I've had the pleasure of reading several people's sessions with this journaling game, so I thought it could be fun to share my own session. My background is mostly in music and game design so I find it funny that I decided to make a journaling game, but I hope if people are reading this it serves as an example that even people not practiced in writing can have fun with journaling games as a way to force limitations on their creativity.  My game is about a coder who lives alone in a city full of ghosts. Charlie decided to work at this mobile bookstore so that he could get a better view of the nightlife of the city.  

My first playthrough (about an hour) is typed out below, but I'll be continuing to update this google doc with my sessions if you'd like to follow it for updates. I haven't added my Customer Log page just yet but will do so eventually.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MsffuLtWvtpoFCFDb9yM7kAdy7z1IRIwrgouFAf5x5U/...

I hope you enjoy this example of what you can do with Bookstore by Chance.

Spirit Box Books

Spirit Box Books is a tiny mobile bookstore on a bike cart. It shifts around the city of Psychomanteum and parks on any little street that has a wide enough sidewalk to hold it without getting in the way of its pedestrians, both living and dead. The city is the epicenter for a strange dimensional prism that opened up, lifting the veil of the spirit world. This prism eventually spread further out, but Psychomanteum remains the center of study for this new connection between worlds. 

The Spirit Box Books bike cart switches handlers every few months. Not many people are up for the job. Business is best at night, so it takes a special kind of night owl. Charlie is the new hire. He recently made the move to the city after realizing that his job allows him to work from home and live anywhere with an internet connection. “Might as well get a  taste of the big city life.” He’s a coder by day, but what his employers think should take him 8 hours to do really only takes him about 3. He decided to fill up the extra time with this book cart job to get a better view of city life here in Psychomanteum. 

Ambiance:

https://www.youtubemultiplier.com/656410d1a7df0-psychomanteum-at-night.php

• Turn the jazz music down a bit under half volume for best experience.

Night 1 - 10 energy

My apartment has a new leak. This city seems to have a constant drip. Between dealing with emails and trying to accommodate the plumber’s needs, I’ve hardly had time to mentally prepare for my first night doing the book cart. The owner, Lachlan, said I’d probably get the best business on Pearl Street. Hoping that it’s not too busy for my first session, I feed my cat Lynn on my way out the door.

I bike the cart over to Pearl. Luckily it’s only a 20 minute ride from my place. I park the bike nearby a “midnight” mobile bar. It’s a small cart with a hip looking bartender preparing drinks for the night owls on the street. Soft cool jazz can be heard echoing from down the sidewalks with many other street vendors doing their thing. 

I think this crowd should enjoy some books over a glass of bourbon. Lachlan left me good notes on how to set up the cart, so I’m ready within 10 minutes to start selling books.

I roll for a level 1 interaction and fail.

8 Energy | 0 Books sold

My first customer of the night was at the shelves before I even saw them approach. I still haven’t gotten used to the shades. Psychomanteum is full of them. They seem to like disappearing into the noise and clutter of this city. I try to get a conversation going with this one, but they disappear before I even finish my greeting. A piece of paper falls onto my cashier desk flap. I unfold it and it reads “Get more music books - Teoh.”

Noted…

I roll for a level 2 interaction and succeed!

6 Energy | 1 Book sold

Later a woman named Sherolyn came by and bought my first book of the night. She was in the area after a midnight cemetery tour just down the street. She told me she moved to the city recently because “there just aren’t shades and ghouls where I’m from.” We bonded over our shared country life experience and she bought a book on communicating with shades using a spirit box. Lachlan told me we keep a wide variety of books about them. “It’s where we get our namesake.”

I thanked her and she grabbed a nearby bench to read.

I roll for a level 1 interaction and fail

4 Energy | 0 Books sold

My next customer certainly wasn’t the first ghoul I’d ever met, but it was definitely the most intimidating. Most ghouls can speak to humans but this one didn’t seem interested in anything of the sort. It hardly even looked at the books… it just stood there. Sherolyn pretended to read nearby and gaped at it. Eventually it just stalked off as Sherolyn giggled at my apparent trepidation.

I roll for a level 2 interaction and fail

0 Energy | 1 Book sold

As if to prove that not all ghouls are silent stalkers, Trix introduced itself with energy and passion. They were so happy to finally find the store and had been trying ever since it started following our social media page. I guess Lachlan posts where I’ll be each night. I honestly don’t use that stuff outside of work.

Trix gravitates toward a book of poems by my favorite shade writing today. It makes you appreciate life a bit more after hearing the immortal pining of someone eternally dead. After they bought a book I decided to chat a bit further with Trix. After discussing the infinite dripping of rain in Psychomanteum I realized I was ready to go back home to deal with that drip…

I rode back home and chained up the rig in the side alley. Lachlan assured me that it would take a master to break their personally charmed security.