When in March 2019 I got an email from Kevin Ferrone from Wider Path Gaming, asking whether I would be interested in joining him on the Starport project, it took me about 0.3 seconds to know that I want in. I mean, just look at this artwork:

An opportunity to work on a new RPG for kids, full of adventures, riddles, magic, robots, and books? Yes, please! I’ll let the author to tell what it’s about:

Starport is a game of adventure and imagination designed to facilitate growth in problem solving, creativity, teamwork, critical thinking, reading, writing, oral communication, mathematics, and self-esteem.

A perfect game for engaging learners across the curriculum, Starport can be used as a classroom tool or after-school program.

With no references to any shooting, hitting, slashing, or fighting enemies, Starport allows you launch unforgettable, epic adventures without needing to wield a sword. 

Kevin Ferrone, Wider Path Gaming

Kevin was looking for a proofreader and a layouter for his manuscript and I was happy to fill in both of these roles. We started by discussing specifically what kind of an effect we want to achieve; Kevin wanted something playful and colourful, but at the same time elevated, not your run-of-the-mill child-ish design. We decided that the best course will be to approach it as if we were making a book for adults: keep it engaging and interesting, and well designed. I’ve prepared a couple of samples and we just rolled (a d20) with it!

Supplied by Kevin with amazing imagery, full of life and adventure, I allowed myself to make this book as pretty as possible. Each of the seven chapters is colour-coded on the pagination and headers, to make it easy to find specific part of the book without looking at the table of contents. The fonts have been picked for their legibility – no cursive, no ligatures, everything accessible for a very young reader. We included pet cards, equipment cards, creature cards, a full selection of tokens, and a full index.

All in all? I loved this project. In my years of experience as a graphic designer in a historical wargaming, I rarely had an occasion to employ that much fanciness and quirkiness in my work, complete with flowers, vines, butterflies, and robots. And so many amazing colours!

The 96-page Starport rulebook is now available on DriveThruRPG! The later expansion to the game, Quest for the Dragon Egg, is also up for grabs!