For the Cozy-Gamers
Palette Quest is a tabletop role-playing game with an emphasis on personal stories and long-form play. Death is not much of a consequence in Palette Quest - it is a video game after all, you simply respawn. Instead, players must engage with each other and the spirit of the story to manage their DOOM Counter and stave off the inevitable end of their time in the Gameworld. In this way, players are encouraged to work together and engage with the world around them to answer an important question: What are you doing in the Gameworld - why are you here?
At this point in its development, Palette Quest includes simple character creation (Class → Stats → Skills → Equipment) as well as systems for taking on quests, crafting items, traversing wilderness, charming NPCs, fighting monsters, gathering materials, taming creatures, trading goods, and building a place to call home. In the near future, it hopes to include systems for embracing a persona, exploring dungeons, solving puzzles, taking risks, and discovering the Secrets of the Gameworld. That being said, Palette Quest is still very much in a work in progress! In its current state, our primary goal is to collect feedback and hone the rules so that they’re easy to understand and fun to play with. All of these things are subject to potentially drastic change in the future!
During the development of Palette Quest I took a lot of inspiration from the kinds of video games and TTRPGs I enjoy most: games that let me focus on creation, slowing down, and the people I love. Things that made me happy when I looked at them. The world of Palette Quest was originally a setting for another TTRPG called .dungeon, but after modifying the rules over and over to suit my group, I decided I would make my own game. During this process, Palette Quest took on a lot of DNA from .dungeon, Break!!, Slime Rancher, Fantasy Life, and Stardew Valley - along with many common themes found in isekai anime and Dungeons & Dragons (my play group’s game-of-origin). My hope is to create a feeling of adventure and discovery, where you can then go home and farm, or craft, or re-invent the lightbulb with all the wacky things you found and learned. A “cozy game” with your friends - because we all need some love these days.
