Black Mold: Solitude is Available Again (for Free!)

I met John De Campos of Terrible Games at Pax Unplugged back in 2021 ish after being completely blown away by the stark, grim black and white look of his then upcoming game Black Mold. I also loved the premise that players' turns lasted as long as they could hold their breath. Very cool and thematic.

As the Black Mold Kickstarter was getting a bit closer to launch, John reached out to me about designing a solo roll-and-write game set in Black Mold that would be a standalone experience offered as a limited edition 150 copies for one of the backer tiers. I was stoked to work with him, so I dove into designing the game mechanics while also kitbashing the rough layout using borrowed art from the main Black Mold game. Once the game was tight, John drew out the amazing art and final layout. It was a fast, very punk af vibed project that came together really nicely in just a few months.

The underlying concept for Black Mold: Solitude was that it would somehow need to be incorporated, at least partially, into the J-card insert of an accompanying dungeon synth soundtrack cassette. It was a unique and interesting design challenge that I had a lot of fun puzzling through.

So in a nutshell, Black Mold: Solitude plays like this: You roll three dice, choosing one result to write in on the next spot on the pestilence tracker. The other two can be combined together or used individually by placing them on slots on the flattened out cassette J-card to trigger actions. Actions can include boosting your stats, gathering and crafting resources, and working your way through a series of gates towards the exit, among other things.

If you're not familiar with my work, I don't design easy solo games. The more brutal, the better, as long as they are still technically beatable. I strive to tune things to a difficulty that feels a lot like playing old arcade games in the 80s. Punishing, but engaging enough to have that "just one more try" factor.

The bitchy twist in Black Mold: Solitude is the pestilence tracker. Every roll you place on the pestilence track has to be higher than the previous number, and you have to write a number in there EVERY turn. Inevitably, you'll max out, which means marking one of the five poison spots. Then the count restarts with the next lowest number you place, which may not always be a one. If you fill in all five poison spots, you die. It's a great pressure mechanic that feels tense and puzzly as you try to push your way to the exit before time runs out.

The original game was only available to Kickstarter backers, but since it's been a few years, I reached out to John who was kind enough to let me make the game available as a free PNP download. So here you go! You'll find the PDF available for free on my online shop here. And if you feel like supporting my work, check out some of my other free (and paid) PNP offerings. Also, stop by the Terrible Games website to check out John's other rad projects, including his successful Token Terrors series!