The Newborn World

As the first people look over the walls of their First City, they rest their eyes on a world that has just been born. What does this world have to offer them? As they take decisions about their future, divine beings observe with intense interest. Each twist of fate, each decision taken strengthens one of these gods and furthers its agenda. Nature deities want the first people to reconnect with the dense forest and the deep sea, while order deities want mankind to establish laws of governance and converge on a single code of ethics. What stories will you tell of the First City? Do your gods guide you to build a society based on honor, diplomacy, or the threat of bloodshed?

The Newborn World is a storytelling game, played in a social setting and facilitated by a single mobile device. In this game, three or more players influence the evolving history of the First City, the first attempt of men and women to form a society. Players take on the role of storyteller reminiscing the history of the First City in those early days; their decisions influence the fate of the world. However, the players are also secretly directed by a pantheon of gods who wish to enact their own agendas onto the world. Does a player's pantheon consist of benevolent or vindictive gods? Are two players secretly worshiping the same god? The game is played in eras, each consisting of three phases (the crisis, the response, the conclusion). The resolutions of each phase influence which god becomes ascendant in the next phase, bringing special rules and themes into play. Players all take turns telling a story based on the prompts provided by the phase and the words they choose to use; then, players vote which story becomes true, thus influencing future phases. The game ends after a number of eras, and a player is the victor if the gods in her secret pantheon were ascendant in the story.