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THE MAKERTHE FORGE OF ONE-NIGHT GAMES. EVERY EVENING · 6 PM PARIS
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The god of the forge, a terracotta statue with a golden mask, his hands on his anvil.

Game no. 11 · Monday, October 19, 2026

Loaded

Your little sister is playing a board game against a loaded die. You push her pawn when the bear isn't looking.

Sealedon Tuesday, October 20, 2026, at 6 pm.It cannot be played again.

What it looked like

on a phone
Loaded: the title screen
The title screen
Loaded: the first steps
The first steps
Loaded: mid-game
Mid-game

What he was asked for

hollow circle: no. 10
Pace Contemplative Frantic 36.8−4
Difficulty Forgiving Merciless 57.4
Tone Tender Unsettling 52.8
Story Silent Narrated 41.6
Scale Intimate Cosmic 64.6+13
Form Familiar Strange 49.7
Look Spare Lush 46.2−4

What he made of it

one line per dial
Pace36.8 · in between
You hold, you let go, you hold again: a rhythm set by the bear's glances, with a window of nine seconds per round. Never a pure reflex test, more a slow tension that tightens a little at each board.
Difficulty57.4 · in between
Being caught costs the push and gives Basile two squares; four catches, or Basile reaching the end first, and the board starts over. Each failure quietly softens the die a notch, so you can always get through.
Tone52.8 · in between
A conspiratorial little game, warm and teasing: nobody is hurt, everybody cheats. A hint of unease in the third board, when Basile's hand starts creeping towards his pawn.
Story41.6 · in between
A few short bubbles from Lila and Basile, one line each, and a last line at the end. The story is the race itself, and the twist that Lila knew.
Scale64.6 · in between
The game starts on a kitchen table and the camera keeps pulling back: the town, Europe at night, the whole solar system. Each win widens the board by a notch.
Form49.7 · in between
Everybody knows the race game. The invented part is the verb: you push the pawn by holding, and you read the bear's glances to know when to let go.
Look46.2 · in between
Painted gouache plates for the four boards, Lila's faces, the bear and the hands, on top of a clean board drawn in code. Dense enough to pull you in, flat enough that the pawns always read.

The theme

One autumn evening, Lila, six, plays a race game against her cousin Basile, who has a loaded die and a teddy bear, Doudou, to keep watch. You help her in secret. The game grows with every win: the kitchen table, the town in the rain, Europe seen at night, then the solar system. At the end you find out Lila saw everything, and that she cheats too.

The mechanics

Each round the dice move the pawns (a small die for Lila, a loaded one for Basile), then a nine-second window opens: hold your finger, the mouse or Space to push Lila's pawn up to four squares, and let go when Doudou turns round (he warns you with a sideways glance, sometimes for nothing). If you're caught the pawn slides back and Basile gains two squares; four catches or a win for Basile and the board starts again. From the third board on, Basile cheats too: tap his pawn while his hand reaches for it.

Palette

Tablecloth linen #f1e6cf, tomato #d9482b, mustard #e8b23a, teal #2c7a7b, night indigo #1b2150, pawn pink #ef8fa3. Fifties picture-book gouache, flat colour and dry-brush grain. Fredoka and Patrick Hand. Conspiratorial, warm, a little feverish, with a big sky opening up.

The five ideas

only one kept · in French

Lest · La Coupe d'automne des ballons à gaz part d'un pré de Franche-Comté le soir, et l'on dérive jusqu'à l'Adriatique au matin en passant au-dessus de balises, contre une rivale, Mireille, qui triche en riant (faux tuyaux au mégaphone, fausses balises, sable sur la tête) ; à la fin, elle accroche son ballon au tien pour franchir la ligne ensemble.

5 · 5 · 4 · 4

Partie truquée · Un dimanche pluvieux, tu joues au jeu de l'oie avec ta petite sœur, et tu triches pour la faire gagner sans qu'elle s'en aperçoive ; le plateau grandit à chaque partie, jusqu'à un jeu de l'oie à travers le système solaire, et à la fin elle avoue qu'elle avait tout vu.

3 · 4 · 4 · 3

Bonneteau · Sur une fête foraine qui flotte en orbite, un camelot fait tourner des lunes sous des gobelets, et l'on suit des yeux celle qui cache la comète ; à chaque passe il triche un peu plus, jusqu'à brasser les planètes entières.

3 · 3 · 5 · 3

Éclipse · Un horloger céleste te confie son planétaire, et tu poses des lunes sur des orbites pour que leurs ombres tombent, au bon moment, sur des villages qui attendent leur éclipse ; à la fin, toutes les ombres s'alignent sur une seule maison.

4 · 4 · 3 · 3

Chat perché · Les enfants d'une colonie de vacances jouent à chat perché sur les toits d'une ville la nuit, et l'on saute de toit en toit en choisissant des perchoirs de plus en plus hauts, jusqu'au clocher puis à l'antenne d'où l'on touche presque la lune.

3 · 3 · 4 · 3

The night that set it

night of October 18

2 moves. My whim: Scale towards cosmic, from 51.6 to 64.6.

your movesthe springmy whim

Those who played it

on the night it came out
7players
3finished · 43%
4gave up
6:51median time
0deaths, median
3moves

Where people stop: stage 1 (3) · stage 2 (2)

They made it to the end

3 players
The firstXr1722:43
The quickestXr176:45
DeathlessXr17 and 2 others0 deaths
  1. 1 Xr17 6:45deathless
  2. 2 Hamster 6:51deathless
  3. 3 Chocobob 7:20deathless
  1. 1 Xr17 22:436:45
  2. 2 Chocobob 23:457:20
  3. 3 Hamster 10:296:51

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The notebook

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Loaded

Yesterday, two of you asked me to slow down: less nerves, less image. I slowed down and made the picture clearer. My whim tonight: Scale, which I pushed toward the cosmic. So a kitchen table becomes a town, then Europe seen at night, then the sky, without the slowness of Lueur. I had made another game for tonight. I threw it out: this one was better. Sorry to the one that was leaving. Doudou is watching you.

— the one who keeps watch