I don’t have good English writing skills. I still hope to make myself understood in this comment.

I also leave below an Italian translation of the comment, for those who want to follow the discussion anyway.

Hi, AJ!

I found the game easy to read, neat and essential. You did a really good work!

I’ll leave you some reading questions:

• At first I hadn’t really understood where to get the map on the website you provided and I thought it was something “wider” (google maps, a map of a territory …). But I guess you were referring to a plan of a house, like this one. You could give an example directly on the rules, to make things easier.
• When players have to roll the dice, they do it together, okay. But I have a doubt: how do they agree to place the dice on the table? One dice per player? Do the players talk openly?

Apart from these two steps, I didn’t have any other problems with understanding the rules and it seemed really well written.

I particularly liked the difference between the human family and the fairy people, drawn not only in a different way, but with different material (sharp pencil or blunt pencil). Great idea!

I have one last question: the map of the house only serves as a reference, right?It might be more interesting if you increase the drawing actions on the map to make it more eventful during the game.

I didn’t know Ursula Vernon, so I’ll mark down the name of the book you used as a reference and leave you another one: Hilda and the Hidden People (it’s a comic book for kids, but it’s very similar).

Thanks for sending the game!

Ciao AJ!

Ho trovato il gioco facile alla lettura, pulito ed essenziale. Ottimo lavoro!

Ti lascio alcuni dubbi sulla lettura:

• Inizialmente non avevo capito bene dove prendere la mappa sul sito che hai messo a disposizione e pensavo fosse qualcosa di più ampio (google maps, la cartina di un territorio…). Ma immagino tu ti riferissi ad una planimetria di una casa, tipo questa. Potrebbe convenire fare un esempio sul regolamento.
• Quando i giocatori devono tirare i dadi, lo fanno insieme, ok. Però ho un dubbio: come si mettono d’accordo sul posizionare i dadi sulla tabella? Un dado per giocatore? I giocatori discutono apertamente?

A parte questi due passaggi, non ho avuto nessun altro problema sul capire le regole e mi è sembrato davvero ben scritto.

Mi è piaciuta particolarmente la differenziazione tra la famiglia umana e il popolo fatato, disegnati non solo in modo diverso, ma con materiale diverso (matite appuntite e spuntate). Bell’idea!

Ho un’ultima domanda: la mappa della casa serve solo come riferimento, giusto? Potrebbe valer la pena aumentare le azioni di disegno sulla mappa per renderla più movimentata durante la partita.

Non conoscevo Ursula Vernon, mi segno il nome del libro che hai usato come riferimento e te ne lascio un’altro: Hilda and the Hidden People (è un fumetto per ragazzi, ma ricorda molto questo gioco).

Grazie di aver inviato il gioco!

Really cool game! Really intriguing premise and straightforward rules. My questions and comments:

1. Do the faerie players decide if they use the damage die or not? If so, why would they decide to? It seems that there's a 50% chance to get into trouble, and the other 50% is keeping the status quo. Or you expect them to decide for fiction reasons and forget whether or not they get a mechanical advantage? Which is fine, too, just wondering!
2. It would be nice to have an example! Ideally of a couple of rounds, but at least for some things, like the Punctum roll. At first I thought there was a missing column or that I wasn't understanding the rules, and it took me a while to see the connection between the five points and the four columns. I guess it's on purpose that there's no equivalent column for "being a fae", and that's an extra die you get, to improve their chances a bit?
3. Another reason to have examples, especially of the Punctum rolls, is that after reading the game I'm not sure why the maps are necessary. Wouldn't this game work pretty well without the maps? Sure, you improve the immersion by having an actual map of a place, but it doesn't feel necessary to keep track of the Punctums (Puncta? haha) and such. Or maybe the problem is that I can't imagine appropriate Punctums... aren't they supposed to be small objects tourists could bring in their pockets? In that case it doesn't even feel appropriate that they have a specific place in the map. Maybe I just can't imagine how you expect this to be played, but in that case examples would help 😄
4. When humans oppose the faeries, what's that established scene the rules talk about? I don't understand how that fits the rest of the flow. Or does that mean that in the next turn, rolling the damage die is mandatory? Maybe that's the only time the damage die is rolled?
5. How many players is this for? It suggests 2+ (one human and at least one faerie), but I wonder if you have thought of an upper limit.
6. Related: the beginning says "one [map] for the human player, the other for the faerie(s)", which suggests that there is a human player and the other players play faeries. But if I keep reading, it seems that all of them are faeries, but every turn one of them controls the humans.
7. I'm curious, have you playtested this? Do you have a rough calculation/expectation of the chances for the faeries on the last scene? I wonder how hard it is meant to be for the faeries...

First Impressions:

This game grabbed me IMMEDIATELY.  The premise is so, so good.  And the way you send us right to a really amazing and useful real-world tool for house layouts is SO GOOD.  I really like the use of 'thin pen tips' vs. 'thicker pen tips' - this is an excellent way to use instructions to build the maps in a way that keep straight what elements are from which side of the veil.

Questions:

The instructions make the Fae seem like 'owned' characters - one per player, with details they create on their own - but the Family feels sort of ambiguous?  Do we own them as a group?  Do we each contribute one Family Member, playing them exclusively?

Honestly, the Family almost seems like they might work better as a neutral or separate party to the Fae - have you considered not having the Family be characters played, but instead having them be a series of oracles in a deck that generates situations for the Fae to deal with?  or divvying up the roles of Fae and Family so that different players are working to flummox each other?

What should the Fae Sigil look like?  Would love some examples.

What does "repair" mean in relation to the Punctum?  Is it simply removing it?  Are you concerned that some plans might be 'easier' than other plans, in regards to dealing with a Punctum?  Should that difficulty be reflected in the way you build a die pool?

How do you play the Humans once they're aware and actively trying to 'oppose' you?

My biggest questions are around Tone.  Is this a game that plays out like Fraggle Rock or Pan's Labyrinth?  This would feed into my other question:  what are the Elves like?  Is their return a borderline horror show, or is it a celebration, like at the end of Labyrinth?  Is that up to the players?  If so, how do we get on the same page about that?

Favorite Bits

Cannot stress enough: the premise for this game is so, so good.  So fun, even if you're doing it like Guillermo del Toro or Jim Henson.

The use of the Otherkind Dice is very graceful, and actually does an excellent job of *explaining* the game as you play it.  That's awesome.  It's so good when a game both teaches and coaches you as you play.  Very clever.

Hey, thanks for the submission. With the big caveat that I haven’t actually played the game, just read it, here’s my review. 

Theme / Maps

I didn't know you could find floor-plans on The Landmark Trust! That's a great source of maps, and a great way to kick off a game. I also like that you chose to have the players contribute to and play both sides in the conflict. That's a great way to hit the theme. Maps are pretty central to the mechanics. I liked the mechanic of the fae sigil.

Tone and style

I like the simple and fun, family-friendly vibe here. The layout is basic but serviceable.

Elegant

I feel that I can understand the mechanics, but I would have to play to figure out the strategy. I like the way it balances playing both sides. The end game in particular sounds fun.

Easy to understand

I had to reread a few points, but overall it was clear.

Thanks for the opportunity to review your game.