Description
In SPINE, you physically embody a researcher who is reading and annotating this book, uncovering its backstory and dredging up old memories through Siderius Plug’s endnotes.
But you soon discover a catch.
You are enthralled by the book, and the clock ticks down as you realize you are becoming completely absorbed by it. The only way to lessen its power is by defacing the text.
SPINE is both a supernatural artifact and a solo RPG. Immersive and haunting, SPINE casts the player as the inheritor of a deceased relative’s mysterious tome. Read the (single page of) instructions and begin. Follow the text, disjointed screeds about immortality stitched together from a variety of odd sources. Poetry. Diary scraps. Essays. A biography. There are annotations and end notes – what do they mean? What do you learn? Foster curiosity. Respond. Contend. Notice that the book has an agenda of its own. Fight. Deface. Destroy. Save yourself (if you can).
Game plays in about four hours. SPINE is not, specifically, a gamebook but has gamebook-like qualities in that it takes the form of a book, positions the reader (player) as the main character, and requires marking on the pages to play. It does not have a pre-determined path. There are many ways to experience SPINE – interpretations to make, answers to give, pieces of yourself to leave. When finished, pass it on to someone new or replay it. SPINE was created to be experienced three times, each playthrough a slightly different journey of notes, secrets, codes, and revelations.
- 144 pages, 5.5″ x 8.5″ B&W softcover book
- 2025 Indie Groundbreaker for Most Innovative, 2025 Indie Groundbreaker nominee for Best Writing, 2025 Indie Groundbreaker nominee for Game of the Year, 2026 Gold ENNIE for Best Solo Game
- Content note from the creator, Asa Donald: Inside, you may encounter possession, loss of bodily control, and child abuse (verbal, manipulative). If you experience unexpectedly strong emotions that are painful or that surface past trauma, stop playing immediately and connect with someone you trust.
