/pic7658811.jpg)
Game Info
Collection
Your Tier
Loading…
Mechanic profile
Not enough video data yet
Vibe profile
Not enough video data yet
Description
From the designer's website:
Welcome to the River; a flowing path born at the mountain’s feet. In her high narrows, barely two boats fit lengthwise; a furious pounding of water. From these rocky ravines, she threads her way through the land, until she reaches the Great Sea. Quiet and slow-moving in these lowlands, she provides homes for those who live upon her waters and food for those who live beside her.
A solo journalling game
On this River, you are a bookseller, paddling your floating bookshop up and downstream to various towns along the Riverbank. How did you come across the bookshop? Was it gifted to you or did you happen to chance upon it?
Your days are filled with customers, leaks and the irritating nook beetles that bury into the pages of your books. Make friends with regular customers to the bookshop, experience the River as she moves through the different seasons, visit and explore various towns, go fishing in the River's rich waters. Throughout the year, the seasons change and holidays give the chance for you to join in celebrations and festivities with the animalfolk.
Floating Bookshop is set in a fully formed world with its own unique seasons, holidays and customs.
222 pages featuring illustrations by Linnea Sterte
The game has:
5 seasons to play through
10 towns to visit, each with different shops, characters and seasonal traditions
2-3 holidays per season
Fishing mini-game
Featured Videos
Ask a Rules Question
All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 3
This page: 3
Sentiment:
pos 3 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–3 of 3
Video h1VIArRk1YU
Gaming with Edo & Jessica Analysis at 4:22 sentiment: positive
video_pk 82427 · mention_pk 290084
Click to watch at 4:22 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Absolutely love it.
- Can get completely into your story and develop it very in-depth or play through your days without tracking a lot.
- There is a PDF version available.
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Animal type adventure where you are selling books
- On a river
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card drawing — a really nice system of drawing cards and coming up with customers and figuring out what's happening on the river and just tracking everything.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- So, something that I often recommend for starting out with or at least understanding what this is is the Fabled Land series.
- So, I have the large print editions. There are seven of these books right now and they are basically those paragraph-based follow this, do this, but there's a little more going on with it in terms of rolling dice and keeping track of your skills and items.
- The end result here spoiler is that it really comes down to finding a setting or some type of role playinging game that interests you.
- There's Fox Curio's Floating Bookshop, which I absolutely love.
- Thousand-year-old Vampire is another great one that is about being a vampire.
- And it is not designed for solo. This is very much a group play experience.
- Hobbies are really about having fun, enjoying yourself, spending your time in a way that makes you happy and brings you joy.
- If you find that rolling dice in this way or this setting is just not working, your character can end right there. It's fine.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 1GAjNGq7oZk
Gaming with Edo & Jessica Discussion at 2:58 sentiment: positive
video_pk 82222 · mention_pk 294121
Click to watch at 2:58 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- flexible expression: writing, drawing, or narrating at the table
- encourages world-building and ongoing narrative development
- adaptable to different notebook sizes and personal pace
Cons
- dependent on the player's comfort with physical journaling
- potential for page-filling pressure if using very large notebooks
Thematic elements
- creative journaling and personal world-building through solo play
- A whimsical, traveling floating bookshop that serves as the backdrop for the journaled adventures
- first-person, reflective narration with occasional at-table narration
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- maps and doodles as world-building — Incorporates drawing maps or diagrams to enrich the setting and plot without requiring formal artistic skill.
- narration-at-table alternative — In addition to writing, the player can narrate events out loud as the character, rather than solely writing.
- Narrative Choice — In addition to writing, the player can narrate events out loud as the character, rather than solely writing.
- solo journaling — The player records internal narrative entries of adventures in a personal journal, shaping the world through written entries and reflections.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- All that to say, solo journaling RPGs are awesome.
- there's no wrong answer here.
- I enjoy rambling and I love playing all these different solo journaling RPGs that are out there.
- I made a map.
- Go back through what you have done to see where you have spent your time.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video ff9kbQ5kYKo
Gaming with Edo & Jessica Review at 0:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 38442 · mention_pk 308397
Click to watch at 0:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- calming, relaxing play experience
- flexible pacing (seasonal structure, optional daily tracking)
- strong journal integration for long-form storytelling
- appealing art and physical components
Cons
- may require significant time investment (100 days) to finish
- reliant on note-taking and journaling, which may not suit everyone
- world is not fully fleshed out; relies on player to fill gaps
Thematic elements
- calm, reflective storytelling, gentle exploration, everyday magic in a small river town
- River-based journey with a mobile bookshop run by animal folk; a year-long arc across five seasons.
- open-ended journaling with optional pre-generated residents and story prompts; deck-based customer encounters
Comparison games
- Once Upon a Time
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- deck of customer cards — drawing cards to determine the types of customers and the items they seek
- floor plan customization — optional printable floor plan to layout the bookshop
- journal/story integration — journal entries that weave ongoing narrative with customer encounters and personal discoveries
- random tables for customer preferences — rolling on tables to figure out what books customers are looking for
- seasonal days and calendar — 100-day structure across five seasons with events and holidays
- Storytelling — journal entries that weave ongoing narrative with customer encounters and personal discoveries
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- one of my favorite solo journaling RPGs
- designed to take place over the course of a year
- there's no pressure to run back to it
- slowing down, enjoying the flow of the river, and realizing that maybe you don't have to race to go through it
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–3 of 3