tanuki renku

tanuki renku, or badger poetry, is a chapbook of seven unique game poems

it features the procedurally-generated narrative poem samurai haiku, which starts a player from major story archetypes in japanese myth and folklore, and from there builds into a a story of at least 17 linked haiku based on player choice, chance, and traditional haiku imagery for season, landscape and feeling. these stories each have their own separate pacing and conflict systems based on the many variables in this game engine.

there's also the poem falling petals, which draws on the venerated art and meanings found in japanese flower arrangement. the result is a single haiku that is often elegant and surprising.

the longer a player goes, the more likely certain other poems within the chapbook itself are to change or present themselves.

some of the poems, once played, cannot be changed.

the badger is the first character the player will meet, and a kind of impromptu narrator. but he also fairly likely to start talking about wine and hotties as the player progresses through this unusual collection.