maybe.
SteelStash:Maybe something can come of it,
SteelStash:but that's going to be that.
SteelStash:and we're gonna move on to our next one.
SteelStash:Now I have an ace of spades and a three of spades out in my stashes.
SteelStash:I cannot play either of those into a new row because my first
SteelStash:row again is jack five, so I need either a diamond or a jack or five.
SteelStash:So I'm gonna have to deal.
SteelStash:My first hand
SteelStash:and top card for my hand is a three of diamond.
SteelStash:So I can play that into the stash.
SteelStash:Now it is optional whether or not I do a prompt for anything played from the hand.
SteelStash:We're not going to do that.
SteelStash:However, that does allow us to play our three of spades from our second stash into
SteelStash:our second row, kicking off a spades row
SteelStash:and the three of spades.
SteelStash:Is going to be, you find someone between you and the target who is in the way.
SteelStash:It was supposed to be a simple mission in a nice clean shot.
SteelStash:Get out.
SteelStash:Nobody was expecting.
SteelStash:Their wife to be there.
SteelStash:Now, normally that wouldn't be an issue after all.
SteelStash:After all, she knew what type of bastard she had married, but the
SteelStash:issue was how very pregnant she was.
SteelStash:and
SteelStash:despite
SteelStash:the threat that this person poses
SteelStash:that child, that child deserves a chance to.
SteelStash:See their father for who he was and to be better and so,
SteelStash:and so we had to scrub the mission.
SteelStash:Okay.
SteelStash:So moving on.
SteelStash:I have a nine of diamonds, which is the only thing I can play now because again,
SteelStash:I can't add to my spades unless they exist in the top row and any of the spades
SteelStash:I have out do not exist in the top row.
SteelStash:So we're playing the night of diamonds,
SteelStash:and that's going to be a graduation card.
SteelStash:, how do you commiserate with them on their poor grade?
SteelStash:So this is going to be, this is going to be from a, it's gonna be from a
SteelStash:family member to the graduate, and it's going to say, Congratulations, honey.
SteelStash:On the graduation we were pleasantly surprised to receive the notice.
SteelStash:Luckily, state colleges do not put much stock in GPAs.
SteelStash:I'm sure that you.
SteelStash:Be able to live a happy life.
SteelStash:Love passive aggressive family members.
SteelStash:And these diamonds are supposed to be fun.
SteelStash:That's why I chose them.
SteelStash:This is getting this . Next card we have is we have the queen of diamonds,
SteelStash:and this is also coming from our stash.
SteelStash:So for the Queen of Diamonds, a letter to your daughter,
SteelStash:what makes this so heartfelt?
SteelStash:Not doing that one.
SteelStash:I'm gonna straight up skip that one.
SteelStash:I have a daughter and
SteelStash:this game has surprisingly been putting me in a lot weirder mood than I thought.
SteelStash:I'm not, I'm not doing anything involving my daughter.
SteelStash:So exercising safety rule number one.
SteelStash:Now with that, in my stash, I have an ace and four of spades.
SteelStash:I cannot play any of those in my hand.
SteelStash:I have an eight and six of spades.
SteelStash:Cannot play any of those.
SteelStash:So I'm gonna start my discard pile and deal a new hand.
SteelStash:Now the ride side is, the hand I dealt was all diamonds, so that
SteelStash:can all just go on the list.
SteelStash:Which allows one of 'em was a six of diamonds that allows me to pull
SteelStash:the six of diamonds off my discard pile, put it into row two, but it
SteelStash:does not help me progress the game.
SteelStash:So let's deal a new hand, two of spades, queen of spades, ace of diamonds.
SteelStash:So ace of diamonds gonna go up in row one.
SteelStash:I'm gonna go ahead and put the queen of spades in row two two of spades.
SteelStash:Can't do anything with, but I can move my ACEs spades from my stash.
SteelStash:Row two, but that also means that I need to do the ACEs fades prompt.
SteelStash:And this will be one month later.
