Oldest Child: 'I’m not just interested in world building, but world manipulating'
What would you do if your life was indebted to a mischief-making vampire who popped up to call in that favour?
Could you successfully nurse an ill vampire who saved your life back to good health? Would you, actually, really, want to? If so, which of your IRL neighbours would you let them feast on?
That’s the premise of a new co-operative storytelling card game launched on Kickstarter this week.
Oldest Child sees players care for Lyda, a vamp suffering from a mysterious, fungi-based virus, over an in-game three-year period.
Unlike most undead blood-suckers from pop culture, Lyda has some form of conscious and has done good deeds for the players.
The additional hook? You are you, not a character, living in your house, with your own real-life hobbies, family and occupation. Through these you must steer through the game, thus asking yourself: No, but what would you really do if you were indebted to a mischief-making creature of the night who subsequently popped into your everyday life with a favour to ask?
A test of morals and empathy then, with a fantasy slant. Nice. To find out more, we spoke to the game’s creator, Justin Sirois.
Oldest Child is about a group of players, or an individual, looking after a vampire. Why have they done this? And, more broadly, what kind of game is it?
JS: This vampire has saved you from what would have been a fatal car accident. Her name is Lyda and she is over 200 years old.
I can’t reveal her motivations because it would spoil the game, but let’s just say she’s ill and needs your help. And you agree to help her because she saved you, but also because she has some enticing things to share: items and knowledge and maybe even power.
This game is hard to categorise. It’s not a traditional roleplaying game because you’re not playing a role. You are yourself. I’m calling it a card-based co-operative storytelling game. It’s part live action, but mostly theatre of the mind as you create this experience with your group or solo.
Players play as themselves, not as a character. So, essentially, players are doing what they themselves would do if they had found a stricken vampire in a coffin and taken them home with them to nurture, and all the moral quandaries that would involve?
JS: Pretty much, yeah. That’s where the tensions are interesting to me.
If you are playing as yourself, the stakes are far different. You have to consider your loved ones and how they may be impacted. And then all the decisions you make will reflect on your ethics and morals.
I also want this game to change the way you feel about your world for a while. Players, if they believe in the narrative they are building together, will imagine that Lyda is really living with them and altering their neighborhood and their real lives.
There are prompts where you have to choose which IRL neighbour Lyda needs to feed on. As a group, you decide who that is and if Lyda allows them to live. Then, in real life, you have to place a glass from your kitchen in front of the neighbours front door or in their driveway. This is a symbol that they have been chosen.
I also love that you can play this solo and alter your real life in a potentially profound way. It overlays the narrative across your world, making each moment different. In solo play, you can play a long game too, only pulling so may cards a day to stretch the experience over a few weeks. With this, I’m not just interested in world building, but world manipulating.
Are they a nice vampire, or one whos going to come back and bite players on the bum?
JS: LOL, no butt-biting here, though I know what you’re asking.
Lyda is a complicated creature with a rich past. She really does like the people she saved (you) so there shouldn’t be to much of a threat of being killed by her.
That said, she does like to cause “trouble.” She also helps people and will be there if you aid her.
“This game is about people more than it is about “vampires”, I did just enough research to feel comfortable with the lore. My aim is to create an experience that players won’t forget” – Justin Sirois
Have you seen people make surprising decisions during playtesting? Have they surprised themselves?
JS: Definitely. There’s a prompt in the game where a family member finds out about Lyda when you’re trying to keep her a secret. One playtester called their sister and, with no context, said he found a vampire at his house and she needs to be cool with it. And then he hung up.
I really want moments like this to happen, grounding the narrative and making it fun and relatable.
How much research did you do in vampire lore to tell this story? Were there any particularly big influences that the game draws on?
JS: Since this game is about people more than it is about vampires, I did just enough research to feel comfortable with the lore.
My aim is to create an experience that players won’t forget – to build meaningful and relatable tensions that players are honestly invested in. Lore and such is secondary, though very important.
Apart from Oldest Child, what's your favourite vampire-themed tabletop game?
JS: Eat the Reich by Rowan, Rook, and Decard. I love the spin they took with it.
Have you ever felt fear while playing a tabletop game?
JS: Personally, not fear, but deep dread while playing Ten Candles. My buddy Adam Good ran it at PAX Unplugged a few years back and I’ll never forget it.
Do you have any favourite games that you like to play with family members?
JS: I have two young kids and one of them loves Carcassonne. We also play The Quiet Year, which is hands-down one of my favourite games.
When can people expect it to become available?
JS: Oldest Child will be live on Kickstarter on Sept 17 with exclusives for backers:
It should be ready to ship in January 2025 though the PDF (print+play) will be ready very soon.
The Oldest Child’s Kickstarter campaign is now live. For more information, visit severedbooks.com