Fox Curio's Floating Bookshop
A downloadable game
Printed copies available here!
馃弳 Winner of ARPIA's Best Rule System 2023 馃弳
馃弳Finalist for Dicebreaker's Best Roleplaying Game 2023 馃弳
Welcome to the River; a flowing path born at the mountain鈥檚 feet. In her high narrows, barely two boats fit lengthwise; a furious pounding of water. From these rocky ravines, she threads her way through the land, until she reaches the Great Sea. Quiet and slow-moving in these lowlands, she provides homes for those who live upon her waters and food for those who live beside her.
A solo journalling game
On a gently flowing river, you are a bookseller with your floating bookshop. As you paddle up and downstream, your days are filled with customers, leaks and the irritating nook beetles that bury into the pages of your books. Make friends with regular customers to the bookshop, experience the River as she moves through the different seasons, visit and explore various towns, go fishing in the River's rich waters. Throughout the year, the seasons change and holidays give the chance for you to join in celebrations and festivities with the animalfolk.
Floating Bookshop is set in a fully formed world with its own unique seasons, holidays and customs.
226 pages featuring illustrations by Linnea Sterte
Bookshop is played with a pack of playing cards, a 20 and 6 sided dice. Record your daily goings-about in the bookshop, make note of the weather, and the customers that both delight and annoy you. Participate in holidays and answer prompts for events. Do you run into a customer that you get along with?
At the start of the day, flip a card for the weather which affects the number of customers come through the door. Decide how you want to spend your day: opening the bookshop, travelling down the river, participating in a holiday or simply sit on the deck and watch the river flow by.
- 5 seasons to play through
- A fully-formed unique world
- 10 towns to visit, each with different shops, characters and seasonal traditions
- 2-3 holidays per season
- Fishing mini-game
Comes with seperate PDFs for character creation, each season and towns for quick reference. To get everything in one easy download, click the zip file titled 'Fox Curio's Floating Bookshop - All'.
Supported by 539 booksellers during Zine Quest 4
Digital ISBN: 978 0 6458797 2 8
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $17 USD. You will get access to the following files:
The Bookshop Donation Pile
Support this game at or above a special price point to receive something exclusive.
Community Copies
For those who are struggling financially, you are more than welcome to claim one! A rating would be more than appreciated if you claim a copy :)
Development log
- Restocked books & translated versions70 days ago
- Version 1.5 Mechanic and cosmetic changesJan 06, 2026
- Cosmetic changesMar 19, 2025
- Minor changesAug 01, 2024
- Minor changes,Jan 28, 2024
- Updated Map & Thank youDec 17, 2023
- UK/EU distributor & more tiny changesSep 04, 2023
- Physical copies now available!Aug 04, 2023
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Hi. Is there any chance for community copies to be available again? New to this game genre and would love to give this a try. Student here. :)
Thank you for the community copy! I'll be sure to make the best use of it.
Love this game - got the bound print of it from the maker's shop and it was so worth it, it's a really enjoyable game to sink hours into when life allows. The mechanics are satisfying and feel easy to tailor to what you're in the mood for at the time.
I'm glad you enjoy the game!
I feel so lucky I could claim a community copy, it definitely made my day so thank you so much for the opportunity, I can鈥檛 wait to discover what adventures awaits cozy up at home until my situation clear up
Thank you so much for the community copy! I can't wait to get started. I'll be paying it forward when I start working again!
Thank you so much for the community copy! I鈥檒l be sure to leave a review when I鈥檓 done!馃グ
AH! I鈥檓 so happy there鈥檚 more community copies! I have been eyeing this forever but i am unemployed with no funds to buy it.
will there be any community copies available ? I鈥檝e been trying to find the uk copy of the physical, but haven鈥檛 the spare funds 馃槥
I've added some more copies for you! I am currently out of the physical version and am looking into getting the game into the UK. I'll post an update if/when it happens :)
oh thank you so much ! I鈥檝e watched loads of videos and it鈥檚 one I鈥檓 so excited to try , thank you 鈽猴笍
This game is adorable, and I鈥檓 so happy to have bought it! If it鈥檚 okay to ask, could I ask when physical copies might next be available? I鈥檇 love to purchase one when they are!
