The Extraordinarily Horrible Children of Raven's Hollow

The Extraordinarily Horrible Children of Raven’s Hollow is a storytelling card game for three to ten players. In the beginning, players assume the role of cruel and creepy children engaging in potentially fatal mischief with each other and the adults of Raven’s Hollow. As the children begin to meet their untimely demise they are replaced by angry ravens who interfere with the surviving children. In the end, there will be only one child left facing the mob of outraged adults and the judgment of the ravens.

The Setting

The village of Raven’s Hollow is an anachronistic pastiche of medieval fairy tale and 19th Century Gothic. It is surrounded by a dark forest and there is a gloomy coastal region nearby. There isn’t much in the way of magic and monsters but folklore abounds..

Components

• Location Cards (36): Players will have a hand of these. They are used both to establish where the current vignette is taking place and to resolve the outcome of the action within it.
• Adult Cards (16): These represent the adults who live in the village of Raven’s Hollow. They can both help and oppose the children.
• Children Cards (10): At the start of the game, each player will be playing one of these characters. Each child has a unique ability available to them on their turn.
• Raven Cards (10): When a player’s child is eliminated from the game the player draws a raven card and continues to play the game as that raven. Like children, each raven has a unique ability.

Inspiration

• Edward Gorey’s “The Gashlycrumb Tinies”
• Lemony Snicket’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events”
• Roman Dirge’s “Lenore” comics.