A downloadable Press Kit

Fact sheet

Developer: Shouting Crow
Campaign Dates: February 7th, 2023 - March 3rd, 2023
Platform: Tabletop Role-Playing Game
Price: $8 - $150
Available here: crowdfundr.com/ailingaway

The Pitch

The year is 1905 and you have tuberculosis.

The prognosis is not good and your spirits have been very low. Threatened by the prospect that you might die young and unmarried, your father sends you to an exclusive spa-hotel in Venice to convalesce. The air is supposed to be wonderful for your lungs, and the hotel offers many treatments to aid the recovery efforts of its attractive, consumptive, and wealthy patrons.

This seaside vacation hasn't been good for everyone's health, of course. There's only room for you on the patient list because there's been a murder. One of the eight people taking accommodations at the hotel was the victim of a perfect crime and you're determined to solve it.

What is AILING AWAY?

AILING AWAY is a solo mystery game with historical romantic elements. It's like CLUE but it's meant for one player, you get to kiss some of the suspects, and there's no board to set up. All you need to play is a copy of the rulebook, a deck of standard playing cards, a pair of ten-sided dice, and writing implements of your choosing. Players may choose to use the detective's journal bundled with the rulebook, but it is optional.

This game uses a standalone system designed to exploit the theme of this title. It is intended to be played solo, but could easily be played one-on-one with a single player and a game master.

Every suspect is a potential friend or romantic partner, but one of them will die at random before the game begins. The player's goal is to find out who killed them, and why.
Each time players try to learn a secret, they put either their social standing or their precarious health at risk. The consequences for failure can be very high: muddling detectives might be be sent home with tarnished reputations or even die of tuberculosis.
Fostering relationships with each character in AILING AWAY is critical to a detective's success. Alternatively, players can improve their odds by submitting themselves to the spa-hotel's curative treatments, or by giving gifts to the suspects they are interviewing.

Key features

8 potential suspects. There is a brother/sister pair for each of the four suits of cards. Every character has a unique portrait, backstory, and secrets to confess.
48 clues for curious detectives to discover.
d10 table of gifts to bestow, with special benefits for specific characters.
d10 table of treatments for consumptive patients
52 potential scenes for detectives to explore and revisit.
Multiple endgame scenarios for both successful and unsuccessful detectives.
All the tools your detective needs to find love, find the killer, and find something to live for.

Developer

Justin Vandermeer of Shouting Crow is solely responsible for the game design, writing, layout and art of AILING AWAY.

Shouting Crow

Shouting Crow is an independent Canadian game design studio based in Guelph, Ontario. This two-man team makes extremely accessible tabletop and solo journaling games for weird and wonderful people. Justin Vandermeer makes the games and has more zines than brain cells. Andrea Benning keeps everything organized.

Press quotes

From the creator of AILING AWAY

“Creators deal with burnout from time to time, but AILING AWAY has been a real comfort project for me. When I'm miserable I want to pander to myself, do the whole wish-fulfillment thing, and write a game about luxuriating at an extravagant seaside hotel but also maybe getting a bit maudlin about mortality. So I did, and gosh, it feels good! The majority of my work is short and punchy, but I really want to be able to give this game some room to breathe and flesh it out. I want the book to feel as sumptuous and decadent as the Venetian spa-hotel setting. 40 full-colour pages ought'a do it.” - Justin Vandermeer

Praise for AILING AWAY

“I’m excited about this game because I love murder mysteries, and so the opportunity to do one through solo play is quite exciting! I’ve never actually played CLUE and have always wanted to and adding budding friendships and romances into the mix is absolutely delightful. ” -Loira (@ms_winford), via The Cozy Cauldron