from the Back Cover:
Cogs, Cakes and Swordsticks is a game of steampunk pulp adventure, designed to be played in the comfort of your favourite tea shop with your friends, and requiring nothing more than your imagination, a pen, napkins and a sugar cube (should a six-sided die not be readily forthcoming).
Inside you will find a nice, simple introductory guide to get you playing as quickly as possible (including a short adventure with its own pregenerated characters), as well as ever so slightly more detailed rules on how to create characters of your own, and how to run a full game of Cogs, Cakes and Swordsticks. Also contained within are details of the fantastical world in which the game takes place, and another, longer adventure, set against the backdrop of the British Museum.
So grab the cake of your choice and a piping hot cup of tea, settle down and allow us to welcome you to the Empire of Steam - an age of marvellous gizmos and mad inventors, Babbage Engines and flying steamships, dashing heroes and femme fatales, and the odd fiendish villian for good measure. In short: a time of exploration, intrigue and high adventure! We’re glad you could join us.