The first of its kind tabletop role-playing game, Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast, was created by Possum Creek Games (Wanderhome) four years ago. Earlier this year, Yazeba’s Online, the online version of the game, was released. This version, which also features the official release of the original Yazeba’s book in PDF form, combines the novel virtual tabletop features of One More Multiverse, the point-and-click adventure of The Secret of Monkey Island, and the terraforming and design freedom of Animal Crossing: New Horizons into one glorious online adventure. This game packs a lot into one game, but the end result is a charming, sincere playground for digital adventures.
Using novel and innovative game mechanics around the table, Yazeba’s core experience promises a slice-of-life fantasy with themes of queer family and community care. In the game, which is set in a magical bed and breakfast run by a heartless witch, all characters are pre-generated. There are long-term residents of the titular B&B as well as guests who are passing through. New players can jump right in without needing to be guided through character creation.
Each character has strengths and weaknesses, as well as a journey around which to base their role-playing. Upon reaching the end of a character’s journey, the players choose a new journey to focus on. Each chapter consists of a stand-alone vignette featuring a specific character. The chapters can be played in any order, and the game takes 60-90 minutes to complete. There are some chapters and characters that need to be unlocked over time, giving the game a “gotta catch ’em all” feeling.
In addition to coins, tokens, and even a deck of playing cards, the physical game utilizes a variety of resources depending on the chapter being played. Unspent resources can be used by a character at the end of a chapter to further their individual journey of self-discovery, or to unlock locked materials for the whole group. As players progress, they can switch between different characters, play and replay the same chapters, and collect new ways to play. Yazeba’s physical version also comes with an envelope of stickers called mementos. There are empty shelves in the book, and players are prompted to place a memento sticker on one. Filling a shelf usually unlocks a new chapter or character, and when a character or chapter is unlocked, a key sticker is placed over the lock.
You play Yazeba’s by crossing items off lists, filling shelves, decorating margins, and adding traits and doodles to character sheets. Yazeba’s is yours to play with, as no two groups will play the same game.
Players control Yazeba’s Online residents with a mouse and keyboard, drifting in and out of the B&B’s numerous settings as they control sprites. If you’re like me, you’ll spend hours picking up and putting down any (or every) object to reveal witty comments and flavor text.
Choose a chapter and the game will transport you there: Wash a mountain of clothes in Chapter 3: Wash Cycle, or try your luck at the watering hole in Chapter 21: Gone Fishin’. It might just be that there are secrets hidden in plain sight, waiting to be discovered, in these settings. Three new characters may or may not be exclusive to the online version. Incorporating synthesized vibes into the game’s original music, composed by Jordan Hartsfield and tailored to the mood of each chapter — eerie, pensive, and frantic, among others — makes the experience all the more immersive.
Yazeba’s Online is simple to learn; the tutorial walks players through navigating the One More Multiverse interface, modifying and adding to character sheets, and interacting with the world.
There are dispensers for tokens and other resources, as well as mementos you can display on in-game shelves like trophies, in the sticker pad. Every part of the interface is collapsible, so you can open it when you need to, and tuck it away when you don’t.
Housekeeping enables players to organize any collected mementos, view newly unlocked materials, and add improvements, doodles, or notes to character sheets at the end of each chapter.
Pixel art isn’t just a backdrop: It’s a digital butcher paper that players can use to extend the B&B’s surroundings. With tiles, furniture, and a pen tool, players can customize the interior of the B&B. The B&B can even use spell animations, soundtracks, and other assets from other systems and settings in One More Multiverse’s rapidly growing inventory of bespoke digital games. Your characters can also be rotated, scaled, and dressed. As I did, you can play a whole chapter upside down and three times bigger than everyone else.
There is a Polaroid feature I love: players can take photos of their onscreen shenanigans and drag them into character journals, captioning and doodling over them.
It can also be tailored to fit your needs, since the online platform is infinitely adaptable. You can walk your character around the B&B as you narrate their interactions with other residents and guests, but if you’d rather stick to the theater of the mind, Yazeba’s Online is a map-optional virtual tabletop that keeps track of character progress, checklists, and resources such as coins and tokens using the interface as you play. In each character’s journal, there is ample space for doodles and notes, and chapter rules can be placed directly into a room. There is a PDF version of Yazeba’s Original book included with Yazeba’s Online for those who want more extensive reference materials.
You get everything you love about games, role-play, and being silly with your friends at Yazeba’s, on a kitschy, nostalgic platter. Yazeba’s Online emphasizes the core lesson of the original game: Home is what you make it. Play through chapters like a video game, keep all your coins and tokens in one place, or just play over voice chat while soaking in the atmosphere of the bed and breakfast. The world is your oyster at Yazeba’s.
