The Space Between Us

It wasn’t too long ago, but it’s hard to remember a time before the Calamity struck.

There was knowledge that your world—your own little universe—wasn’t the only one out there.  For the most part, everyone stayed in their bubble, only dreaming of what life was like in others.  The goodness of each world’s peoples created Light—a sort of metaphysical wish to exist and thrive that powers the essence of time itself.  But Light is always at odds with Darkness, a wish to destroy fueled by hatred and suffering.  Usually, the forces of Light stop Darkness from spreading, creating the great clashes and epics passed down in stories of the worlds.  Sometimes, however, Darkness overtakes a world completely, and their story ends. When this happens to enough worlds… well, you get the Calamity.

The Calamity was an event, but it’s also a tangible thing, a coalescence of all the worlds’ Darkness.  It shattered the barriers between all worlds, destroying everything in its path and darkening the hearts of anyone who came too close to it.  Brave souls fought back against its initial ravages, eventually stopping and containing it.  It exists dormant, now, threatening to become active again one day.  Before that happens, the people of all worlds have taken steps to fight it off for good.  They established a brand new world called the Nexus, and here brave warriors gather for the good of all people everywhere.  It is here that, on one fateful day, you met your new allies and began your adventure to defeat the Darkness...

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The Space Between Us, abbreviated as ] [, is a game running on the Powered by the Apocalypse engine in which 3-5 players (and one GM) play characters from disparate stories/worlds joining together to fight a common foe.  It draws inspiration from crossover fanfiction and published work like Kingdom Hearts and Super Smash Brothers Brawl, and shares mechanical DNA with games like Masks: A New Generation, Epyllion, and Fellowship.

Players choose one of nine playbooks, each based around a broad character archetype, and they have ultimate say in the details of their home world.  If you are The Hero, are you a prince leading a small rebel army to take back your home in a world of swords and sorcery, or are you a modern-day plumber caught up in a cycle of rescuing princesses?  If you are The Hermit, are you a strange fey creature who speaks in riddles, or are you a bumbling detective hiding your amazing powers of deduction?

Gameplay is based around visiting worlds and fighting off Darkness, mechanically rewarding non-violent solutions to probems and encouraging players to form emotional connections to each other and to NPCs.  Be careful, however—Darkness may lurk closer than you think, and if you let yourself succumb, you may become a pawn for Darkness yourself!  Fortunately, no one is beyond redemption, and if you let your friends help you, you may pull through stronger than ever.

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Current version: 0.6.0

Hear the game in action:

• Roll to Breathe

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