In order to get my nephew and his friend into text adventures, I thought I’d start them off with Wishbringer, but I also figured the feelies were an important part of getting kids “into” the game. So, lacking the official feelies, I decided to manufacture my own.
I gathered images of the envelope, the letter, and the map. Made an image of a foldable version of the envelope in Inkscape, set the letter to a size that would fold and fit into that envelope, fit the map into an 8x11 as well. This produced three PDF files which I then combined into one using pdfunite. I’ve included a link that PDF below. Printing this out will give one a set of things that can be cut, glued (glue stick), and folded. Trimming the white edges off the map makes it look reasonably nice. One might also “distress” the paper. I did not.
Then I printed out the “library book” as two-per-page on 8.5x11, cut, and stapled. One might use needle and thread to do a more “professional” binding, but the stapled version works for the kids to have something to hold and read.
Then, I picked a rock up from the yard to be the “Wishbringer stone.” I could have painted it with glow in the dark paint, but it worked to complete the set well enough.
I thought about making a box to put all the feelies in, but I was ready to get the kids excited about text adventures, so I sat on the couch looking over the feelies.
You’re a good uncle! Good job with the stone. The one I had from the original box was white resin, but I was fascinated because as a child I’d never seen a glow-in-the-dark object that glowed purple before. Did you possibly consider painting it with some special glow in the dark paint, or would that not be safe for your nephew?
I considered painting it with glow in the dark paint or even mixing glow in the dark paint with hot glue or something like that. However, they seem happy with a stone that they are told is “the Wishbringer” so that works for this. I might make a few more “feelies recreation” PDFs and instructions sometime. I bet it could help other people get the kids in the lives into puzzle solving text adventures
I hope a few other people get some use out of the PDF I made for this one. Maybe we’ll spark a new generation of people who play, enjoy, and create
I did check a few stones to find one that “fit the palm of the hand nicely” since I think that adds to the tactile experience.
Printing this out will give one a set of things that can be cut, glued (glue stick), and folded. Trimming the white edges off the map makes it look reasonably nice. One might also “distress” the paper. I did not.
