Koriko: A Magical Year
A downloadable game
Overview
This is a game for one player, designed for contemplative solo play. It’s a bubbling cauldron of simple rules and writing prompts, stirred together to produce the story of a teenage witch spending a year away from home in an unfamiliar city called Koriko.
The game’s primary inspiration is Kiki’s Delivery Service, both the Studio Ghibli film and the Eiko Kadono novel. I’ve watched the film countless times as it’s one of my son’s favourites, and its story and themes have burrowed their way deep into my soul.
You don't need to have played a roleplaying game before—this isn’t much like most of them anyway. A passing familiarity with witches, urban exploration and teenage drama is all the background you’ll need.
Seasons of play
Your witch’s story is told in six sections, or volumes, each taking an hour or two of your time. To play, you'll need this book, a deck of tarot cards and a stack of dice. You’ll also need a journal to write your story in.
We’ll start by helping you to create your witch and their home village, then we’ll whisk them away on their journey to Koriko. This city is a place of your own invention. It might be a charming seaside resort, a smog-choked metropolis, a palace in the clouds—whatever you can imagine. We’ll make this place together, asking questions to inspire your creativity.
Then, with your version of Koriko established, your witch can explore and meet its weird and wonderful residents. To do this you’ll draw cards, each relating to a prompt that introduces a new event to your story. These prompts are a chance to exercise your creative writing muscles—and when things get risky, we'll add dice to an increasingly-precarious stack!
At the end of each volume you’ll pause to reflect, spending time resting before writing a letter home to your witch’s mentor. Then, perhaps after a break, we’ll move on to the next volume of events and ephemera. In this way you’ll be guided through the gentle rhythms of the year.
Then, as winter draws to a close at the end of your witch’s year in the city, you'll make their biggest decision yet: will they stay in Koriko to remain the city’s resident witch, or leave—back home, or off to pastures new?
This is a perfect jumping-off point for your journey (or return) to the world of roleplaying. There are no complex rules to learn, no group of players to coordinate and no need to talk in a funny accent.
Solo roleplaying games are pen & paper experiences that are designed primarily for just one player—you. I like them because they let me squeeze some storytelling into the margins of my life, on my terms. Or, if I'm blessed with a rare quiet evening, I can luxuriate and spend an hour researching Italian pop music or Basque cuisine as I play the game—and there's nobody at the table to get bored with my diversions.
# Version 1.0 This is the launch version of Koriko, ready to play and enjoy. There are a few things still on the to-do list, which will be added later as free updates to this game: - A soundtrack! I'm very excited to start properly making this now :) - The Patron confidant, which all Patron backers will get as a printed bonus. - Rules for asynchronous play, that will allow you to play the game alongside your friends (in a very loose sense!) - Plain text & accessible versions of the game's files (I'm currently learning how to do this in Affinity!) - "A Magical Sandwich", an alternate start for playing as a college wizard. - A rules explanation video, where I'll play through the setup and opening volumes—for those of you who learn better by watching.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $18 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Community Copies
Support this game at or above a special price point to receive something exclusive.
Community Copy
Claim a free copy of Koriko if you are marginalised/in need. Copies will be limited but I'll be adding more here as people donate.
Donate a Community Copy
For $24 you'll get a copy of Koriko and donate a copy of the game for others to claim.
Development log
- Fixed page numbers!Jul 06, 2023
Comments
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I have yet to play this game, but I must mention how incredible Jack is: I reached out for an educator's discount for Koriko after reading about it (I run an after-school TTRPG group for some students with dyslexia). Instead of just a discount, he sent me a free PDF. Considering how much hard work has gone into these games, I am incredibly grateful for his generosity and thoughtfulness. This is why I love independent creators and the community to which they've contributed. Thank you Jack!
Is there any news on when the physical copies will be available retail? I missed out on the KS.
Hey Tim! Shouldn’t be too much longer, follow my newsletter if you’d like updates :)
I will because I do! Thank you xx
Hello Jack, hope you're doing well! I backed Koriko on Kickstarter (Resident tier) and was wondering if backers already should have access to the digital version of the game? If so, is there an Itch.io link or something like that? Thank you in advance, I'm looking forward to play this game and can't wait to see the physical product ☺️
Hey! Yes you should, drop me an email to jack at mousehole dot press and I’ll sort it out :)
I'm excited to start playing this on my own but I was also oping to do some asynchronous play with friends far away: is there any update on the group play content?
