i'm sorry did you say street magic
A downloadable game
An archipelago-based fishing town, separated by its various islands, gathers annually to celebrate the turn of the harvest.
A collective of magical artists embarks on an ambitious project: a guerrilla public transit system powered by enchanted street art.
In a sprawling metropolis decades from now, breakthroughs in biotechnology offer citizens superpowers far beyond mortal ability.
This city that we call home has a magic all its own. It is wonder, and joy, and spirit — and with that spirit, we breathe life into our city together.
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i'm sorry did you say street magic is a GMless city-building story game for two to six players, that runs three or more hours. Discover and imagine a city filled with life and vivid detail, packed with a myriad of neighborhoods, landmarks, and residents. Discover their true names, and the ways that they intersect—then set events in motion that will change or alter their relationships.
- Rules PDFs in full color and black-and-white options
- Printable cheat sheet for easy rules reference
- Easy Streets quickstart decks, for pre-generated city exploration
for more on true names, check out street magic's sister game, there are names here more powerful than our own.
The illustrations in this game are from You CanĘźt Get There From Here, a zine by Shannon Kao. Images used and edited with permission.
iĘźm sorry did you say street magic was edited by Kai Gee, with sensitivity reading by Pidj Sorensen.
Layout by Caro Asercion, with additional layout consultation by Quinn Vega.
iĘźm sorry did you say street magic was originally conceived as a hack of Microscope, by Ben Robbins.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $15 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Exclusive content
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Donate a Community Copy
for $30 USD, you'll get a copy of i'm sorry did you say street magic and also donate an additional community copy to the pool!
for every $10 above the base price, I'll add another as well (donating $40 will add two community copies, donating $50 will add three, etc.)
Community Copies
community copies of i'm sorry did you say street magic are free on an honor system basis to those who cannot afford the game at its listed price.
if you have taken a community copy from the pool, consider — but do not feel obligated — taking a moment to leave a positive review, comment, or five-star rating to help boost the game's visibility.
QTPOC: if there are no community copies of the game listed and you would like a copy of the game and can't pay for it, send me a DM at @SeaExcursion on twitter and I will get you a download key, no questions asked.
Development log
- Some very minor tweaksJan 01, 2022
- Easy Streets supplement released!Jan 08, 2021
- Updated PDFs!Apr 18, 2020
- Physical editions â Zine Quest, coming soon!Jan 27, 2020
- street magic v0.2Sep 29, 2019
Comments
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Is it possible for it to be played solo?
This game is amazing! đ I would love to run this at our public library's TTRPG night, but I cannot find the license this game is produced under in the PDF. Would love to introduce more players into new amazing worlds and cities. Such a great game!
Please feel free to run this game for your public library's game night! I've heard multiple anecdotes of other tabletop enthusiasts hosting street magic at similar events at their own local libraries and having a lovely time with it.
Awesome, thank you so much! It's the perfect game to get new people into collaborative storytelling.
This game is so beautifully designed and such a joy to play! As soon as I got my copy I started playing with some friends and we haven't finished yet but it's been a blast! So many details and really helps you learn to value the small things in life. So cute! And the author is amazingly kind and helpful. Definite recommendation from me!
I really love this game, but I find the pacing a challenge. It usually takes my groups about 2 hours to finish laying the foundations and then another hour or more to finish the first "regular" round. At that point, it's usually about time to wrap up, but I don't find it satisfying to end the game immediately after the first event, without the chance to explore how it affects the city afterward.
When you play/played i'm sorry did you say street magic, how many rounds do you fit in a session? Do you have any tips on making the game move a little quicker? Is it just a matter of the facilitator being firmer about keeping the momentum going? I almost always play street magic with new people, so I tend to take my time explaining the game and give the other players time to think and get used to the mechanics.
Nevertheless, the game is lovely and I'm glad to get to play it!
Thanks for writing in! First off, to preface this response: two hours for a foundation and another hour for a full round definitely runs on the longer end in my personal experience, but thatâs by no means a wrong way to play. Having a fun time at your table is more important than playing âproperlyâ! This said, a few thoughts:
Talking through tone and genre is the most open-ended part of the game, so it can really grow if you donât watch the clock. Itâs easy to go deep listing all sorts of touchstones or inspiration, but donât get bogged down in comparisons; just use it to make sure folks are on the same page.
