Newsletter Archive
The Marginalia

  • "I loved the collaborative nature of it, I'm a sore loser so the opportunity to win together was really lovely, showed how caring my team were, it was great!!"

    —Janna

  • "I’m not very good at board games, and I don’t enjoy them very much, but a couple times during this play, I had fun, so this was cool."

    —Lynn H.B.

  • "Shit Slapped"

    —Saul

  • "It’s a fun game with a lot of parts to engage with as you continue learn how the game works."

    —Playtester who shall not be named…

  • "This is a quick-learning, quick-playing game that explores a side of Shakespeare’s work that even dedicated fans of the Bard may not know about.:

    — Amanda H.

The Game in action!

  • End-Game!

    Alpha Version

    After finishing a play about both GREED and MORTALITY, Thomas Middleton was declared the most WORTHY bard!

  • Nerd Mentality Demo

    Beta Version-

    Led by the designer himself, five new bards learn the fully-cooperative version of “Writing with Shakespeare”.

  • Gem State Gaming Convention

    Beta Version- First Look

    A special first look experience at the Gem State Gaming Convention hosted in Boise Idaho! 10 new people joined the Bards- in ½ of the games the Bards managed to write a play!

  • Competitive Mode Engage

    Beta Version

    After the Nerd Mentality Demo, some Bards stuck around and tried out the Competitive Variant of “Writing with Shakespeare”! Unfortunately I forgot if we won or lost =(

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-Designed in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire

-Playtested in the Pacific Northwest of the United States

-Historically derived design and assets

-easy-to-learn

FUN!

You are a playwright in the Elizabethan period and Mr. Phillip Henslowe has commissioned you to write a new play! As you leave Mr. Henslowe’s office, you are assaulted by the sounds and smells of early modern London. You clutch the 3 pence advance to your chest as you contemplate filling your empty belly...

Then you remember the agreement, a finished play in less than a four weeks! You’ll need to get help, split the load, share the pay. You aren’t the only playwright looking to make their way.

Collaborators could make this job possible, but more bards means more bother. Some of your compatriots thrive in collaboration, but others may prioritize their own worth over the group, or worse, actively work against the rest.

Difficulties be damned, Henslowe set the timeframe, and you’ll be cursed if he starts lumping you in with that lay-about Daborne! You need to get started, recruit your fellows, find your inspiration, and complete your masterpiece, before time runs out!

The Collaborative Playwrighting

Card Game

Read the Rulebook!

Click Here

Got More Questions?

I designed Writing with Shakespeare as the culmination of my studies at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-Upon-Avon. So many of the games I played that were based on “Shakespeare” were thematic skins placed over established board game mechanics. SO I decided to design a card game that leveraged historical accuracy to create it’s mechanics, manifesting an effect called “Procedural Rhetoric”. If you really want to see exactly how I designed the game, and how it captures modern understanding of the period Shakespeare was writing- click below to take a peek into the margins of the game and…

Enter the Marginalia