As some of you may know, the One-Page RPG Jam is happening right now. It’s an annual event where designers challenge themselves to fit an entire game into a single page. I’ve joined every year since I started making games, and although I almost missed the deadline this time, inspiration struck at the last moment, and I just had to run with it.
The optional theme this year was growth, and after a week of half-formed ideas, something clicked: what if there was a tool that let us imagine the history of a world before the "first age" of adventurers? A cosmology generator, a mythmaker.
That’s how Cosmoira was born.
With just a standard deck of cards, 1–6 players, and a single page of rules, you take on the role of primordial gods shaping a new world. From its very inception, through ages of Elder Beings, Avatars, Wonders, cataclysms, and finally the arrival of Mortal Kins with their wars and migrations, you will weave myths of divine drama and strife, all the while drawing the map of the world itself.
Here’s a snapshot from one of my recent playtests:
I think it turned out pretty cool! And honestly, it pairs beautifully with Weird, Whimsy & Wonder—imagine seeding all that strangeness into the creation of myths and elder beasts. Delightful!
Fun fact: I actually recreated this game from scratch three times. The first draft was a complete headless mess. The second version morphed into a board game which, while fun, felt too mechanical and perfunctory. Finally, I landed where I wanted to be—a tool for crafting the origin myths of a world.
To celebrate, I’m giving every backer a free PDF copy of Cosmoira! 🎉
You can read more about the game here, and all backers can claim a free copy with the secret backer-only coupon link down below.
Weird timing for an update, I know, but I wanted to make sure this landed in your inbox in time for the weekend, just in case you're bored and feel like, I don't know, building a brand-new world.