I’ve been testing it loads and it’s really fun! It just takes a little while to coordinate testing… and I kinda wrote a whole other game you all play together to kick things off 😅
That sounds about like any project I've worked on: I'm looking forward to it's release!
I've been loving this so far! I'm about to wrap up The Departure, and I was wondering: do you have any advice for using digital tarot decks with this? I mainly wonder since I may not always have my deck handy, and I'm not sure how you'd go about setting up a unique volume deck online?
I’m setting up a digital tabletop using screentop which will be freely available to you all soon :)
Great to hear!! any quick fixes you can offer in the meantime? :o
Will there ever be a print copy of this? I think it would be nice to have something to carry around without resorting to a binder.
Yeah! They’re being printed right now :)
Follow my newsletter for updates.
I'm really enjoying my playthrough, but I have question about the lessons.
I'm a bit confused as to when I should be writing them. Is it every time I draw a card and match it to its prompt?
I'm at the first chapter and meeting the arcana prompts which are associated to suits. Do I write a lesson then?
Hello! Glad you’re having a good time. You’ll write a new lesson any time you successfully stack dice as part of a risky action.
Other than that, you’ll write one any time you’re explicitly asked to, such as the end of each Volume, as part of some bonus actions and as part of a dice tower collapse result. In these instances it’ll always say ‘write a new lesson’.
Hope that helps! J
I love this game. I've spent three days listening to lofi for witches and writing, and fully gasped at some of the plot twists. The mechanics are so simple but create such a full world and the tone is immaculate.
I do have a question (because I blithely ignored how many pages playtests went for and started writing in a journal with only 60 pages). You make a separate page for confidants - is it intended that you add hangouts with them to that page or should it be kind of empty except for the initial choices? (I'm running out of space and it's my own fault.)
Thank you so much for making the game! I can't wait for my hard copy to arrive.
Hello! Thank you so much for the lovely feedback :)
The idea with the Confidant page is that you have somewhere to record their details (name, appearance etc) when you create them. You might also add additional notes and flair (drawings etc) to the page as you go. If you’re finding you need the space, you could probably compress all your confidants down into a single spread.
Thank you for writing a lovely game and creating something beautiful. I'm really excited to receive the print copy when it's ready!
I've enjoyed it so much that I'm putting the adventure of my witch Kit online as letters back to her cousin on my website, and there will be a letter following the seasons throughout 2024.
Hello Mr. Harrison!
Thank you for the inclusion of community copies. It is a beautiful and well-made game and I am happy I am able to experience it even without the wherewithal. It is heartening to see so many game-makers participate in this custom.
I'm currently working through Arrival, but I did a look-through of the rest of the book and have a question:
In the consequences table, rolling a 5 or 6 ultimately result in adding an "experience" under a skill. Do these qualify as "lessons" for the purposes of dice-stacking, determining skills, etc.? In either case, I might recommend making it clear in the text whether these "experiences" qualify as "lessons" or are merely extra flavor.
Thank you for your time, and thank you for the lovely game your labor has produced.
Thanks for your lovely feedback! This is a typo, Lessons used to be called Experiences :) it’s on the list for fixes when I (finally) update the digital files!
Thank you for getting back to me so quickly!
Thank you. I had thought that might be the case.
This game is absolutely superb! Seriously elevates solo RPGs both because of its mechanisms but also the way it introduces the player to the game. I am in absolute awe, and I’d very much like to get myself a physical copy but it seems the only physical reward available on Backerkit is the boxed version. Now I never thought I’d say this but I don’t need more dice… will it be possible to just purchase a copy of the book in the future?
Either way many thanks for such an outstanding experience, this is the best I’ve played all year (and I play a lot)!
Thank you for your kind words!
We’re very likely to have some excess book-only stock after the Kickstarter is fulfilled, as we’ve got plenty of extra copies to ensure everyone gets their rewards. Sign up for the mailing list at Deernicorn, they’re going to be stocking the game once it’s launched :)
(that being said, the custom cards do make the game a lot quicker & more fun to play imo!)
