Spirit & Ink

Spirit and Ink is an epistolary solo role playing game, designed as a final project for New Testament 1 course at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, during the Spring term of 2022.

In this game you, take on an apostolic role of someone who is responsible, or at least, perceives themselves to be responsible, for shepherding a plethora of emerging faith communities scattered across a vast diaspora. Distance and the difficulty surrounding your ability to travel prevents you from visiting these fledgling communities frequently so, you must guide them in the spirit with the ink of your pen. This takes place through written correspondence in which you will respond to the various situations, circumstances, and conflicts facing these new communities in their particular contexts.

While Spirit & Ink is inspired by the epistolary nature of the Christian New Testament, this game is spiritually and religiously agnostic. You do not need to belong to any particular religious or spiritual tradition (if at all) to play this game. Christianity does not have a monopoly on the art of letter writing for the sake of spiritual direction and formation. In Spirit & Ink it is actually recommended that you leave behind your specific religious tradition's imagery and language, so that you can fully enter into the world of your character.

Ultimately, I believe that "play" is a powerful tool for spiritual discovery and religious engagement. In the same way that prayer, mediation, and engagement with sacred scripture offers a way for us to connect more deeply with ourselves, our community, and the divine, so too, can the medium of play. My hope for this game is that it will serve as an exercise in moral imagination that help individuals navigate their relationship to scared texts regardless of religious tradition or faith expression.

To play Spirit & Ink, all you need is this game book, a single six-sided die, a deck of regular playing cards, and something to record your letters on. While good old-fashion pen and paper is recommended, this could also be done just as effectively with digital tools like a word processor.