Koriko: A Magical Year
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.
Physical Copies Available!
Get yours at mousehole.press, while stocks last.
# Version 1.1 This is the first update to Koriko since launch, which includes some little fixes to the main book (that are also fixed in the first printing!) and the bonus written content. This includes: - *Flying Together*, rules for playing the game with your friends. - *A Magical Sandwich*, an alternative start for a student wizard. - *The Patron*, the special confidant included with Patron backer rewards. - *A digital tabletop* for playing the game on your computer. There are a few things still on the to-do list, which will be added later as free updates to this game: - A soundtrack! This is at the sketch stage, but it's been on the back-burner while we get things fulfilled. - Plain text & accessible versions of the game's files. - Digital versions of the stickers for your virtual journals, and printable sheets too! - Audio / video rules explanations, which will also be live on the website koriko.guide.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $13.50 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
- Version 1.1Jun 13, 2024
- Fixed page numbers!Jul 06, 2023
Comments
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Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity in providing community copies of your game. I’m a disabled pension who can’t afford much so these free gifts really help me out in playing games and keeping my mind active. I won’t be broke forever so plan on coming back when I’m able to help out.
I really appreciate your hard work and kindness in providing community copies.
This is one of the best solo games I have ever played hands down. All of the prompts are seamless, the questions moving you from scene to scene while still granting you the creative freedom to add your own flavor and vision to the world you create.
I hope to see more solo rpgs from you, I’ve become quite addicted!
Hello there.
I am loving this so far. It's rare I spend hours on a solo rpg so thank you very much.
I'm a little confused by the dice stacking though. it says that you choose two out of the four skills when you do something risky then you stack one two or three dice depending on the amount of lessons you have under a skill. Does this mean that if you have less than three dice under two of the skills that you would stack six dice? Or is it just three dice for one of the skills? I've been doing the former.
Edit: Ignore me. I'm evidently blind. You're referring to the skills on the top right of the page spread. I do think though this is a bit confusing when the pdf is one page at a time with no spreads since it's on the second page of the spread
Hiya, I have a question about confidants and major arcana cards as I'm not sure if I'm playing correctly. I'm about to finish Arrival, but I haven't met any confidants yet/pulled any major arcana cards and thus have no circle. I'm struggling to understand how major arcana cards end up in the volume. Is it random? or did I miss an instruction to add them deliberately into the volume? Thanks for the help! I'm really enjoying playing the game :)
Edit: I've been reading through comments trying to understand and it seems I may have created my volume wrong at the start of Arrival but I'm not sure exactly what I did wrong. Does anyone have advice or insight on how to correctly create the volume after organizing the suit decks?
Absolutely gorgeous game! I'm currently in my first playthrough but I can already see the re-play-ability, how each play can be different depending on small choices you make, and more. The artwork is splendid and the prompts make me sit and really think about how I am going to move forward. I Love It!
My playthrough can be found here:
http://smalltowncreepy.com/2024/09/12/koriko-playthrough-pt-1-my-witch-maddie/
I just bought the physical at a game store and then found out there was a tarot deck, I was wondering if there is any way I can get my hands on a copy of the tarot deck that would have come in the boxes edition?
I really love the art in this and would love to have the deck itself
Hey! Lovely to hear you found the book in the wild :)
There’s no way to purchase the deck & dice separately at the moment, but when I do a reprint I’ll be offering a small number of upgrade kits for folks who want to add them to their book. Best bet is to subscribe to my newsletter :)
My 8y.o. daughter is trying this out - she's a Kiki fan so fingers crossed that she gets the gist of the game.
I was wondering if you have a PNP version of your digital tarot cards. My daughter doesn't have a cell phone and I'd prefer to give her a physical set of cards. The help text on the cards would also be a good helper for her vs regular tarot cards.
Thanks either way - it looks like a cosy journalling game!
I’ve claimed a community copy due to a slightly tight financial environment, and just wanted to say thank you for allowing folks to do this. I wanted to include at least a small payment, but unfortunately Itch has a small error of setting the minimum price to the game’s cost… Is there anywhere you accept tips / donations?
I really appreciate the intention Ancora, but don’t stress about it! Maybe follow my newsletter if you like, and if you’re in a better financial position in the future you might back one of my projects :)
Hope you have a wonderful time with the game! J
I'm playing this with a partner--not the multiplayer rules, just the two of us doing the prompts & writing together--and having SO MUCH FUN!
We also LOVE the rhyming, iambic prompt suggestions: so evocative!
We write a lot so definitely gonna take longer than the the game suggests volumes might take--but maybe that just makes it better by prolonging our enjoyment!
Thanks for making a cool game! Lol, honoured to have figuratively shared the ENNIES podium with such a cool work!
lol, I was moved to buy the physical version!
Hey Sharang! Thanks so much for your lovely words! I’ve always enjoyed reading your (often sexy!) content.
The rhymes took so much of my time (and soul 💀) but now they’re done I’m very happy I persevered… J
Haha, yes, I’m happy you persevered, too!!