Now that I really think about it, does one ever have enough dice?
Thanks for the prompt reply!
Hi again! For Summer intentions, when it says to draw an additional card, does that mean instead of drawing a maximum of 7, we draw 8?
Thanks!!
Hello! Yeah normally that’s what it means :) some of the twist grid bonuses let you add and draw extra cards, which is why I didn’t give a specific number there :)
Hello! This beautiful game is already one of my favorite hobbies to do after my kiddos go to sleep. It's so wonderful, magical, soulful, and fun! Well done with it!
Question - I've played through Arrival and I'm moving onto Spring and I'm confused on building this next volume deck. The card I didn't draw from Arrival gets discarded, but do I shuffle the other ones (not including Confidants) back into their respective decks, or discard those too?
Thanks so much for the game!
So glad you’re having a good time with it :)
At the end of any volume, the only cards that go back are confidants that you’ve met already (those that are in your ‘circle’). Moments (minor arcana) from your volume deck are discarded, whether you drew them or not. Any confidants (major arcana) you didn’t draw and have never met are also discarded. Hope that helps!
It does, thanks so much for the quick reply!
Hello Jack! I just claimed a community copy and I'm SO exited to play it! But I have a question: When playing in digital, how to use online tarot websites since there's no way to make a custom Volume deck in digital?
It is possible, but I’m soon going to release a custom version on a website called Screentop which will make digital play a lot easier!
Thank you for your hard work for this game. For now I'll play with tarot cards I made from a regular A4 paper :)
I used to love journaling when I was younger but that kinda died. I used to love making stories but those worlds disappeared for me.
But I have always loved magic since I was a little kid. That never went away.
I recently learned about the magical world of solo rpgs (always wanted to play, never managed to find a group) and the amazing experiences only this format could offer.
Deep down though, I thouhght it wasn't for me, that I was too old and my imagination too dry but I was wrong.
The prompts are really good, they really make things flow I can barely believe all I managed to write so far. Is it well written? No. Worth sharing? Never. But it makes me proud.
So I really wanted to thank the author for the chance, I got a community copy and it has brought me nothing but joy.
This really made my day to read, thank you so much for sharing <3
Hey there. Backed your game and i love it so far. I did have a question about stacking dice. When you take a risky action, how do you figure out how many dice you are suppose to stack to succeed?
It depends how many lessons you’ve got in the skill you chose to use :)
From page 51, Dice Stacking:
Hello Jack! I have a bit of a silly question. I'm struggling to understand the Arrival volume mechanics on page 60-61. When creating the volume deck, it says not to add any confidants, but in the coda, it says to choose one of your confidants. Is this just picking any one of them that is available? Thank you for creating this amazing game! I'm so inspired
Hello! You won’t have met any confidants at the start of Arrival, so there are none to add. However, because you placed a confidant on the top of each suit deck during setup, you’re guaranteed to draw 3-4 confidant cards as you draw cards in the volume. Hence, by the end of the volume, you will have met some!
A question about the circle and confidants:
If I added 3 confidants to my volume deck, but only end up drawing 2 of them during the volume do I return that unplayed confidant back to the circle? Or are they discarded for the remainder of the game? Thank you!
Hello! Good question, here’s a passage from page 49 😊
If you have cards left in your volume deck at the end of a volume, return any confidant cards that you’ve previously met to your circle. Discard any other remaining cards, including confidant cards you haven’t met.
Hope that helps! J
It would be lovely if this page could list what kind of dice and how many dice comprise "a stack of dice"? I'm planning to purchase the game this weekend, but want to have all my materials ready before I begin play.
That’s fair! I’ll update the page with the required materials :)
You’ll need at least 21 regular dice to fully experience the game, depending on how well you can stack them 😉
Got the chance to play through Volume 1 while on stream for Extra Life, and I had fun! Lot of reflections and interesting world-building happened, and since it was streamed, I decided to make my Volume 1 journal public. We'll be adding the play-through videos on youtube later, if anyone wants to have a glimpse as to how the first part of the game goes! As I'll be streaming Volume 2 tomorrow, I'll be back to post here how it goes as well.
Hello! That’s rad, I’m so happy to see the game used for a good cause. Sorry I missed your stream announcement, I’m on my own with the kids this weekend so it’s been a bit full-on 😅 looking forward to watching the video!
