Earth Mother, Sky Father
A downloadable game
In the creation stories of the Māori people, the indigenous people of Aotearoa (so-called New Zealand), there are two atua, two deities, personified aspects of nature: Ranginui, the sky father, and Papatūānuku, the earth mother.
The two players will ask 7 questions total back and forth, as these atua, exploring their relationship to each other, their children, and the world, following a series of branching paths, leading to many stories waiting to be told.
This game uses instances of Te Reo Māori, the indigenous language of the Māori people. There are two versions of this PDF. One is just the text of the game, and the other has links to audio for each of the lines of Te Reo Māori.
Within this game is a link to a video about the creation story, I recommend watching it before playing, if this is not a familiar story to you. This is a fine way to be introduced to this story, you don't need prior knowledge to play!
- Players: 2
- Time: ~30 minutes
- Materials: a copy of the PDF each, though one will do in a pinch. (Once you've bought the pdf, feel free to share the downloaded PDF with your other player.)
For every $1 above the initial $2.99 cost, another community copy for BIPOC will be added.
'Earth Mother, Sky Father' uses the 7 Questions RPG system (#7QRPG) by Morgan Davie of Taleturn.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $2.99 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Exclusive content
Support this game at or above a special price point to receive something exclusive.
Community Copies for BIPOC
If you're BIPOC, you're welcome to take one of these community copies. If you are not BIPOC, please refrain from taking one.
For every $1 above the initial $2.99 cost, I will add another community copy.
Development log
- Updating files for small errors50 days ago
Comments
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Earth Mother, Sky Father by Riwhi Kenny is a 2-player TTRPG based on Māori creation myth. The players take on the roles of Ranginui, the sky father, and Papatūānuku, the earth mother, and ask each other questions. The game uses the 7 Questions RPG system by Morgan Davie, and the branching question system is very clever! The writing of this game is beautiful and poetic, and I love how the rules in English and in Te Reo Māori are written alongside each other.
I played Earth Mother, Sky Father with my friend Gabrielle last week, and geez is it good.
You're on the edge of your seat as the other player is choosing a prompt for you. More than once the hair was standing up on my arms. Every follow-up question feels so emotional. And it's all because of how real conversation works, how it creates an emotional space, how we take risks with the words we use and how it reveals us to be seen by others.
I think there's a kind of game design that is outside the circle of what we usually think of as game design and that I only usually see in duet games like this and journaling games. It's a kind of game design that understands how words and conversation create identity and human connection and validation. Earth Mother, Sky Father's prompts and language are so intentional. The path through them is so intentional. The way the follow-up question is done is so perfect. It's so easy for the other player to choose exactly the right word for you to follow-up on, because of how we reveal ourselves with words. It's masterful game design. I really love it.
Thank you for writing it.
Paul, thank you so much for your comment/review. I'm so glad you enjoyed my game, and I'll admit your very kind words made me quite emotional! Thank you for playing it and your generosity in response. Mauri ora.
Hi, we just played this game and it was a beautiful experience. We are wondering about your thoughts on boundaries of tapu while playing. Playing the game itself doesn't seem inately tapu but the thoughts and stories that arise out of the game are very intimate which feels like they verge into the realm of tapu. Therefore eating and drinking while playing might be viewed as transgressing boundaries of tapu. Can you share your thoughts on this?
Kia ora e hoa, ka aroha, so sorry for my immense delay in response! Thank you for your kind words! In regard to your pātai, I think that while the state that this game puts you in this game can be an emotional, intense one, perhaps indeed verging on the feelings of taputanga, eating and drinking while playing is no more transgressing boundaries of tapu than any other intense conversation :) You have my blessing to eat and drink while playing! Mauri ora