Wanderhome: An Essay and Review

By Jameson McDaniel

The enjoyment you get from a roleplaying game will depend mostly on the people sitting around the table with you. The most experienced Game Master and creative game systems are worthless if there isn’t a level of buy-in and cooperation from everyone there. This has never been more true than in the game “Wanderhome” from Jay Dragon. In it, you play as an animal-folk on a journey. Whether that's to an existing home, to find a new home, or just for the sake of travel is all up to you. In fact, how the game is played is up to you. There are rules in place to play this as a solo game by yourself or without a GM, or “guide” as the game calls it.There are no dice or fail mechanics. This game is a conversation and it is by far the most inclusive one I have seen.

The World

  Wanderhome is set in the land of Hæth. War has passed and now there is peace. Everyone in Hæth is fundamentally good and there is a culture of hospitality in every corner.  It is a world full of buggy livestock, pets, and wild creatures along with forgotten gods, ancient lore, festivals, and changing seasons. It beautifully captures the spirit of a Studio Ghibli film, particularly those dealing with spirits. A prime example is the movie “Ponyo”. While there is no combat in it, the children must overcome obstacles in unique ways.

How the Game is Played

Early on the players discuss and decide what kind of journey you’re all on. Wanderhome gives some good tools to help facilitate this conversation and several random tables to get the ball rolling. The only issue I saw with the tools was that they are common phrases and prone to being overlooked. These include such phrases as: “Let’s do this instead”, “Hold On”, “No”, “Do we want to”, “Where to next”, and “What do you think”.

Each player selects a playbook that acts as a guide for their actions during the journey. This is made mostly by you but with the help of the people, you will be journeying with. It includes such characters as the Veteran, a person that once was a great hero but not any more or the Shepherd, a person tending their herd of bumblebees as they travel from pasture to pasture or the Caretaker, someone who helps small and forgotten gods find their new home. Each one adds a little something to explore and a new lens to see the world through.

The gameplay focuses on a “token” system. You gain tokens by doing certain things such as giving away something you hold dear, inconveniencing yourself to help someone else, and by leaving an offering to a small or forgotten god. You can spend tokens to accomplish a task or know something important. The game is not focused on failing, just on obstacles and our struggle to overcome them. 

For some reason, the Kith is built before the locations you’re going to. I guess it's the thinking that anybody can be anywhere. Personally, I feel like the environment colors the people you meet there. Rural areas tend to have slower, more easy-going people while cities have more hurried or rushed folxs. 

You build the Kith as a group. Kith are non-playing characters (NPCs) that you can meet during your game. Every Kith has a series of traits and are not looked at as more or less important than the party. One player may play said Kith in one game in addition to their own character but another player may play them in a different one. It is important to write down any driving emotions or goals the Kith has so the next person picking them up has an idea of how they are played. 

To build a Kith you will need to know the following: name and pronouns, animal form, relationship to another character, a single defining detail, at least two traits and what this Kith does.  All of this should be written on an index card and placed in the center of the table for everyone to see. Each trait has its own mini playbook and helps further develop your Kith. They can be assigned randomly or selected for the need of the table. 

There are also Traumatizing traits. These deal with things of a darker nature such as grief, being lost, or death. Traumatizing traits are optional as well. They can be ignored to have a more light-hearted game. I cover these and magical traits later on in the optional rules section. 

Gameplay

The first game always takes the party to a new place. This is where the game gets a little confusing. To begin you select three natures but Wanderhome gives six categories and in each one, they have 6 other natures yet the book doesn’t really describe what the difference between these categories is. So I guess you can roll a d6 and then roll a d6 to get your natures if you’d like to do it randomly. The game is excellent at explaining other things but nature seems almost glossed over. 

Wanderhome then talks about going around and having everyone say one common type of animal-folk lives in the area. Each nature has its own mini playbook to help add details to the world. Based on how much everyone spoke, the person that spoke the least then gets to create the folklore of the area and name it. This should all be written on an index card and placed in the center of the table. 

