Poste Restante

This is a text-based prototype of Poste Restante, a small narrative game set in the receiving office of Millbrook.

You are the postmistress. Twice a week, the mail arrives. You sort it, decide where it goes, speak with the people who come to your counter, and walk the village delivering what you have decided to deliver.

There are no points. No puzzles to solve. No correct answers.

Some letters are straightforward. Some aren't. A parcel is lighter than it should be. Two people share a surname and won't speak to one another. Someone comes asking about a person who left months ago. A letter arrives for someone who isn't home.

Your decisions are the game.

This version is deliberately presented as a text and paper prototype. It is not finished, and nothing in it is canon. The names, households and events are provisional.

The purpose of this test is much simpler: is the doing of it pleasant?

Does sorting the mail feel satisfying? Do the small decisions make you curious about the people involved? Does the village begin to feel like somewhere you would like to return to?

This prototype represents one week of a planned twelve-week season. The eventual game will allow the consequences of your choices to emerge gradually, rather than explaining them immediately.

For now, we're testing the heart of the thing.

Download the PDF, get yourself some paper and a pen, and take the week as the postmistress.

Then tell us whether you would come back for more?