announcements

Announcing: Mousetrap

Mousetrap joins Violent Delights on Kickstarter

In prelaunch with Violent Delights, another game inspired by Shakespeare:

Mousetrap: A cursed game-within-a-game that won't go back into its box.

It’s game night. You and your friends gather to play a Hamlet-inspired game manuscript from 1983. But there’s a catch… The game is cursed. By the end of the night, some of you will be sucked into the game — trapped inside a castle with a vindictive ghost — and your characters will take your place at the table. What will they do with their newfound freedom? How will your friends get you out?

Secrets are scattered throughout the game, revealing that you aren’t its first victims. The game text, which was found and reconstructed by Dr. Cornelia Foote, is lined with her notes. They may be the key to rescuing you — and breaking the curse for good. But you will have to play again. And again.

An image of The Ghost. It wears a crown, and its artwork has been dashed to bits. — Some games don't go back into the box so easily. Art by Strega Wolf van den Berg.

How to play Mousetrap

Mousetrap's framework is based on Meguey and Vincent Baker's Firebrands. In Mousetrap, you alternate between playing “table talk” mini-games and "vignettes" — mini-games that depict common scenarios between players at the table and scenes that depict your characters in the fictional Castle Muldoon.

And then your player and your character swap.

Concentric circles. In the outer circle are the titles of mini-games and the Players at the Table. In the inner circle are Muldoon Vignettes and Characters in the Castle. — Immerse yourself in the game. Bring your characters to life. Cross the magic circle.

A Book-within-a-book

Mousetrap is a game-within-a-game and a book-within-a-book, a facsimile of game fragments within a critical commentary.

Hidden inside are the origins of Castle Muldoon and the secrets to breaking its curse. Stumble through the pages, spy their secrets, and scavenge the footnotes for clues.

Mousetrap is an experimental game, designed to mix up realities and create disorienting situations.

If you're interested in both laughing at yourself and seriously exploring the relationship between a player and their character, then Mousetrap may be for you.

The cover art for the original The Curse of Castle Muldoon (1983) — A game about bleed and identification. About characters and self. Art by Strega Wolf van den Berg.

Companion Games

Mousetrap will be funding alongside Violent Delights, two companion games in which Shakespeare’s plays meet the Bakers’ mini-games. One game is about forbidden love and defying fate or the systems that work against you. The other is about being true to thine own self, whoever that may be. With matching covers by Caro Asercion.

Pick the one that interests you most or get them both and save on shipping.

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