Not a problem! The recording is still on twitch, and we'll likely try editing out the bigger patches of silences and upload to youtube later.
Hi i'm playing with a comunity copy, i love this game but i can't really buy it. Is possibile to get access to the Rules forse asynchronous play? Or maybe the new soundtrack?
Hey! Neither of those things are available yet, when they are they’ll be available for everyone—regardless of how the game was obtained :)
I really appreciate your afford, thanks from the botton of my heart
I finished chapter 1 yesterday and had a fantastic time.
Just like MadMerryM below though I can't figure out how and when to add skills. The Rest at the end of the first chapter mentions writing a lesson under the relevant skill, but there was no instructions on adding skills to begin with. Is there a list of skills to choose from? How many should I add per quadrant?
I'm very confused..
Hey! Glad you’re having fun so far :)
Skills are explained on page 15. Excerpted from the book:
Skills are broad categories covering physical, mental and emotional abilities. You’ll use them when your witch does something risky and you need to stack dice.
(the four skills are Power, Craft, Care and Lore)
We talk about lessons on page 19. Excerpted from the book:
As your witch grows over the year, they will improve their skills. We track this progress by writing lessons.
These are short summaries of an experience, typically a single sentence. For example:
When you write a new lesson, write it underneath the most relevant skill—usually the one your witch was using during the experience.
When you stack dice (pages 50-51), you’ll check how many lessons you have under the skill you’re using to determine how many dice you need to stack.
Hope that helps! J
Ohhh now reading this again I see I’ve misunderstood. I thought power, craft, care etc are categories. And that at some point I’ll be adding skills to those categories like potion making let’s say under craft.
Now I see that power, craft, care etc ARE the skills and the lessons are what goes in the empty space in the quadrants
Thanks. I read those sections a few times but for some reason I got confused.
Un juego en solitario que se adecua muy bien a su temática, con un sistema muy interesante de creador de situaciones y bastante rejugabilidad. Para más información, la reseña https://rolerodelamancha.wordpress.com/2023/07/03/resena-rolera-seven-murders-ti...
¡Gracias por la amable reseña!
I find myself thinking about and looking forward to visiting Koriko daily - I’m only drawing a card a day and writing a quick two page journal entry due to work demands, but it’s refreshing me so much to be writing and imagining again! I do wonder if I’m understanding the instructions right, I can’t quite figure out how and when to add skills (just with risks, only successes, or also hangouts?) and am new to rpg so am not sure if there’s examples or lists out there of skills to choose from that will make sense later. But I’m having fun making it up, whether I’m doing it right or not! Thanks Jack! I’ve recommended this to so many friends already!
Hey! Glad you’re having a good time :)
Your skills are always the same—Power, Craft, Care and Lore (see page 15). Underneath those skills you add lessons (see page 19)—short summaries of an experience, typically a single sentence. For example:
You write a new lesson whenever instructed—most often at the end of a volume or after a successful dice stacking, but also in a number of other ways. You’ll always see it written as ‘Write a new lesson’. Hope that helps!
Ah, yes - very much, thank you! I did not read that quite right, and then was looking much later in the book for his info. I just went to a writing retreat and everyone was so curious, was really fun to share. My witch just figured out how to rig a clever cooling device - if only I could have one for this heat ;)
Ooh yeah we could all do with a magic AC unit! Glad you’re having fun with the game 😊
Beautiful design & illustration for this magical solo journaling game. I only have one thing to add : i want to play it <3
Thanks! I hope you get a chance to play it soon :)
Jack Harrison is one of those game designers of whom I'm rather jealous; because he's successful, of course, but also because his games are little jewels of game design, always brimming over with one shiny idea after another. In Koriko, everything is magically intertwined: the game's theme, a sort of variation on Kiki's Delivery Service, but also its mechanics, which combine tarot cards, dice stacking, a bingo system and so much more... Koriko takes up the principle now very common in solo games of prompts around which to embroider (with highly oriented questions) but with the elegance of prompts that can be used in many different situations and be interpreted in a variety of ways depending on the circumstances. For me, elegance really sums up Harrison's games, and Koriko is a perfect illustration of this, the kind that pushes me to do even better in my future creations!