As with Kith, any player can take up the role of a nature and create obstacles for the table. You can take turns playing the nature round to round. Said nature doesn’t need to be literal, it can be metaphorical. An example would be getting an island as a nature and giving the players the feeling of isolation when they are in a place. 

To the point of “having the person that spoke the least gets to create the folklore and gods”, I understand what the game is trying to do, in so much as they are trying to give everyone an even voice in the world. In my experience, quiet players do better when asked questions with choices instead of forcing them into a creative position to come up with a folklore and a name on the spot. That feels very stressful and can be a lot of pressure. 

Once the characters have been made and the Kith and Kin and the next town is created, the party asks themselves four questions, three aloud and one to themselves. 

What sort of place did we just travel from?

Do we feel our journey has been long?

Is there somewhere we hope to go?

(to themselves) where is my home?

With that, the party begins to play. Someone will describe the scenery and get a token, another person will add to it and get a token, and someone else may roleplay with any of the existing items and gain a token. You spend tokens to accomplish tasks and add to the game to resolve narrative issues. Wanderhome is not focused on failing but instead on the struggle and overcoming of obstacles. The game will run as long as you like and can be picked up at a later date with the same characters, kith, and locations. It is perfectly natural for paths to split and the party to change only to have them rejoin later. 

Optional Rules

Seasons

Wanderhome has unique seasons, 5 to be precise. Each season consists of two months with the second month ending in a celebration or holiday to signal the next season. These are all truly unique and inspired. They make great alternatives to the real-world season. Each season has its own mini playbook to give more details to the world. 

Magical and Traumatized Traits

Traits, both magical and traumatic, can be ignored for your play style. You want something more grounded in reality you remove the magical traits, you want something more “happy go lucky” you leave out the traumatic traits. If you want something grounded and happy then you leave out both. Some traits will have a little flower next to them and that signifies these traits are magical in nature. Other traits that look like an equal sign with a vertical line down the center are considered traumatic traits. These deal with darker themes like loss, death, and illness.

Final Thoughts

At first, Wanderhome feels like wearing my shoes on the wrong feet. Over time, and with lots of reframing of my own expectations from conflict-focused RPGs, I came to the realization that Wanderhome is the perfect RPG to cleanse your palate of combat-focused RPGs or to start your kids on. If you enjoy media like Bluey, Spirited Away, or Over the Garden Wall then there is a lot in Wanderhome that you’ll enjoy. 

My biggest issue with the game, and again this comes from my lack of experience with these types of games, is the lack of challenge in the game. If every obstacle, no matter the size, can be solved with a single token then that removes much of the challenge of the game. Maybe if there was a limitation to how the tokens can be used or a minimum of tokens needed to complete a task that might add a layer of complexity needed to make the game more engaging. Many stories come from a push and a pull of the narrative. 

I think Wanderhome needs additional rules for how to earn tokens/resolve problems. Something that allows the players to solve the problem in front of them instantly but it makes a bigger one down the road. I think having to deal with the fallout of your actions is a good lesson and gives the playbooks more room to shine and show what makes them special. In general, it would make for a more engaging story. 

The thing I love about this book is the random tables. These alone make this book an indispensable resource to any existing game. It has tables for everything, NPCs, locations, seasons, and traits. Almost everything a GM would need on the fly. With the way the tables are built, it makes total sense to play it solo. Especially if you need some inspiration, this book is chock full of great ideas to get the ball rolling. 

Another thing I greatly enjoyed about Wanderhome is the art. The book is dripping with beautiful pieces from every walk of life. Each one is wholesome and fills me with inspiration. I never thought playing the Caretaker would be a role I would gravitate to but the illustrations of the tiny spirits and I want to find a home for each and every one of them.

Final Verdict: OWN IT! 

While I may have my issues with the core mechanic, there is so much here that this book should be a must-buy for anyone interested in running RPGs. They have several options to get a copy. You can purchase the PDF, hardback, and paperback from their store below. Shipping was prompt and well handled.

Possum Creek Games

I’m also looking forward to their other game “Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast”, currently on Indiegogo. A slice-of-life legacy tabletop role-playing game about a found family and their magical home. All of this and more can be found on their site above.