Out Of Print - A bookish modular solo game by Button Shy

NOTE: The physical rewards are for US only, with the print and play being available worldwide.

Out Of Print is a new Button Shy Modular game series set in the world of classic literature.

What is a modular game? 

Button Shy Modular Games are tiny games that are just a handful of cards packaged in clear sleeves. Rules are printable online, as they are larger than the tiny card sets we are mailing out. Players will provide their own additional components (in this case you'll just need 3 standard six-sided dice). Each game uses two or more modules (for example, Out of Print requires the base module and any one book module). 

These games are also fully designed by our in-house team (Andrew Basile, George Tagmire, and Jason Tagmire), and hand assembled in our office. 

You just sat down with your favorite classic novel, and suddenly you realize you’re trapped. The book is drawing you in, and the only way to escape is to ensure the right chapters are in the right parts of the book. Can you get the greatest moments of the book into the acts in which they belong before the book’s antagonist traps you forever?

Out of Print is a solo action selection and dice game where you are attempting to order the major moments of the chosen book where they belong in the three act structure of the story.

By playing cards from your hand that represent the most important story beats of the book to ever changing available actions, you will attempt to synchronize the Act and Chapter of the moment. You will be trapped forever and lose the game when the book closes, unless you've aligned four or more Chapters to where they belong in the book.

With your pledge, you will receive the Out of Print Base Set (required to play), and either the Moby-Dick Book Module, the Tell-Tale Heart Book Module, or both! With many more classic Book Modules to come, you will never want for variety.

The base set includes 3 Act cards, 5 Action cards, and 1 Reference card. You’ll need this set to play.

Backers can add either the Moby Dick module or The Tell-Tale Heart Module, or both Modules.

If you choose the Moby-Dick Book Module you will receive the Moby-Dick set including 1 Antagonist card, 6 Chapter cards, 1 Book Cover, and 1 Protagonist Card - all unique to this set. Moby-Dick has its own setup rules, special abilities and End of Round abilities, making it completely different from other modules.

You may choose instead to receive the Tell-Tale Heart Book Module. The Tell-Tale Heart will contain 1 Antagonist card, 6 Chapter cards, 1 Book Cover, and 1 Protagonist Card - all unique to this set. The Tell-Tale Heart, like Moby-Dick, has its own setup rules, special abilities, and End of Round abilities for a fresh change and variety.

Here is a video of a full play through of the Out of Print: The Tell-Tale Heart module.

On each turn you will take two actions

You can repeat the same action, if able.

• Play a Chapter card to an available action
• Discard a card and flip another card in your hand over to its opposite side.

By playing a card to an available action you can manipulate the dice, drawing you closer to locking the Chapter card where it belongs. 

If at the end of the turn, a Chapter card is beneath its the matching Act number, and the Act's die matches that Chapter number, you can score that card, by tucking it under it's matching at card, and come closer to escaping.

End of Round

After playing through all of your cards, you’ve reached the End of Round. Check the Antagonist Card for any End of Round abilities, and follow those instructions. Each book module will be different. 

Then advance the Book Cover one space. You’re running out of time!

Shuffle the Chapter cards without flipping them over to form a new deck. Draw two cards, and keep going before it's too late. 

End of the Game

The game ends when you've scored all 6 chapter cards, or if the Book Cover completely covers the Protagonist card.

• 0-3 cards locked is a loss
• 4 cards locked: Good Work
• 5 cards locked: Great Work
• 6 cards locked: Perfect Game

We have two modules in this campaign (and many more to come).

Moby Dick

The first Book Module for the Out of Print play system is the classic Herman Melville novel Moby-Dick.

Considered the epitome of the Great American Novel, Moby-Dick centers on Captain Ahab’s madness aboard the whaling vessel the Pequot as he seeks vengeance against a giant white sperm whale who bit off his leg during an earlier voyage. We are escorted through the narrative by the sailor Ishmael who delivers possibly the greatest opening line in any book: “Call me Ishmael.” 

First published in 1851, Moby-Dick explores themes of perception, religion, and truth through the madness of obsession. Melville crafts this tale using a variety of literary techniques, including traditional prose as well as poetry and soliloquy. Melville also draws on his own sailing experience to create a visceral and tangible truth in the text as he depicts ship life, whaling, and sailing. Though often regarded as a tough read, the narrative is so absorbing and the world created within so alive and compelling that the book raptures the reader to continue on and experience the majesty of Melville’s craft. The challenge is worth the reward. As this book is required reading for bibliophiles, initial reviews for the book in 1851 were not great and highly critical. Time has matured the work into the fine wine we read today.

In this module, Moby Dick will flip over the chapter deck each round, messing with your plans, and advancing an extra space if two of the chapter dice are showing even numbers. You'll have to manage the dice in two ways (trying to match the chapters, and not have too many even numbers). 

The Wave symbol will mix up the Action card locations (which you can use to your advantage at times), and the Tail symbol raises any die by 1. Extra dice manipulation can be very helpful. 

The Tell-Tale Heart

The second Book Module for the Out of Print play system is the horror classic The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe.

Published in 1843, the enduring tale of guilt, obsession, and violence weaves a beautiful tapestry of gore and madness. The central appeal of the tale is the vagueness surrounding the Narrator, the central character of the story. Is the Narrator insane? To whom is he speaking? With no pronouns to reference, is the Narrator man? A woman? The Narrator’s obsession with the old man, a roommate of sorts, and his cloudy eye drives the Narrator to violence. The Narrator does not attempt to deny the crime, but rather insist on their sanity. 

Even as the story opens with, “True!” the Narrator has already confessed to the reader. Narratively, the Narrator cannot contain the guilt, fear, and anxiety caused by murdering the old man, and cannot help but confess to the crime to the police. A fabulous piece of work worth much more than the $10 Poe was paid to write it. 

In this module, The "Narrator" will remove the lowest die or dice from the Act cards, which forces you to manipulate that die to get it back. This loss of control can leave you with fewer options if you don't handle it early enough. 

Drawing two Heart symbols will cause you to lose an Action card (and its Act slot), and drawing two Badges will give you a free card flip, giving you some extra options during the turn. 

We have many more modules planned and would love to hear your favorites as well. Here's a little peek at what's next from our art direction notes, plus some sketches from Filip

Shipping costs will be collected in the pledge manager after the campaign ends. Shipping to the US appears to be $5, and since we are shipping in less than 2 months, this should not go up in price. 

The Out of Print team consists of Andrew Basile, George Tagmire, and Jason Tagmire on design and development. Andrew is also curating the card quotes for the cards, and doing quite a bit of rereading. Filip Popovic is handling the game illustrations and graphic design, with Milan Zivkovic on graphic design as well. We also have Elle Tagmire on support (which means arts and crafts, video appearances, and anything else we can throw at her).

Want To Add On More Games?

We have made the Base Set and both Book Modules available for add-ons (for anyone that is looking for duplicates), but as of now that's all we have planned here. If you want some games from our site, we have a special Kickstarter backer coupon code that will be live for the duration of the campaign. Use coupon code 0826backer to receive 20% off of your order at http://www.buttonshygames.com . Note: some pre-orders are not applicable for coupons.