When it comes to playing the very first card, the facilitator can do a LOT to model a short foundation pass. When I'm facilitating and I play the very first neighborhood to the table, I always come in with three goals:
— Donât preplan the first card (show other players itâs okay to fumble, start vague, and make something up from scratch; I try to build off an idea that another player introduced during the tone discussion)
— Keep it short (I try to keep to two minutes tops, writing on the card as I go; as with all cards, I donât write everything down, only the most key details)
— Leave blank space (give permission to yourself and to the rest of the table to ask questions and say âI donât know, weâll flesh this part out laterâ)
In general, I find it really helpful to try and keep turns during the foundation round as short as possible. As an incoming player, coming up with your very first neighborhood or landmark might feel daunting, but itâs worth reminding folks that these are just sketches! If youâre playing with a group that likes to build off each other, it can be helpful to be a bit judicious with the clock, and remind people that theyâll have an opportunity to go deep during rounds proper—but that varies from group to group, and itâs definitely not a hard science.
(Iâm also curious how many players you tend to running with? Size definitely impacts round length: the difference between a four person table and a five person table might seem small, but it adds up, especially if youâre playing with a group who likes to yes-and each otherâs ideas.)
I have yet to play this game, but I must mention how incredible Caro is: I reached out for an educator's discount for a few of their games after reading about them (I run an after-school TTRPG group for some students). Instead of a discount, they sent me free copies of two separate games. Considering how much hard work has gone into these games, I am incredibly grateful for their generosity. This is why I love independent creators and the community to which they've contributed. Thank you Caro!
Revachol forever
Played this game with a group of friends to create a city for us to set another game in, and it was super fun! Really was useful for creating a city where everyone felt invested in it and knew what was going on, and gave them a chance to introduce some interesting elements to the city that I, as the GM for the game we're going to use our city for, never would've considered otherwise.
We probably played it a little fast and loose compared to the intention of some of the rules, but everyone had a great time with it, and I super recommend Street Magic both on its own, but also for how it invites worldbuilding and player contributions for use in another game afterward!
A cosy, very well-designed game that makes me want to plunge myself into my imaginary cities. Thank you for this little gem.
This is a really nice storytelling/worldbuilding game!
I got it on the advice of a friend who *loved* it - it's pretty, social and imaginative. It's also obviously made with care and love, and this shines through all the pages.
(all of the index cards have also got me thinking if I can tie it in nicely with worldbuilding for the Fate RPG!)
I have been eying this game for months, I was so pleasantly surprised to see this included in the Games for Gaza bundle. I am so excited to play this game.
Had the opportunity to play this finally last week, and it's awesome. However, there were a few things that I'd tweak to improve it further, at least at the table I play with. Is there a Discord or other community space to discuss rules hacks and other ideas?
dude i want a discord for this so bad
Would this game be kid appropriate? Iâm looking for things to use to encourage my struggling students to read and write and get them to see the usefulness of it. If so, would there be a community copy available for me? Thanks!
Thanks for asking! I know of a number of educators who've had great experiences running street magic with middle- and high-school students. You could probably play with kids who are even younger, though they might need some additional support guidance to learn the rules.
As for community copies, I'm always happy to make my games available for educational purposes — reach out via email (caro.asercion @ gmail) and I'll send a copy your way!
Thank you! After I see it I can work on making adaptations.
I sent an email. :)
Hi, I purchased the hardcopy of "street magic" via Heart of the Deernicorn - is there any way to purchase the "easy streets supplement" separately? I'm happy to pay for it, I just also had to pay international shipping on the rulebook so my budget for exciting fun things is a little tighter than usual!
Thanks so much for asking! Send me an email (at caro.asercion @ gmail) with the deernicorn receipt, and I can send you a copy of the supplement. Cheers!
Thank you so much! In finding my receipt, I realised they sent links to the Easy Streets download, so I'm feeling very silly. But I'm looking really forward to playing after I was introduced to the game at a one-shot at Wiscon 46!
Ran this at Con of the North 2023, and we had a great time building a city in a Generation Ship whose AIs had gotten out of control and broken the city up into zones. We had AIs building bodies for themselves, mystery blood cults, humans merging with machines to save the city, and all sorts of fun. It was great.
Played this with some friends, a little apprehensive about how it'd go as they're quite shy/quiet when it comes to TTRPGs and don't contribute creatively as much as others. It worked amazingly well for that purpose - the structure gives everyone an equal spotlight and is great for getting creative out of their shell. The terminology is admittedly a bit confusing - we played 4-5 rounds and I still don't know what makes a good 'True Name' - but otherwise completely fantastic.
