Scorched - After the Burn

Explore a world destroyed by fire, an ashy wasteland covered in strange sights and even stranger people.

Scorched is a card based adventure game for 2-8 players, inspired by viewing the damage done to my home state after wildfires in 2020. Explore a world destroyed by fire, an ashy wasteland covered in strange sights and even stranger people. Those who were left behind in the evacuations found their world completely changed. 

The game uses 2 standard 52 card decks with jokers. It includes an instruction booklet, and sheets of card faces which can be printed and affixed to a standard deck. These come in full color, and printer-friendly versions. 

This was the first game I ever made. It's not perfect, but I have a soft spot for it. The game is free to play and enjoy. If you'd like to support my work in the future, consider checking out my full tabletop RPG Heliosail.

To Play You Need

The instruction book provided

2 52-card decks  with  jokers

Scratch paper and pencil

Zip File Contains

Instruction book - full color

Instruction book - printer friendly

Printable card faces - full color 

Printable card faces - printer friendly

Gameplay

Each player gets 5 random cards and a quest card at the beginning of the game. The quest cards will have simple, clear objectives written on them, but no specific instructions for how to achieve the goal.

As the game progresses, the paths to each goal become clear. Players can work toward more than quest at a time as long as the card is in their hand, but actions do not count toward quests retroactively.

Quests are balanced to mostly be about the same difficulty as one another- but some quests vary a little depending on the events of the game or how many players there are.

Players are exploring the wasteland on their own, but there is a special mechanic that allows players to meet and trade with each other- and maybe betray one another. Meta-gaming, where players agree to work together, is encouraged, especially when it leads to betrayal and intrigue.