Caveat Emptor: A new solo game from Exeunt Press

You are an Assistant Demon selling secretly cursed items to humans in Wittenberg.

Watch the Caveat Emptor release trailer on YouTube!

Inspired by Needful Things by Stephen King and The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, Caveat Emptor is a new solo journaling game from Exeunt Press, creator of the ENNIE-nominated Exclusion Zone Botanist.

The year is 1541. You are an Assistant Demon selling secretly cursed items to humans in Wittenberg, Germany.

Greet new customers as they enter. Offer them an item from your inventory that seems too good to be true. Secretly twist it with a curse, and close the deal. Avoid suspicion that you are a demon. Maximize sales before your Manager returns.

Save yourself from annihilation.

Craft the perfect curse

The idea of wishes and desires being granted, but that it comes with an enormous price, is pervasive in literature.

King Midas wished that everything he touched would turn to gold, but was rendered unable to eat or drink. Dr. Faustus signed a contract with Mephistopheles to gain power for twenty-four years, but bargained away his soul. Mr. White in W.W. Jacob’s “The Monkey’s Paw” simply wished for £200, which he received as compensation when his son is killed in an accident.

Based on Jacob’s short story, the term monkey’s paw has come to mean any situation where a person has their hope or desire fulfilled, but they are forced to pay a significant and painful cost.

I wanted to play with the idea of the monkey’s paw in Caveat Emptor by reversing the roles. Rather than playing as the character who is tricked into paying the price, you play as the one crafting the sinister trap. The fun is in offering unsuspecting customers powerful items, ensuring that only later do they realize their terrible mistake.

At the same time, I wanted there to be some risk and luck. As with Mr. Needful in Rick & Morty (S1:E9) or Mr. Gaunt in Needful Things, the shop is in grave danger if suspicions run too high. The proprietor must be careful to conceal each curse, lest they be discovered.

Even powerful demons need customers to keep their businesses running.

One-page and Expanded editions

Caveat Emptor is available as a One-Page Edition (A4 trifold PDF) for free. There are also extra bonus downloads such as printable tokens and tracking sheets.

If you want more, you can get the Expanded Edition (A5 zine PDF):

• Approximately 36-pages with enhanced art and layout

• Expanded rules, including Vexation Points (VP)

• New victory conditions

• Additional customer backgrounds

• 2x the powerful items (26 total)

• Random item generator (3d12)

• Expanded rules explanation and examples

There was just so much I couldn’t fit into the trifold that I didn’t want to leave on the cutting room floor. The Expanded Edition has the VP mechanism, more items, and customer backgrounds that I really wanted to include!

A few six-sided dice and a standard deck of cards are required to play.

Get Caveat Emptor in print (pre-order)

You can pre-order print copies of Caveat Emptor right now at the Exeunt Press Shop. Everyone who pre-orders will also receive a printed Curse Tracker (A5) with the game.

You can also pre-order Make Your Own One-Page Roleplaying Game at the same time!

Both are complete and test prints have been requested from the printer. They will ship after the test prints have been approved and the final order has been placed. Check the product pages for full details.

Pre-orders will be accepted until Tuesday, August 20, 2024.

Enjoy your time as an Assistant Demon in 16th century Germany. Carefully select your items, and make the sale.

It’s as easy as ABC: Always Be Cursing.

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- E.P. 💀

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