the_gneech (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
the_gneech) wrote2022-11-15 10:29 am
the_gneech) wrote2022-11-15 10:29 am
The Rise of Cozycore TTRPGs
So today I happened upon a review of a tabletop RPG called Wanderhome, which is all about furries rebuilding and healing after a devastating war. In that regard it joins Reclamation Project, Kipo and the Wonderbeasts, Biomutant, et al. in the "furries fix the apocalypse" genre, which I am pleased to be a part of, but in the RPG space, it also immediately makes me think of two recent standouts: Burn Bryte and Thirsty Sword Lesbians.
All of these games have as a core premise that they are "all about the feels," so to speak, instead of the usual gaming priorities of killing monsters and taking their stuff. Both Thirsty Sword Lesbians and Wanderhome particularly use the characters' emotional states as the touchstone for their mechanics. This is not a totally new idea: Gumshoe often had characters' chances of success connected to their defined traits, and of course GURPS and the HERO System were famous for disadvantages/flaws (particularly "Psychological Limitations") as character-building components, and that was 1985, guys. XD
But these newer games don't just include this aspect as part of a larger mathematical and narrative framework, they lean into it, hard. It's kind of awkward to use the term "queer" outside the context of sexuality or gender identity, but it's the closest analogue I can think of. Even the straight characters in these games are queer AF. XD These are worlds full of neurodivergent, norm-disregarding, existing-hierarchy-smashing characters, often with a radically kind agenda, and I'm here for it.
That radically kind part is where "cozycore" comes in. Like the aesthetic movement of "cottagecore," this genre is about creating a place of comfort for those who have been traumatized, a warm place to escape a cold world. With the possible exception of Burn Bryte (which is actually hopepunk, a related but noticeably different vibe), these places are cute. They are soft. The over-the-top "Here comes the Evil Queen and oh no, she's hot!" camp of Thirsty Sword Lesbians may not seem like the Frog-and-Toad gentleness of Wanderhome, but what is TSL founded on? The willfully self-indulgent, tropey escapism of fanfic, a world where "hurt/comfort" and "redemption arcs" are foundational pillars.
After forty years of "darker, grittier" all the everything, this is not just a breath of fresh air, but I'm hoping it's a harbinger of a cultural shift in the making. Counter culture becomes popular culture and the fringe becomes mainstream, and lord, if a culture could ever stand to become more kind and way more hella queer, it's contemporary western culture.
Maybe living and dying by the sword can finally give way to just plain living, by the plowshare?
-TG
All of these games have as a core premise that they are "all about the feels," so to speak, instead of the usual gaming priorities of killing monsters and taking their stuff. Both Thirsty Sword Lesbians and Wanderhome particularly use the characters' emotional states as the touchstone for their mechanics. This is not a totally new idea: Gumshoe often had characters' chances of success connected to their defined traits, and of course GURPS and the HERO System were famous for disadvantages/flaws (particularly "Psychological Limitations") as character-building components, and that was 1985, guys. XD
But these newer games don't just include this aspect as part of a larger mathematical and narrative framework, they lean into it, hard. It's kind of awkward to use the term "queer" outside the context of sexuality or gender identity, but it's the closest analogue I can think of. Even the straight characters in these games are queer AF. XD These are worlds full of neurodivergent, norm-disregarding, existing-hierarchy-smashing characters, often with a radically kind agenda, and I'm here for it.
That radically kind part is where "cozycore" comes in. Like the aesthetic movement of "cottagecore," this genre is about creating a place of comfort for those who have been traumatized, a warm place to escape a cold world. With the possible exception of Burn Bryte (which is actually hopepunk, a related but noticeably different vibe), these places are cute. They are soft. The over-the-top "Here comes the Evil Queen and oh no, she's hot!" camp of Thirsty Sword Lesbians may not seem like the Frog-and-Toad gentleness of Wanderhome, but what is TSL founded on? The willfully self-indulgent, tropey escapism of fanfic, a world where "hurt/comfort" and "redemption arcs" are foundational pillars.
After forty years of "darker, grittier" all the everything, this is not just a breath of fresh air, but I'm hoping it's a harbinger of a cultural shift in the making. Counter culture becomes popular culture and the fringe becomes mainstream, and lord, if a culture could ever stand to become more kind and way more hella queer, it's contemporary western culture.
Maybe living and dying by the sword can finally give way to just plain living, by the plowshare?
-TG