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Dialect is a tabletop role-playing game by linguists Kathryn Hymes and Hakan Seyalioglu about the language of an isolated community. Players create and use their own language during gameplay.[1] Dialect was published by Thorny Games in 2019 after raising $189,742 on Kickstarter.[2] The game won the 2019 Silver ENNIE Award for "Best Game,"[3] IndieCade Europe's award for "Best Game: Tabletop",[4] and the Indie Game Developer Network award for "Game of the Year."[5]
| Publishers | Thorny Games |
|---|---|
| Publication | 2019 |
| Genres | tabletop role-playing game |
| Players | 3-5 |
At the beginning of the game, players decide on three important features of the community. Gameplay proceeds through three ages in the community's history, charting the rise and fall of the language.[6] Players create new words by deciding together how historical events change the language. There is no gamemaster.[2]
In an interview with Alex Roberts for Vice, Seyalioglu connected the game to his experiences as a Turkish speaker in the United States, and Hymes described the game's theme of language as the basis of community:
“Language,” she tells me, “is powerful—it’s how we interact with each other… It is one of the most basic ways that groups form communal identity. Dialect tries to tap into that fundamental role that language plays in uniting communities.”[1]
Awards
Dialect won the 2019 Silver ENNIE Award for "Best Game" and was also nominated for "Product of the Year."[3] It won the Indie Game Developer Network award for "Game of the Year."[5] It won "Best Game: Tabletop" at IndieCade Europe[4] and was a finalist at IndieCade.[7] It was an official selection at South by Southwest and XOXO (festival).[8]
Scholarship
Ben Bisogno for Kyoto University cites Dialect as an example of collaborative setting creation in tabletop role-playing games.[9] In the Passion and Play chapter "Sex and Game Design (Part 2)", Sharang Biswas discusses how Dialect treats the theme of language and power.[10]
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