(My partner wrote up a more in-depth review on our blog here): https://at.tumblr.com/witchhatproductions/705432752729767936/ti6scrpf4a99
This is such a good and sweet game - itâs amazing how many different ways it lets you be inspired by and inspire each other. We led a game last year at a southern solstice party and had an awesome time making up a transit system that involved flipping through mirrors and roleplaying a busker during another playerâs character vignette set at a landmark in that system. Hopefully gonna get to run it again this year!
Fantastic game!!
This game is very good! Me and my friends built a city of friendly robots, 10/10
Hi! I really love this game and enjoy playing it! I wanted to print a copy but wanted to check that I have permission to print it before doing so - I think I'd be doing it through Lulu since I'm not 100% sure how to print a square book otherwise!
Thank you for reaching out! If you're looking for a printed copy of the game, I would ask that you pick one up from my distributing partners at Heart of the Deernicorn or Floating Chair Games. Buying an official copy is a better deal for both me and my distributors, and I can vouch for the quality of those zines in a way that I can't with a third-party/unlicensed printing service.
Is there a possibility of a full color print of the game? If that is not offered, do you mind if i get it printed full color? Because the full color/art of the pdf im in love with and inspires me. Haha
this game was delightful to play with friends over a voice call and a google doc! very chill, but the mechanics were also engaging and really encouraged us to make creative worlds. I also personally love the art and how the whole thing looks.
I've played this game with friends to build a city for a campaign I'm running and to say that this game is amazing to facilitate worldbuilding is an understatement
I don't have a Twitter account. Any chance to get a community copy by asking for it here?
Hey, thank you for reaching out! Unfortunately due to the way download keys work, I can't share a community copy in the replies (it would go to the first person who claims the key, rather than link to your specific itch account). If you don't have a twitter account, feel free to message me via email (caro.asercion @ gmail) and I can send you one that way instead!
Absolutely beautiful from the pictures to the concept. Not only is it great for world building for other campaigns, it's also really strong standalone and I love the vibe of the art! The creator's work in general is also very creative and I'm really blown away by the kind of ideas they keep coming up with.
Definitely worth trying out with an RPG group !!!
Hello! Im interested in this game, but i can not figure how this game work without seeing the Trailer. And i think it was a problem in most Board game i found itch.io
Can you make the Trailer?
It will help people to see how this game work, and maybe buy it!
Thank you for your answer! đ
Hello, and thank you for reaching out!
I don't have an official "Trailer" in the way that many digital games on itch.io do, but if you would like a preview of the game, here are a couple of links:
Hope that these links help! I will spend some time embedding additional links to make these previews more readily accessible.
I absolutely love this game and so does the RPG group I introduced it to. We play it regularly now to come up with cities for the settings we play in.
I had so much fun with this game! My friends and I (3 of us) made this incredible world and it was so delightful. We didn't stick too closely to the 'requirements' (and even those were pretty loose) and sort of drifted where our conversations and excitement took us. We had all played D&D together before this, so I think that helped a lot in picking up vibes and knowing everyone else's mood. We used post-its instead of index cards as that's what we had, and if you do that I suggest using multiple per round as the handwriting gets a bit squished haha. We did 4 rounds and felt like we really achieved a great game. I've attached an image of some of our post-its.
This game was an incredible way spend a rainy Sunday. We played online using a shared google doc and it worked wonderfully. The built in "rest stops" were amazing for online play and people were able to drop in and out depending on their energy levels. I loved the way this game created a space for you to flex your imagination, rather setting up goalposts you needed to aim for.
"I'm sorry did you say street magic" is an amazing collaborative city building TTRPG, i have tried it with some of my friends, and the city that we built are so incredibly evocative and lively.
I cannot thank you enough for making this game, Caro. I love this game so much.
I have enjoyed playing this game so much! I've played it three times with different groups of people over the last week. Have written up a review and a brief summary of our first play here.
this game is absolutely beautiful and allowed me to create a setting with a friend that i now hold incredibly close to my heart. thank you so much. <3
Stunning writing that really blew me away. I've played once (so far) and made such a rich and beautiful city... it's honestly breath taking. A really beautiful game written with such grace and care, please play street magic!
My friends and I love this. We've used it to create settings for RPG campaigns, novels, and just to fill out random ideas we had. By just offering a light framework but with clear goals and imagery, it makes for a powerful expressive tool while staying very simple.