SteelStash:So this will be one month after the failed hit, you know, no reply is coming.
SteelStash:Why are you determined to carry on your mission?
SteelStash:It's been one month since my last mission report.
SteelStash:I don't know if it's because.
SteelStash:You guys are disappointed in me.
SteelStash:I don't know if it's because you haven't quite figured out what to do, but
SteelStash:I'm still out.
SteelStash:I am a professional and I am still out here, and I'm going to continue
SteelStash:to do the job that I swore to do.
SteelStash:If you have any more information, if you have any more missions or
SteelStash:guidance, You know how to reach me.
SteelStash:Otherwise, I'm going to continue mission with the last guidance
SteelStash:and intent that I was given.
SteelStash:Okay, next up, we're gonna move a eight of diamonds from our stash into row one.
SteelStash:And that's going to be an envelope containing only money.
SteelStash:An envelope containing only money.
SteelStash:That's.
SteelStash:It's not really much of a prompt to go off with that one.
SteelStash:No one says who sent it, but like any envelope containing only money, that's
SteelStash:not gonna have anybody's name on it.
SteelStash:You know, that's the type of thing that you just drop in there and.
SteelStash:It.
SteelStash:It kind of takes care of itself.
SteelStash:Whoever was supposed to get it should have got it.
SteelStash:But with that eight of diamonds, I can move my eight of spades from discard two.
SteelStash:My row,
SteelStash:but
SteelStash:I cannot play my two spades from my hand, so I gotta move my two spades to discard.
SteelStash:I have a ton of spades and a forest spade still in my stash, which
SteelStash:means I need to deal a new hand.
SteelStash:And I can play a couple cards from my hand.
SteelStash:I got a five and seven of spades.
SteelStash:They match my five and seven of diamonds in my first row.
SteelStash:Same thing with my Jack Spades.
SteelStash:All right, here we go.
SteelStash:Next hand.
SteelStash:I got myself a four diamonds so I can play that four of diamond.
SteelStash:Which is going to allow me to play my four of spades from my stash,
SteelStash:which is going to be another letter.
SteelStash:Four months later.
SteelStash:Your safe house has been compromised.
SteelStash:This is gonna be one of the last letters you received from me for a.
SteelStash:The safe house has been compromised.
SteelStash:I can no longer stay here.
SteelStash:I need to find a, I need to find a new location to hold up.
SteelStash:I need to reestablish myself.
SteelStash:We,
SteelStash:I'm gonna be going under radio silence for a bit at least until, at least
SteelStash:until I get everything re reassembled.
SteelStash:All right, so looking at my last hand, I got a 10 of diamonds, which lets me
SteelStash:place my final tennis spades from my stash and giving me my final prompt.
SteelStash:You follow a rule contrary to your best interest.
SteelStash:Why are you upholding the system?
SteelStash:And we're gonna skip that one as well, because that doesn't feel like
SteelStash:a good ending, ending prompt, but that
SteelStash:that is Ghost Box by Marx Shepherd.
SteelStash:This game was a lot different than what I was expecting.
SteelStash:When I saw Marx advertising this months ago, I was super excited.
SteelStash:I was like, oh, a letter writing game that I can do by myself.
SteelStash:How fun, because I have no friends, so I have no one to write letters.
SteelStash:Two.
SteelStash:And that's also not a cry for attention.
SteelStash:I wouldn't write letters if I had friends.
SteelStash:I'm very poor at the maintaining social relationships, so like this was
SteelStash:looking like it was right up my alley, and I was definitely expecting on
SteelStash:something a little more lighthearted.
SteelStash:Now, don't get me wrong, I like this.
SteelStash:This is a, this is a very, this is a very good game.
SteelStash:But yeah, there was a lot more, there was a lot more.
SteelStash:Opportunity for darkness.
SteelStash:You know, I, I ended up hitting a lot of dark notes in the Opportune, which
SteelStash:I chose that one because it was supposed to be the happy one.