Physical copies are currently being printed, I'm expecting them early March but there was a shortage of the wire they use to bind the books so it could be later than that. But they are coming!
this game looks absolutely adorable! I鈥檒l keep my eye out for community copies but definitely will save up for the psychical book in the meantime!
Hello, will this game be translated in french soon ? It seems so nice to play !!
It is!
It is being translated as we speak and is scheduled for release April 2026. I will hopefully remember to post about it when it is released!
Oh this is so great ! Can't wait to see it !
This game is the best thing that happened this week.
Ooh I love this! Thank you for sharing :)
hi!! i was able to get a community copy and am really loving the fairytale vibes so far! I have one question about book orders tho, do i need to know the person ordering before sending it? and do i send it with the post office? also do we already have the book if we are in the town that the book is from? im pretty new to ttrpgs, so sorry if this has an obvious answer lol!! thanks for making this awesome game!
It's up to you if you know the person you're sending the order to. The animalfolk who want book orders are all characters/NPCs in towns, so you could have interacted with them when exploring the town. If not, maybe the book order is your chance to say hi to them for the first time!
I am loving this so far. My bookseller is the cutest lil guy. Thank you for such a relaxing, beautiful game.
This is my favorite journalling game I have ever played. It is so detailed and varied and beautiful. I love it a lot. I'm really enjoying writing out the stories for each day (I probably write too much), and I've also been drawing some artifacts to keep in my shop log, most recently a couple of receipts from a shopping trip. I'm still early in the game, but I'm very much looking forward to exploring all the places and meeting new people and celebrating all the holidays. Thank you for your care in writing this game!
Thank you for a community copy of the game looks really cute and cozy!
Hello, just wondering if there will be more community copies available? Would love to try this out but unfortunately don't have the means right now. Appreciate it!
Hey, I've added some more copies :) Enjoy!
Thanks so much!
Hi all,
I've been really enjoying playing this game. It was just what I was looking for as an alternative to video games. Thank you to the creator for having community copies available, I really appreciated it. I hope when I am able I will be able to get a physical copy.
Hi, a friend of mine gave me their physical copy of the game but I'm trying to make it a little lighter to carry around. Would it be possible to get access to the seasons and towns PDFs?
Hi, of course, I've added some extra community copies so you can claim one of those :)
Aww that's awesome! Thanks so much :)
Just finished reading the rules and high level setting info (I鈥檓 leaving the customers / season details / towns to be discovered as I go) - what an incredible setting and beautiful solo RPG system! I felt relaxed just reading it and I鈥檓 so excited to dive in soon!
One quick clarification question - in Appendix VIII / Receiving parcels & letters, it says that gifts sent from Riverfolk you have 2+ hearts with come from a shop in the town you鈥檙e currently in. I would have guessed that gifts would come from shops local to whoever is sending the letter, but before I houserule this I figured I鈥檇 check if there鈥檚 an in world explanation I鈥檓 not thinking or if this is a fine-tuning you landed on during playtesting. Thanks!
There's no real explanation as to why gifts come from the current town, it was just a decision I made then and there. Feel free to make a house rule that gifts come from the sender's town instead!
Oops thought I replied, thanks! Ended up getting distracted and haven't started yet but I'm excited to do so when the time comes!
I love this game. I've found it so soothing to sit down and play.
This game is wonderful. I am new to solo rpgs and this is a great start. It is really immersive and easy to get in to. It helps a lot with my anxiety, and helps me feel peaceful. Thank you for creating this!
hi there fabulous creator. Just curious if there鈥檚 any more community copies available? I really appreciate game creators like you who do generously offer these community copies to people going through a hard time. It really helps out.
Thank you in advance
This has probably been asked and answered a thousand times, but is there any way for those of us who ordered the physical book to get printable pdfs of the record sheets, maps, etc?
omg I have just had a Quick Look while putting my printed pdf together and I love all the references to Australian flora and fauna, I鈥檒l definitely be getting a printed version when I can
i LOVE this game so much already! but i have a question about the weather/customer cards. it says to check the weather, and draw that many customer cards, but sometimes the weather only lasts till morning, or all day. am i supposed to draw customer cards for every weather pattern? or just the first one?
this game gets a 10/10 from me so far! i LOVED the whole concept of Rinse, and writing out the whole festival really helped me unclog some writers block I've been having!