The framework for this game was really cool - I like that the confidant system reminded me of Persona, and the twists helped with creativity. It was so rewarding to watch my character grow over time with the impact of different responsibilities, mistakes, and friends. Thanks for a great game!
You’re very welcome! And yes, my time with P5 was a big impact on the confidants, of course. Thanks for playing!
I'm in love with this game. It's evocative, brilliant and has a beautiful theme that emerges from every page. The game is not only about teenagers, but also parental figures and mentors, exploring separation and complex relationships between teenagers and adults. (there are other themes involved too!!)
Once I started I couldn't put it down for a week!! I've written so much... I've slowed down in winter after getting a Crossroad with the World confidant XD It felt like such a heavy responsibility! The theme of my 1st playthrough is definitely letting go.
Also gameplay loop is perfect. I love how the first volume takes time to help us establish our main character - this aspect is rarely as thought-out in other solo rpgs. Bingo and confidant systems are SUPER FUN and help a lot to create a solid story strucuture. I also loved collecting tones on my Koriko's map. I think there would be some new games inspired by these mechanics!!!
Thank you for this gem. very hyped for the soundtrack in the future
Thank you so much for sharing your play experience, I’m so happy to hear it’s landed well with you. I love a bare-bones solo RPG (Alone in the Ancient City was my first and still one of my favourite!), but I really think the extra structure and support in Koriko has been worth the effort :)
Cheers!
Amazing. Absolutely stunning game. I'm currently playing two games concurrently, one entirely solo (currently in late spring) and one with my girlfriend using the Flying Together rules (currently in late summer), and the paths my witches have taken have been entirely different. Their cities are distinct and rich, their voices and those of their confidants all unique.
I've been sharing my journals for my solo game and was just complimented on how rich the story I'm writing for her is, and it feels really nice. I'll gladly take the credit... but a lot of it goes to the game, and how easy it is to use the provided prompts and mechanics to build something that's warm and wonderful and full and challenging. Their stories haven't always been easy, but they've been so fantastically engaging.
I'm only partway through the game, and I am so utterly in love. I'm hoping I can get a larger group together at some point soon to do a sandwich year, all school friends keeping in touch. Not even half-way through, and already planning more, hoping to share more.
Everyone should play this. It is just so good.
Also, big thanks to @BlackwellWriter for pointing her patrons toward Jack Harrison. She said we'd love your work, and she was absolutely right.
Ahh thanks so much, what a lovely review. I’m glad it’s all hitting in the ways I intended 😊
I already bought a physical copy of the book, so I appreciate having access to a free digital community copy of Koriko. Thank you. It’s helpful because I’m using my iPad to do my journaling, and the digital copy lets me easily paste references and instructions in my journal to assist me with the process of the game, while I keep the physical book open to the section I’m currently working on.
Hi,
I saw this game come up a lot in the ENNIE nominations so checked it out and it looks great! I wanted to purchase a physical copy from your website, but shipping to Australia is really steep at the moment. Do you know of any retailers in Australia that have ordered/carry it?
Thank you and best wishes.
Not at the moment, I haven’t had any luck with a retailer over there yet!
Thanks for your reply (I read it way back when but forgot to reply 😅). I recently went on to the site and noticed that the boxed set is out of stock. I was sort of thinking of getting it as a Christmas present to myself (to justify shipping costs 😂) as I don't have tarot cards or that many D6s. Will this ever come back? If so, is there a way we can sign up or put in an e-mail address or something to be notified? Thank you for your time.
Hey! I don’t have any stock left in the UK, but there’s plenty in the US. I’ll set up international shipping from there soon—if you sign up to my mailing list you can get updates!
Thanks!
Hi hello!! I'm a physical backer and I headed here to see if there was any info on the soundtrack. Is that available? It seems like it from the version notes but I can't find it.
Not yet! It’s a work-in-progress, will be added here when it’s done :)
Congrats for the ENNIE 2024 nominations, Jack and team. Well deserved!
Thanks so much!
Hi there! i LOVE this game so much already and I've just started setting up for the card drawing and such, but I'm a little confused. it says that when we draw a new confident card and finish it we're supposed to put it in 'the circle' but i can't find anything in the instructions about what the circle IS. is it the deck it originally came from? or the deck of special confidants? or it's own pile? thanks for the help and the amazing game!
Never mind I figured it out! :D I just missed the important bit. ^^
will you ever do a "reprint" of the dice and tarot?
Yep! There will be more available soon :)
can't wait!
Just received my book this morning! Really looking forward to starting my playthrough. I live in a different country to the rest of my family and my cousins and I are going to 'fly together'.
I was just wondering if you're planning to release the custom tarot deck and dice as an accessories kit for people who already have the book? Would love to buy them but I backed at the book only tier.
Hey! That’s so cool, I hope you have a lovely time together ☺️
When I eventually do a reprint of Koriko, I plan to do a limited run of ‘upgrade kits’ for those with books. Probably won’t be for a while, make sure you’re signed up to my newsletter!
