As I’m a big fan of games that may be played by the whole family, Inspirisles by Hatchling Games was a project I was following with interest and excitement ever since its author, Rich Oxenham, mentioned he’s writing a game suitable for kids and teenagers. Focusing on teamwork and problem-solving, the game was also supposed to raise Deaf awareness and teach sign language while playing!

These kinds of projects do not pop up every day, and I was absolutely delighted when Rich has invited me to work with him. Joining the team of amazing artists, I had the pleasure of putting this great idea, fun rules, and beautiful artwork together into one of the most interesting TTRPG projects of this year.

Inspirisles features a unique system we have called Shaping. It allows participants to engage with Deaf culture and learn sign language (ASL and BSL included). It also forms the dice mechanic at the heart of the game, where our Pendragons will wield the elements to fight Disbelief (our negative force) and heal the World Tree.

Rich Oxenham, Hatchling Games

Rich wanted a clean and modern layout that would play with the themes of Celtic fantasy. At the same time, legibility was a big concern. That’s why we went with dyslexia-friendly fonts, a simple hand-written font instead of classic cursive, a high-contrast color palette, and a lot of white space to make the reading process as easy as possible for the young users.

I know Hatchling Games have a couple extra projects in the works, and I am very much looking forward to revisiting the world of Inspirisles!