I'm so glad you love my game! Good riddance writers block
You draw the number of customer cards for the first weather pattern :)
oh good! i was doing it right then! I'm having a blast with this for sure! :D I've already finished Day 3 and I'm very excited to get out on the river Day 5 and explore some other villages! (now if i could just get those darn cubs to quit breaking my windows!!!!)
i鈥檓 new to solo rpgs and i recently started playing this one and i absolutely love it!! it鈥檚 so easy to start and understand! i keep writing and writing, thank you so much for this game!
Thank you for playing!
Do you believe it's reasonable to try and play this with digital resources, or is it not worth the effort?
If you find it easier to track things digitally, maybe with a spreadsheet or typing notes on word or something, then go for it!
Playing this delightful game with my 10-year-old daughter has been a truly heartwarming experience. We incorporated this solo RPG into our summer creative writing activity, as we are new to homeschooling. The clear instructions and inviting atmosphere have sparked my daughter's imagination beautifully. Our entries consist of journal writing, scrapbooking, doodling, and note-taking, which has transformed our notebook into something truly enchanting. This has become our favorite solo RPG! We are so grateful for this lovely world. Thank you!
Thank you for your lovely comment, it made my day!
I'm brand new to solo rpgs, and as a librarian this sounds so cozy and perfect! <3 I'll save up and keep an eye out for community copies.
I added some more copies :)
Oh my goodness you are s o sweet thank you@
Sorry my cat jumped on my keyboard XD
What an amazing experience! Thank you, thank you, thank you for this game! I wanted to start solo journaling and bought this as part of a bundle and it feels so relaxing and great to play it! My lady badger Moss is only on day 2 of her adventure, but has already encountered some fascinating people (and unfortunately her rude aunt, although she wanted to forget all about her troubled past and family) and worked a lot on her newfound home. Now to find a cure for the bugs that eat her books!
I wanted to journal pretty short to not lose motivation and overwhelm myself and here I am, two days in with 2000 words, oops!
I might be misunderstanding the mechanic, but there seems to be a discrepancy with the number of customer cards you should draw between the table on page 33 and the numbers listed in Seasons section of the book (the table saying that for Snail's Pace days you should draw 1 card and 2 for Quiet days, whereas the Seasons say 2 and 3 respectively).
Additionally, the Weather table for Burn seems to be missing some of the reminder values for number of customer cards.
Also, a house rule I've been trying is that when rolling for profit and books sold I also draw a card for each of them and if that card is red I add the value of the card to the total, and if it's black I subtract it (just to mix up the values a bit).
Whoops, those are errors! Good pick up, I'll try and fix them today :)
While you're at it I did notice another incredibly small typo: on page 35 it says "After rolling for a daily task, flip a customer card and read the matching prompt from the Customers table (pg. 35)." - the customers table is actually on page 53.
Anyways, game is great, really enjoying it!!
what a wonderful, wonderful solo RPG. the the prompts and settings are so inspiring that it almost doesn't even feel like a solo RPG - characters and events flow so easily that it takes no effort at all. I mean, i'm currently writing this one day FOUR of the first season, and I'm sitting at [checks notes] 7k words. amazing. buy this. 10/10
Wow, 7k is so many words! I'm so glad you love the game :)
Hello! I just got the physical book. From where can I download the plays sheets? Thank you!
Hey, quick question. Is the game "optimal" for running downstream instead of upstream?
I'm starting my first game in Port Imes, and most of the info there concerns brisk instead of the earlier seasons, so I'm just checking 馃槉
Just lovely! Thank you for creating such a wonderful world in which my imagination has no limit and the narrative is like a balm to the soul!
I've played the first couple of days so far and I love it! I'm finding that the daily tasks and customer forecast for each day are so helpful for me in crafting a narrative that's both creative and flows well within the game and the story I'm creating. This game has allowed me to enjoy creative writing again after such a long time, so thank you!
Estar铆a disponible en m谩s idiomas? A mi me interesar铆a el espa帽ol ciertamente.
No tengo planes de hacer ninguna traducci贸n, pero si hay suficiente inter茅s, 隆puedo considerarlo!
(I translated this through google so apologies if it doesn't make any sense!)
Bueno, si lo reconsidera, me encantar铆a saberlo. :) Es muy bonito su juego de rol.