INTRODUCTION
Based on the poem by Edgar Allen Poe, ‘The Fall of The House of Usher’ is a board game which includes 78 handmade illustrated cards inspired by Victorian literature and my important influences - such as Tim Burton and Emily Brontë. This project is a personal reflection of where I’ve come from as a designer and going through many different phases and influences in my life whilst always retaining my element of childlike wonder which I greatly value. Taking all that I have gained from my course I have aimed at producing a physical outcome that explores the fierce emotion and all-consuming atmosphere that comes from the narrative form.
Within my practice I create a dichotomy between the gothic and idyllic.
—the dark and the light, paying homage to Edgar Allen Poe’s unique vision through my own whimsical tone, creating a new way to experience the poem ‘The Fall of The House of Usher’. Through this exploration I aim to translate his narrative into an intriguing interactive experience for all ages to enjoy.
During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, you were been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found yourself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher.
HOW TO PLAY
In The Fall of the House of Usher board game, you assume control of the sanity of a handful of demented misanthropes. The goal of the game is sad, but simple: you want to drive your character to insanity in order to guide your way through the insufferable palace.
You’ll play dreadful cards such as Tickled in Terror or Driven into Delirium on your own characters to bring them upon Insanity, while trying to recover the Sanity of your opponents’ characters with cards such as Toast of the Town or Found Fame and other happy occasions that pile on positive Sanity. When you drive your character to full Insanity, you are able to move through particularly haunted part of the Palace. The game ends when the first character makes it to Palace Door to escape the insufferable House of Usher.