Review - Aldsworth 1811
By Alex White
- 8 minutes read - 1541 wordsLast Sunday I played a playtest version of Aldsworth 1811 by Jen Martin with Camilla, Kevin, and Elena.
The Basics
This is a card game based on Desperation by Bully Pulpit Games. We played online using a PCIO setup with all the appropriate cards present. You don't each play a distinct character - rather you can all play all the characters who are present in the scenario. You draw cards which introduce the locations, the characters, and their obligations. Then you start drawing cards from a deck of seasons - Spring cards, Summer cards, and Fall (Autumn) cards. As you draw a card, you decide which person is involved, and whom the other person they might be involved is. Describing the scenario on the card, you can also give some insight into their secret heart.
Playing the Game
There is a single deck of cards. The first cards we draw are the locations, and we place them on the playing surface and read the description about them. The next cards are the dramatis personae, and then the obligations. Once those are all set up, we are in Spring and draw a number of spring cards, then summer cards, and finally fall (or Autumn as we might say over here!)
The person cards tell you something about them e.g. this one about Algernon which tells you a little bit about him, the problematic situation he finds himself in, and his interests. There is a two-word description of his character.
The phrase "speak his heart" means that you can take the opportunity to shine a light on his inner narrative.
Each of the 'season' cards has a title, and a description of an event, such as this one at the start of spring.
You can pick any of the characters to apply this card to, and once again "speak your heart" allows you to provide more inner monologue which reflects the character (and perhaps appearance) of the two characters, and what the primary character is thinking.
Why I like this game
As a starter, I love regency period games. The undercurrents of desire and the strictures of society, where small guestures can contain an ocean of meaning.
It is intriguing playing this where any player can play any of the characters. It makes them quite mercurial, as a character that I may think is going clearly in one direction suddenly gets taken in a very different direction by someone else.
I love the way that each of the characters are drawn, both artistically and in the text that describes them. They are very evocative of the time period, and it makes you want to play them!
Playtest observations
These reflect questions that came to me during play and reflecting on it afterwards.
Because the characters are wandering around town and to various great houses, I found it quite difficult to keep track of what who thought about whom by the time we were half-way through the game, and I was very glad that Camilla had been taking notes for each of the season cards to keep track of relationships. If I play again I might want to try keeping a little network diagram with lines between people for each of their interactions, so I can keep an idea in my head of which relationships are strongest.
I wonder whether you could play the game with a little more in-character dialog between characters during events, rather than always seeing them from point-of-view character? It would lengthen the game, of course!
The obligations didn't seem to figure in the play much. I can see from the design diary that there were added to give additional stakes and reasons for the characters to act against their own personal interests, but when we played they didn't really influence the game. Associated stakes were not super-clear to me, nor were the relative stations of the various characters. Some indication of the stations of the various characters would be very helpful (I don't know if it is nobility, gentleman, commoner, or where a vicar of soldier or artist might fit into that. I'm know too little of the setting to intuit what those social lines should be!)
Where can you find the game
The game is available from Jenn Martin here https://jennmartin.itch.io/aldsworth-1811 and I think the current playtest cards are freely available to use on PCIO.
Would you like to read a bit of a story?
- Gloves - Rev Stewart is very taken by miss Catherine Montgomery
- Out of Turn - Alexander Haddington likes Charlotte Carter for her lack of restraint at dinner, even though it did draw a rebuke from his father.
- Feelings Unspoken - Farmer Oliver Fletcher has strong feelings for Catherine, but recognises that she is out of his league socially.
- Bad Parting - miss Amelia Carter (the younger sister, pretty but naive) really didn't like the Rev. Stewart.
- Uncouth Youth - Grace Fernside, the ward of the Haddingtons, really doesn't like Amelia's uncouth manners.
- The Farmer - Catherine has Oliver around for dinner, and likes his attention, and him enquiring about her favourite flowers, which are of course peonies.
- Songbird - Rev Stewart loves Grace's singing voice, and thinks she would be a real asset to the church.
- My Hero - Amelia is swept off her feet by James Lambert, a retired soldier who is new in town. He sheltered her with his coat in the rain and she fantasied about his strong arms where the rain made his shirt cling tightly to the shape of his muscles.
- An Artist Arrives - Catherine is taken aback by the passionate gaze of the artist Samuel St. Vincent, and blushes at his attention.
- Captive Audience - Catherine is bored by Rev Stewart, who was only talking about himself.
- Tea for Two - Grace meets Catherine for tea, and hears some gossip about the passionate artist Samuel.
- Summer starts, A House Guest arrives at Sherbourne - Mr Matthew Lovell, who will inherit Sherbourne, is met by Grace who decides she rather likes him.
- Accomplishment - Charlotte likes to see Catherine play the piano, and has even anonymously sent her some music which she plays.
- Familiar Flowers - Catherine is delighted with Oliver when he brings her some pink peonies. Her favourite!
- Assistance - Alexander gulps with emotion when he gives Grace a hand up into the carriage. There is something there he has never felt before.
- Unreserved - When Alexander watches Charlotte laughing with someone else, he realises that although he was impressed by her, she never had the same level of feelings towards him.
- Picnic - Amelia sat next to Matthew at a picnic, and enjoyed how close he sat, and how manly he seemed.
- Floating - Charlotte is rather taken by Algernon as she is alone in the boat with him. Marvelling at his muscular arms as he sculls them along.
- An Unwelcome Letter - Charlotte recieves a letter from a younger cousin who is betrothed, and immediately writes back that she is pretty much betrothed to Alexander!
- Fireworks - Catherine is mesmerised by Amelia during the firework display.
- Shared Carriage - Rev Stewart was sharing a carriage with Grace and Alexander. He thinks Grace's smiles and dancing eyes are for him, but they are actually for Alexander.
- A Secret Engagement - Grace is delighted that Alexander has secretly asked for her hand in marriage!
- Autumn starts. Silence - The Baronet Haddington has died suddenly, and Alexander is now the Baronet and head of the household. Amelia doesn't know about his secret engagement and wonders why he has not sought her out.
- Autumn Stroll - Charlotte is now no longer in love with Alexander and avoids him.
- Poetry - Catherine spends time with Samuel, and the artist reads passionate poetry to her. How can she choose between Olivers gentle strength and Samuels passionate heart?
- Incorrect - ??? realises that they misjudged ??? and shouldn't think so harshly of them.
- An Unveiling - Samuel reveals a portrait he has lovingly made of the farmer, Oliver. Trying to capture the glisten of sweat on his muscled arms, the tenderness in the crease of his smile.
- Secret Keeping - Rev Stewart has learned of Grace's secret engagement, as she has spoken to him about wedding planning. He is gutted, but has to keep it to himself.
- Impossible - Charlotte is mad with passion for the completely unsuitable Catherine. She knows it can never be.
- Resignation - Charlotte can no longer swim against the family obligations, so she decides to marry someone and it might as well be Rev Stewart.
- A Good Book - James had a discussion with Amelia about a book they had both recently read and enjoyed each other's company.
- The End - Catherine has decided to speak out her love for Oliver, and it was accepted joyously.
At the end of the game, we have the following marriages
- Alexander Haddington and Grace Fernside
- Thomas Stewart and Charlotte Carter
- Catherine Montgomery and Oliver Fletcher
We suspect that a bad marriage might be on the cards for James Lambert and Amelia Carter.
Algernon Haddington, Matthew Lovell, and Samuel St. Vincent remain unmarried at this time.
This is a map of the relationships at the end of the game
