Exploring crafting games and storytelling traditions with ‘A Mending’

A Mending, by artist Shing Yin Khor, is a game that blends story building and handicrafts. Players travel to visit a friend they have long been parted from, marking their journey by sewing and embroidering across a real-life fabric map.

A generous deck of prompt cards guides players through their trip, from meeting eccentric merchants and bards, to composing memories about their distant friend, and reflecting on the nature of various emotions connected to the friendship.

The rules are flexible, and are there to guide and inspire, rather than restrict. Players can skip cards at any time and are not bound to complete the journey itself. The creator even suggests cutting up the map when deciding to stop, and then mending it, if choosing to resume later.