Played this with a friend and it was a blast.
Would recommend!
Just played my first game of this with some friends and I'm honestly so glad to have this in my library. We were only able to get through two rounds on our first play because we just kept getting absorbed into new conversations and deepening things, and I can't wait to pick our little city up again and keep building it out!
How have people set up their Google Docs for online play? Any template ideas?
The easiest way to play in google docs is probably just a blank page that all your players can edit, with different indentation for Neighborhoods/ Landmarks/ Residents, but if you want something with a bit more polish:
If you want to play in google sheets, Kurt Refling has made two templates that are super easy to copy over — one that you can modify manually, and one that generates formatting using an automatic script.
If you want something with more of a flowchart quality, Miro and Coggle are two mind mapping/flowchart apps that I've found work alright for online play. If you want something thatâs a little more structured than a flowchart but not as linear as a google doc, Iâve heard of folks playing in Gingko and Trello. I haven't played a session in either firsthand so I canât speak to their quality, but they seem like sensible options.
Hope this helps!
rad!
These are some terrific tools and resources! Thank you for sharing!
Here is my Google Doc format: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Xg2zGb6UhWG9E7Z8UTfT5b-Ht5mg-47t8CeSw1gP1W0/...
This game is fantastic! I've used it a couple of times now as a worldbuilding prelude to other games, and it works like a dream. It works wonderfully on virtual platforms. In my experience, it takes a bit longer in that format, so you may want to plan to play for multiple sessions. Get this game!
My regular group played this a couple weeks ago when one person wasn't able to make it, and I was surprised how much story emerged. I expected a lot of fun with worldbuilding, but the way it led us to a compelling narrative was really cool and much less expected. Thanks you for creating this!
Would an actual play be helpful? I just recorded a session for the Gauntlet.
Yes please!!
Here is a link to the actual play I ran:
Here is a link to the Google Doc so you can see how I used tabs/notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Xg2zGb6UhWG9E7Z8UTfT5b-Ht5mg-47t8CeSw1gP1W0/...đŽđš Italian review:
Iâm Sorry Did You Say Street Magic è un gioco di Caro Asercion, il cui sviluppo è iniziato nel 2019 e si è concluso con la pubblicazione, nel 2020, grazie a una campagna di successo su Kickstarter.
Si tratta di un gioco di narrazione e di creazione di mappe con elementi di gioco di ruolo, che nasce come hack di Miscroscope (Ben Robbins, 2011). Sono previsti da 2 a 6 partecipanti; le partite durano solitamente una sessione, ma è possibile giocare per piÚ sessioni; le autorità narrative sono ripartite equamente tra tutti i giocatori.
In particolare, Iâm Sorry Did You Say Street Magic è un gioco di creazione di cittĂ . Questo significa che i partecipanti daranno vita a una cittĂ fantastica, partendo da una lista di tre ispirazioni ed elementi condivisi, decisi allâinizio della partita. Oltre a questo, allâinizio, si stabiliscono anche alcuni quartieri e luoghi per non cominciare a giocare su un castrante tavolo bianco.
Ă previsto che ogni giocatore, a turno, stabilisca una âbussolaâ: qualcosa da esplorare in quel determinato turno di gioco. Ogni giocatore ha tre tipi di azione: può introdurre un nuovo quartiere, un nuovo luogo o una nuova personalitĂ . I luoghi sono sempre legati ai quartieri e le personalitĂ ai luoghi. Le personalitĂ vengono introdotte tramite delle brevi scene, giocate da tutti in concerto.
Ogni elemento della città è rappresentato da un cartoncino sul tavolo di gioco, e i cartoncini si raccolgono tra loro, per quartiere, attorno al nucleo della città . Ma la rappresentazione della città sul tavolo di gioco avviene non tanto per continuità geografica esatta, quanto piuttosto per associazione di idee.
Iâm Sorry Did You Say Street Magic strizza volutamente lâocchio al concetto di geomanzia, che sia il feng shui cinese, lâetrusca disciplina o qualunque altra forma di magia legata alla terra, e lo fa in maniera evocativa. Il concetto di creazione magica è rinforzato anche dal fatto che ogni elemento riceva una sensazione o un dettaglio come âvero nomeâ.
I've played a few games of Microscope and this was a delightful variation. I really enjoyed the streamlined scene-making rules and the opportunities to riff on each others' creative juices. 10/10 I will be absolutely be playing this again.