I'll be keeping an eye out for the deck as an upgrade! Shoulda gone with deluxe :-(
Hi! Starting my playthrough now (boxed from kickstarter). Im doing it digitally and wondered if you have a digital version of the sticker sheet? would love to insert them. Thanks!
That’s a really good idea! I’ll stick it on the list for v2 :)
Hey!
I've just received my physical copy of the game and it looks awesome :)
I have a question that may feel a bit strange, but I'd like to avoid using a Tarot Deck and I don't want to spoil the game and its discovery, so I don't know yet what is precisely needed from the tarot to design a replacement.
Could anyone help with that? :)
If you’re playing digitally, you can use the link provided with the game’s files to access a virtual tabletop. Otherwise, you’ll need cards to match each of the Moments (4 sets of 14 cards) and another set of cards numbered 0 to 21. All of these should be able to be shuffled together, with the same backs. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the answer Jack! I gifted one -physical- copy of the game to someone triggered by Tarot cards so, it'll help me design/find an alternative solution.
pick up a game called “The Mind”. It has 100 cards with the same back, each has a number from 1-100.
You can make a table for yourself where 22 cards correspond to major arcana, and then each set of 14 cards beyond that corresponds to a suit.
To make it easier for yourself you could have 1-14 be wands, 20-34 be cups, 40-54 be swords and 60-74 be coins.
Then use cards 78 - 100 correspond to each card in the major arcana.
Oh that's very useful, thanks a lot for your help! :)
Hello! Is there a version of the non-printer PDF without the gradients on the side of each page? I wanted to use my eReader to read it, and the aspect ratio of the PDF doesn't match the screen. It's like this with most PDFs, but I don't notice it because it'll fill the extra space with white. The gradients emphasize the way it doesn't fit exactly on the screen, and I want to enjoy the illustrations and colors, but no worries if it's too much trouble.
If it's somehow easier to resize the PDF, I'm looking for something with the size of 1264x1680 (~3:4 aspect ratio)
Again, don't worry about it if it's too time consuming. Thanks anyway!
Hiya, I have a question about getting Consequence 4 after the dice tower collapses for the last card of the volume.
It says we put a chosen circle card on top of the volume deck. But because we've finished the 7th entry and we're moving on to letter writing, does that mean we don't get to have a moment with that confidant?
Do we put it at the top of the next volume? Or is the consequence not applicable so we have to choose another one?
Hey! Looks like a little edge case to me. Usually when you add an extra card to your volume deck, you also draw one extra card that volume (to make sure you get a chance to draw it!). That said, it is an optional thing to add the confidant card to your volume deck, so you could just choose not to in this situation.
cheers! J
Oh, that makes sense.
Do you have an official errata for Koriko to add in small clarifications like this?
Something simple like adding the words “then draw one bonus entry” on consequence 4 would make it very clear.
Not yet! This is the first one that has made it through :) Good idea though!
so this game is amazing, i've been playing and really enjoying it! the one question i have, and maybe i just managed to miss where it's written in the instructions, but are you supposed to keep your dice stack into the new season/volume or do you discard it? thanks in advance and sorry if ive just managed to miss the instruction for this
thank you! yes you maintain your dice tower between seasons and play sessions, only starting over with it if it falls over during stacking :)
I love this game, but the one thing I'm running into (and I am aware it's a "me" thing, not an issue with the game) is that I just canNOT write "2 to 4 paragaphs" on these prompts. These prompts just spark too much imagination and I need to get it all down. I guess it doesn't hurt that I'm a published writer and suffer from "Writer Brain" as I like to call it. But now I'm not even done with Arrival, and I'm already halfway through the journal I got for this. I'm going to have to buy more! lol
Thank you, Mr. Harrison, for making a game so well-written that it inspires me like this. I actually had writer's block caused by some trauma, and this is kicking the block right out the door and locking the door behind it! lol
haha this goes into a small-but-significant bucket of comments that make my stomach drop when I scan over the first couple of lines but actually turn out nice 😂 glad to hear you’re having a good time!
Hello! I love this game and I have a digital edition. I wanted to buy the boxed set along with the zines for Artefact, Bucket of Bolts, and Orbital (I have all of them in PDF only), but I saw that some products are sold out on the website. :(
Will they become available again, or will you have a distributor in the US? I am especially interested in the cards for Koriko, even if sold as separate products.
Please let me know when you can, and thank you! :)
Camilla
Hello! That’s really lovely, we’ll have US distribution for the game very soon. If you subscribe to my newsletter I’ll send one out when they’re available.
Thank you so much! I am already subscribed I think, since I get your updates - but I will double check. I am very happy to hear that there will be US distribution, congrats!
Thank you so much for a copy of your game. I'm a queer transwoman and money doesn't always come to me easy.
Living in poverty I can't enjoy most titles that everyones raving about. So free or highly discounted products helps a lot. This looks adorable and I hope this helps me discover something about myself.
I hope you enjoy it! 😊
I love this game so much. A fun thing for future players: Read the tones under each Confidant out loud. It took me until my third or fourth one to realize it, and I cackled like the High Priestess...
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 :)