Is it possible to play this game using a PDF editor? And if so, which features does it need? (Especially if annotations suffice, that would make it easy to play over the internet as well)
Great question. The best play experience with this game is with the print edition, and the second best experience is with the print-and-play version.
The reason for this is that there are prompts that rely on the book being physical, requiring you to tear, burn, hit, throw the book, etc. Some of these prompts have additional significance in that when you tear the page, for example, it may reveal something on the next page. Likewise, if you pass on the book or play it again, those modifications matter for the subsequent playthrough.
Of course, if you want to play using a PDF editor, you're more than welcome to. But you will miss out on an important part of the experience. I'd say a PDF editor is best for folks who want to read SPINE but not necessarily play it.
I hope that helps! Feel free to follow up with additional questions.
As a legally blind person, a physical copy simply isn't an option for me, as I need TTS to assist in play. Does this mean it is inaccessible?
To be clear, I understand that something like this isn't made for everyone. However, there's other weird bookish things that have a digital version (eg Penrose, Device 6) that still include digital book manipulation but work with TTS.I don't know if that's something you'd consider.
Unfortunately, the game relies on visuality and a physical book object fairly often (e.g. poking a hole through a page and reading what's on the other side, visual puzzles). However, there may still be plenty to enjoy without it.
Feel free to reach out to me via email (backwaterttrpg@gmail.com). I can see if I can remediate a non-PDF text version for you, that should be easier to navigate with a screen reader, and I'll add alt text to the images.