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Launching

September 2026
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The Gods' Favourites

user avatar image for Joie
2 Followers

A tabletop rpg about gods, monsters and shenanigans set in a magical pocket dimension. Play as the Gods' Chosens and avoid angering the fickle gods!

Latest from the Creator
Joie
2 days ago
Update 2: The Amazing Cover Art by Anya Chalina
A header image with white text on starry background that says: Welcome, Keeper


Last time I shared the moodboard and art direction for the project and today, it's (tentative) cover art reveal day!

The talented Anya Chalina has helped create this beautiful artwork that will sit both on the cover of the book as well as in the interior as a spread without any of the text to distract from her work. Here's a small mock up of the cover:

Cover mock up of The Gods' Favourites featuring artwork by Anya Chalina


After studying Joie’s references and ideas, I immediately knew the piece needs to have some stylistic elements inspired by Medieval art. We wanted the piece to feel timeless and not have any direct attachment to specific cultures to allow the viewers to draw their own ideas. Animals with scales can be spotted throughout the piece with a large dragon cascading in the background, a water serpent swimming through the river and a snake coiling around a tree in the middle. They anchor the space in the artwork and symbolize different elements. For the character, we chose Artemis as the inspiration but decided to portray her differently from her original image. She is surrounded by majestic animals and lush greenery, and her palace can be seen in the background. I felt much joy working on this piece and Joie allowed me so much space for self-expression that this piece easily became one of my favorites.
- Anya Chalina

When commissioning this piece, one of my only specifications was that it was to show the multi-cultural aspect of the game to reflect the many pantheons and mythologies that are in the game. The flowers in this garden were also chosen specifically for their godly-associations. I gave Anya a lot of freedom and trusted her fantastic eye and talent to just do her thing. Having Artemis be dressed the way she is was a fantastic surprise for me and I love it :)

You can see the larger piece on Anya's Bluesky post and please leave all the nicest things to let her know how great this piece is! I'm already planning to commission a second illustration featuring Apollo as a companion piece if the project goes very well. 

Meanwhile on my end, I've been very busy working on client work to pay the bills and planning on making a  small scenario of The God's Favourites as a preview of the new mechanics. If you haven't already checked out its precursor projects, you can get a lite version of the game FOR FREE in the form of Cryptid Keepers (cryptids, need I say more?) or Prehistoric Keeper (dinosaurs, also very cool).
A footer image with pale gold and white text on starry background that says: Stay tuned for project updates
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Joie
about 2 months ago
Update 1: Moodboard & Art Sharing!
Hi friends, just sharing some pretty things today.

The moodboard for this project is a mix of modern hi-res photo textures and vintage patterns and prints. Of particular interest is the centerpiece of the moodboard and one of the guiding images for the project: The Unicorn Rests in a Garden from the Unicorn Tapestries and the dragon-motif Buzi.

The Gods' Favourites Moodboard by Joie Yong


Finding ways to incorporate them into the book is going to be very fun and I'm already very psyched to be using a mix of these public domain vintage art and borders illustrated by the super talented Caleb (@littlestpersimmon).

Here's a sneak peek of one of Caleb's borders, tweaked to have a more textile (tactile? haha) on the page:


Next time:
  • Hopefully in the next update, I will be able to share something from the cover artist, another super talented artist: Anya Chalina.
  • More likely, it will be a quickstart for people to playtest and give feedback on (so follow the project to not miss out!!)
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White text that says 'Welcome, Keeper' on a starry sky background


The Gods' Favourites is a ttrpg set in a magical pocket dimension where monsters roam free under the care of the Chosen. Play as a Chosen keeper and balance your duties while managing the shenanigans brought on by various visiting godlings and heroes. Do not anger the your patron Gods or risk their wrath.



The book will include expanded character creation and gameplay from my previous games, Cryptid Keeper and (ARPIA-nominated) Prehistoric Keeper, featuring new game play mechanics surrounding magic, optional godly backgrounds, and new resource stats to balance.

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