You all are Iki, a minuscule humanoid creature.
You play a number of moments in Iki's one-day lifespan, in order:
childhood 1
adolescence 2
adulthood 3
maturity 2
decline 1
One player describes one moment of Iki's life, a...
...thing seen / heard / tasted / touched
...person met / creature encountered
...action taken / goal attempted
They then grab a BlackDie if they see this moment as challenging, difficult, painful. Or a WhiteDie if it is beautiful, hearthwarming, joyous.
Another player expands this moment describing how things around Iki look, feel, behave, and then grabbs a b/w die themselves.
Repeat until six dice are grabbed, then roll and sum them up by color.
BlackScore > WhiteScore = write down one positive or useful Quality of Iki's personality
BlackScore < WhiteScore = write down one Treasured memory from Iki's experience
BlackScore = WhiteScore the color with less dice wins
Play a new moment.
If possible, spend an unspent Quality / Treasure to inspire it.
Continue until all of Iki's nine life moments have played out.
Look back at it all and discuss:
how did Iki die?
what influence did Iki have on other's lives?
which mark did Iki leave in the world?
did Iki's life have worth and meaning?
This game was inspired by the “Petalars” story, from the 2011 Thundercats reboot.
It then got mixed with the “Bosco Piccolo” campaign for the FateLess game system I played with Claudia Colini, Antonio Amato and Luca Maiorani; I still thank them for that incredible experience.
For this design I want to thanks my beloved Claudia. She always shies away from “design stuff” but I keep pestering her because, like in this case, she can have awesome ideas.
Ron Edward’s game SPIONE also helped me a lot in coming up with the overall play structure and style of player contribution.