The Back and Forth

About the Game

The Back and Forth is a journal prompting game in which you write about your day: the good, the bad, the mundane, and the exciting. You'll write about whether you did what you planned or pushed those plans aside again for things that took priority. This is your chance to get it all out. 

Then you'll take on the role of the intermeddler. Drawing cards to figure out the perspective and nature of their words and following prompts to write notes on the journaling you just did, but from a different perspective. What advice would you give if you had the chance to write commentary in someone else's journal? Would you try to uplift them and encourage them or let them know they need to take the reins of their day if they want to get things accomplished? 

Decompress from your day and have a bit of fun talking back to yourself in this journaling adventure for one.

New Digital Version Available!

With a huuuuuuuuuuuge thanks to Andrew (https://tech.lgbt/@nitsuaa), there's now a digital version of The Back and Forth! 

Andrew made this for his own use and reached out to us, offering it up for free use for everyone. We checked it out and loved it, and then he made it even better so it's easy to use :D You'll still need something to write on and with, because writing in your favorite word processor (or on some good ol' physical paper!) is best. 

This digital version is included in ALL purchases of the game at no extra cost. No install is required, it runs right in your browser, and as such it can even be run on mobile (Andrew's included some brief instructions for how to do that).

Once again, a huge thanks to Andrew for his generous offer. Check out his Mastodon link there to say thanks! 🥳 

The Hyper 1 HOUR Game Jam

This game was started for the Hyper 1 HOUR Game Jam! TOPIC: Back And Forth! Though, I didn't end up finishing it in an hour, it was inspired by this jam.

Note: This is a hack of On Poetic Tides: A Poetry-Prompting Adventure (by ✨Beth)

Other Writing Prompt Games

You can check out all of our journaling and writing prompt games here, as well as other hacks of On Poetic Tides below:

Find Out More

Learn more about The Back and Forth on our Patreon. Or come chat about it on our Discord server!

All of our posts are free aside from some exclusive polls. We share news, updates, behind-the-scenes design stuff, and more. Plus, each of our releases is either free for a limited time or has community copies; if you become a free member of our Patreon, you’ll get an email when we release something, and if you’re quick enough you can get everything free! 

Paid members help fund our creations and can get all of them as they come out, answer polls to help shape our future creations, and even get games and zines printed and mailed to you monthly in North America.