What's a Nano-game?
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Nano-game, n.
1. A game that's smaller than a micro-game or mini-game.
2. A game contained on a card or similarly small format.
3. A game measured in words rather than pages.
1. A game that's smaller than a micro-game or mini-game.
2. A game contained on a card or similarly small format.
3. A game measured in words rather than pages.
4. A shockingly short but complete game.
5. A "science-fiction-y" descriptor for a tiny game
6. An arbitrary term keeping neither design in nor designers
out.
5. A "science-fiction-y" descriptor for a tiny game
6. An arbitrary term keeping neither design in nor designers
out.
Etymology. A marketing term for a small game, which came
into vogue among independent game designers
in the spring of 2013.
into vogue among independent game designers
in the spring of 2013.
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Games, Great and Small
Here are some tiny games, by other designers, that you should check out:
The Vast & Starlit Library and What is a Roleplaying Game? by Epidiah Ravachol
The Sundered Lands, a nano-game anthology, by Vincent Baker
Valiant Girls and PsiRun: The Pursuit by Meguey Baker
SPYFI by Emily Care Boss
Clones! by Erika Chappell
Nanoworld: A Game of Clones by Marshall Miller
Sad Things on Index Cards by Ben Wray and Marshall Miller
Lover of Jet and Gold, Heart of Bronze, and The Name of Bronze by Joshua A. C. Newman
Animal Professionals of Place Place Number: A Solo Writing Game and Doll by Josh Jordan
Birds Are Amazing by Hannah Shaffer
Glimpse by Evan Rowland
Crusaders Uncaped by John Sheldon
The Pyramid and Road Rage by Ray Otus
Pico Game Library by Joe Greathead
Clank by Tim Koppang
Crash Into You by Kira Scott
Adventurer and Troll by Shawn McCarthy
Fill My Position and Here on Business by James Wallis
Nutshell by Grant Davis
Fortune Cookies and Nuclear War and The Alchemists of Pwang by Nick Wedig
Cheat Your Own Adventure by Shane Mclean
Twenty-Four Game Poems by Marc Majcher
In the Deep, Dark, Weird Forest (2014 Fastaval Nanogame Anthology)
200 Word RPG Challenge (2015) organized by David Schirduan
200 Word RPG Challenge (2016) organized by David Shirduan
#Feminism: A Nano-Game Anthology (2016) edited by Anna Westerling, Misha Bushyager, and Lizzie Stark
Assorted small Norwegian Style games authored or presented by Matthijs Holter
For some great commentary and interviews regarding nanogames, see the Penny Red Podcast (ep. 56, 60, 64)
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The slightly longer but to0-cool-to-miss World of Dungeons, GHOST/ECHO, and Lasers and Feelings by John Harper