This holiday season, I’m going to review a different module, game or supplement every day. I haven’t sought any of them out, they’ve been sent to me, so it’s all surprises, all the way. I haven’t planned or allocated time for this, so while I’m endeavouring to bring the same attention to these reviews, it might provide a challenge, but at least, I’ll be bringing attention to some cool stuff!

Necromancer Heretic is a 26 page solo journaling game by Junk Food Games. In it, you’re a gay sorcerer trying to bring your lover back from the dead, after he was executed by the king, while avoiding the Void Guard who seek to end you.

I love the weird, sci-fantasy vibes that Necromancer Heretic brings in its very first page. It’s immediately vibrant, queer, and evocative in a way that’s compelling to me. But, the nature of card-based prompts — prompt based games in general — means that this vibrancy doesn’t carry over to the prompts that follow. There is only one, really, that does, “For a moment, you feel a connection with the dark god, Noct. What do they say?”, and that one isn’t all new, as it refers to a rule that has already been mentioned. I’d love for these prompts to offer hyperdiegesis, as I always feel that journaling games rely on my own internal drive more than I want them to, and this solo game in particular has such a compelling offering I’d love a little more scaffolding in inhabiting it.

The mechanics are basically a game of Blackjack where you’re playing against 3 others, but drawing their hands yourself. They damage you when they’re beating you, but they “break” when they go above 21 (as does yours), and you get 1 point — one step towards the 5 you need to resurrect your lover-Prince — if you get 21. These rules, and the layout of the cards on the table, is quite elegantly visualised. It’s easy to figure out how to play the game, and I just finished a day of work, and am reading this while putting the kids through their routine. The “how to play” is only 2 pages long, however due to the nature of the rules on the second page, it’s a little challenging to remember them. I think they’d be better folded into the phases where they’d take place, in my opinion. There’s a lot of depth to the rules of the card game, in addition to the special necrotic powers, with each suit having unique uses and strengths. All of this is flavourful, tactical, and brings surprising depth to a solo card game. I like them, a lot.

But, so far, I’ve described an interesting solo card game, where’s the journaling? Well, at the end of each turn of the game, you draw a card, and consult a prompts list which varies based on what occurs during the round of card play: past, present or future. This results in a really interesting feeling of flitting about the timeline, and making decisions about your future before your present or past, and then actively having unexpected information inform your choices.

Necromancer Heretic has a really striking, readable, pink, green and black layout. Font choices are simple, and not overwhelming. Art is by Charlie Ferguson-Avery, and is absolutely perfect for the subject matter. The visualisations are great. In digital, it’s excellent, and I suspect it would translate well to print as well, although it’d be an ink-heavy print, and I suspect it would bleed a little and lose its crispness because of that. It’s perfect for a riso print, though.

Overall, this was a very pleasant surprise to find under the Christmas tree! Necromancer Heretic is an interesting card game, has some fun prompts, and has a compelling set up. It’s a cool, queer romance game with a tactical component and a unique and striking aesthetic. What’s not to love?

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