Thanks so much Côme, I really appreciate your kind words :)
I have now finished up my first Volume after struggling to find a physical tarrot deck and I just can not get over how amazing this game is! It manages to perfectly capture the feelings of that hopeful but unsure twilight that is being a teenager out on your own for the first time, while providing plenty of fuel for the imagination to craft a world that really feels alive and vibrant. Jack’s usual structure of mindful play that involves intentional rest and introspection just makes the places and people of this game come to life. I want to recommend this game to everyone I’ve ever met who likes RPGs. Brilliant Work!
Thanks so much! I had some clear goals in mind for this game and it’s really gratifying to hear people getting the kind of experiences I was hoping to create :)
This is the best solo TTRPG I’ve ever played. It’s the only solo game I’ve played that really felt like a full TTRPG campaign. A lot of times, solo games with cards are fun but feel disjointed, like they don’t really add up to anything. In Koriko, the mechanism for hangouts and crossroads events means you get to form attachments and run through full narratives over the course of the game.
It’s a sweet game with a big heart. From the mid-century modern vibes to the general theme of a young ‘city witch’ arriving in their new home, it obviously takes more than a little inspo from Kiki's Delivery Service. I'm a fan of Kiki; I have a friend who's never seen it, so I'm curious to see whether she'll still enjoy the game. But if you are a fan, I can't imagine how you wouldn't love this game.
Although I tried to play a character as different from Kiki as I could imagine, she still managed to have a heartfelt adventure full of painful but generally wholesome growth. (She’s not happy about that, but I am.)
I noticed there are enough cards in the tarot deck to play through a few more volumes, so I’m considering seeing if I can figure out how to give my witch a “year two.”
Wow, thank you so much! What a lovely comment. The extra cards are there primarily to make replaying the game with a new character feel fresh and surprising, but you could definitely hack something together and keep writing! Good luck :)
Absolutely adore this game!
Absolutely adore this comment! :)
What impact would there be for starting the four seasons somewhere other than Spring? Obviously, I'd continue by circling back in order, but would it affect the game play much?
Hey! The volumes give shape to the story, so early on you’re asked questions about settling into the city while later you’re reflecting on your year.
You’d be better off playing through the volumes in their written order, but changing/ignoring/swapping the small number of seasonal details (usually about things like the weather) as you go.
Thank you for the quick reply!
I've been enjoying my game so far. 😃 It's a very slow process for me, but I think I've grasped the mechanics after a few missteps. 😅
Hi! I just got a Community copy of Koriko, but wanted to make at least a contribution but if I put any amount other than $18 it wouldn't let me checkout. Is there a Paypal account where I can "buy you a coffee"?
Hey! Don’t sweat it, keep the money or give it to another worthier cause if you like!
That's so nice of you! Have an awesome day, btw Koriko is amazing so far <3
Oh man, this is not generally the kind of thing I seek out, but boy am I glad I found it. It's such a pleasant experience and it's great discovering more about the witch I've created as I've gone through my journey with them. I can definitely see myself coming back to this every couple of years to revisit the journey.
Hey! I’m so glad you took a chance on something a little different :) It’s definitely designed to be replayed, so I hope you will return once or twice :)
Hi Jack, I write The Soloist - a newsletter focused on solo and co-op RPGs. Congrats on the release of Koriko, it looks lovely! I am including it in the new releases section of the July 3 issue, and was hoping to use your cover art (with attribution) to illustrate the article. And if there is a press kit, let me know. Thanks, and congrats again!
So happy to see this get released! Can't wait to get it!
Super duper excited to jump into this! The art is already blowing me away, and it's easy to see the improvements in formatting/flow from the playtest version. The confidants, especially, are so cool???
Quick question, any word on the 'Magical Sandwich' stretch goal content? I don't see it on the 'things to come' list above but if it's in the main game text, I totally missed it!
Oh yeah that should be on the list!
(Also thanks!)
Thank you so much! I appreciate your generosity
What a lovely game.
What a lovely comment! ☺️
I love the cozy mundane but heartfelt feeling of the game, Jack. Koriko is an amazing game.
I can see Koriko has Violet Evergarden and Witch Hat Atelier atmospheres too.
I am excited to see the ansynchronous play rules.