SteelStash:I didn't actually read through the prompts when I, when I did it
SteelStash:when I chose it, but, Like that was supposed to be the happy one,
SteelStash:but no, it was still, it was still good.
SteelStash:It was still good.
SteelStash:I, I probably should have gone with my gut and gone with the,
SteelStash:for Lauren the lovers one.
SteelStash:But, you know, live, learn, like I said, fun game.
SteelStash:Definitely, definitely enjoyed it.
SteelStash:Definitely a.
SteelStash:I liked the, I liked the add-on to basically playing a game of solitaire.
SteelStash:You know, as you saw, playing, playing only two suits
SteelStash:makes the game really short.
SteelStash:You know, had I had, I realized that at the time I probably would've played
SteelStash:three suits, but ultimately it's fine.
SteelStash:You know, I just wanted to give you guys an idea of what the game looked
SteelStash:like, and it does look like a fun game.
SteelStash:Really my biggest complaint is that the rules for osmosis are not included with.
SteelStash:the game pdf.
SteelStash:Now, they do include the rules for osmosis on their itch page.
SteelStash:It is included on their itch page.
SteelStash:You just have to scroll down because it's not with the downloads for the game.
SteelStash:That's really my biggest complaint right there is.
SteelStash:not that they base it off another game or that it's, you
SteelStash:know, it's a hack or whatever.
SteelStash:A hack of another game or whatever you want to call it.
SteelStash:You know, because I mean, hell, I've done that with some of the games that I've,
SteelStash:some of the games that I've made you know, doors and sconces is a hack of the
SteelStash:breathless system, but include the rules.
SteelStash:The game.
SteelStash:That's my big thing.
SteelStash:But again, that's my, that's my biggest complaint.
SteelStash:The rules were present on the page.
SteelStash:You just had to go look for 'em.
SteelStash:Another super nice thing they had is they had the, they had a file so that
SteelStash:you could set this up on a virtual board.
SteelStash:With links to that as well.
SteelStash:I did not do that because I did not wanna sign up for yet another,
SteelStash:yet another site that's just going to do nothing but send me emails.
SteelStash:But,
SteelStash:but that is an option there for you, especially if you don't have a,
SteelStash:especially if you don't have a deck of cards on you or something like,
SteelStash:You know, you can, you can get this file, you can load it up in
SteelStash:there and, you know, play online.
SteelStash:But as for the gameplay itself, like I said fun, unique, unique.
SteelStash:I did like the, I did like the building on a solitary game rule set.
SteelStash:Again, I played rules as written, but for y'all, don't, don't play with, don't,
SteelStash:don't play with only two, two suits.
SteelStash:Play with all four suits.
SteelStash:That way you have a reason and an opportunity to run through your
SteelStash:entire deck to redo your discard pile.
SteelStash:So,
SteelStash:So that you get the dilapidation, so that you get all of the
SteelStash:other things for the game.
SteelStash:Two, two suits is not enough
SteelStash:to really build on the game the way that I think that the author intended.
SteelStash:It's fun, it's fine.
SteelStash:It's doable.
SteelStash:It allows you to play a game fairly quickly, but if you're gonna play,
SteelStash:play with all four suits, if you need to take a break, just take a break.
SteelStash:It's fine.
SteelStash:It's fine.
SteelStash:It's gonna be fine.
SteelStash:Even if you don't finish the game, it's fine.
SteelStash:Just start over again next time, because again, at the end of
SteelStash:the day, solo games, your rules.
SteelStash:Do what you need.
SteelStash:, but super fun game.
SteelStash:Definitely worth checking out.
SteelStash:Now you can find Ghost Box on Itch for $7 at Marx-of-high- water.itch.io/ghostbox,
SteelStash:or you can check out the link down below.
SteelStash:If you decide that you want to go check it out and you wanna pick
SteelStash:up this game, make sure that you tell 'em that SteelStash sent ya.
SteelStash:But until next time, remember I mustache y'all to stay.