Fantastic Longing for Adventure, A

A Fantastic Longing for Adventure is a “game-adjacent experience” which means if you’re the sort of person who vibrates at the prospect of ontological discussions about “is this a game,” we advise you to seek fulfillment elsewhere.

What AFLfA is, is a 20 page autobiographical zine by Tim Hutchings, printed in three overlapping color layers. The zines comes with three small color gels, which by holding each gel up to one eye and covering the other eye, allow you to read a single layer of the zine. A bit like 3-d glasses, or those secret spy games you might get as a kid. The rules on the back of the zine recommend this zine is best read by three players, each one given access to a different layer of the text. It also can be read or played by one person, swapping gels as needed.

The text itself is a scrapbook graphic novel about playing roleplaying games as a teen in the late 20th century. A fragmented memory of the sweaty and sometimes magical journey to imaginary worlds. It is absolutely a unique and mesmerizing experience, looking through tiny colored windows into someone else’s past.