[{"content":"Duat: Last Voyage of the Pharos is in development, with a target launch in early 2027.\nDuat: Last Voyage of the Pharos is a psychological horror storytelling game for one to four players. A session takes 60 to 90 minutes. The core idea is in the tagline: you don\u0026rsquo;t follow the story, you uncover it.\nThe premise # The MS Pharos, a luxury liner bound for Alexandria, has vanished somewhere in the Mediterranean. You play Akhu, spirits who have passed through the Duat, the Egyptian underworld. You drift unseen through the ship\u0026rsquo;s corridors, its grand atrium, its medical bay, its bridge, and its engine room, piecing together what happened to the passengers. The horror isn\u0026rsquo;t in what happens next. It\u0026rsquo;s in what was already true.\nEgyptian cosmology is the engine, not the decoration # Many games use ancient Egypt as a backdrop. In Duat, it is how the game works. The Egyptian understanding of the soul (Ab, Ba, Akh, Ka, Ren) and the forces of Ma\u0026rsquo;at (order and truth) and Isfet (chaos and falsehood) shape how truth, identity, and memory behave at the table.\nThe Khaibit: the shadow every passenger hides # Good psychological horror shows the sinister side of even the most trustworthy person. In Duat, that hidden side is the Khaibit, the shadow self. Every passenger on the Pharos carries one: the darkest secret they want to keep hidden, even from themselves.\nPassengers begin the voyage with a carefully kept face. In Egyptian thought, the Ba is a person\u0026rsquo;s personality, the self they show the world. When the ship enters the Duat, that face begins to crumble. The Ab, the heart that holds a person\u0026rsquo;s conscience and truth, can no longer be hidden, since in Egyptian belief it is weighed against the feather of Ma\u0026rsquo;at. What each passenger truly is begins to surface. You don\u0026rsquo;t invent these secrets. You discover them, as the fog reveals one passenger\u0026rsquo;s Khaibit after another.\nThe ship\u0026rsquo;s six principal locations act as tests, each putting a psychological question to the story you\u0026rsquo;re building.\nCALENA makes storytelling easy # You don\u0026rsquo;t need to be a writer, an actor, or an experienced game master to play. Duat runs on the CALENA framework, which I\u0026rsquo;ve tested in workshops, online games, storytelling conferences, and gaming events. It turns the blank page into a few simple choices. Cards supply characters, situations, places, and secrets, and one player narrates a scene while the others build on it. No one controls the whole story, and no one has to perform character voices. Plain narration is enough.\nThe game then answers back. In Level 2, the ship itself reacts. Passengers move, secrets surface, and a mysterious Stowaway walks the corridors. Events add psychological twists for the players to untangle. A solo booklet, Solitary Passage, brings the same experience to a single player.\nWhat you walk away with # Every session ends with a complete story record. As Bram Stoker Award winner Angela Yuriko Smith describes it, \u0026ldquo;What unfolds is not just a game session, but a complete story record that is intimate, eerie, and personal each time.\u0026rdquo;\nFor writers and fellow storytellers # Duat is designed to grow through collaboration, and while it is still in development, now is a good time to get involved. I\u0026rsquo;m gathering contributor stories for online showcase events and for inclusion in the printed game, with full credit to each author. Poet David Hershhorn recently joined the project, drawn by a shared interest in Egyptian culture and the unsettling nature of horror. If you write horror, work with Egyptian cosmology, or love building stories around a table, I\u0026rsquo;d like to hear from you.\nStatus: in progress, targeting an early 2027 launch. Ages 14+.\n","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/games/duat/","section":"Games","summary":"A psychological horror storytelling game for 1–4 players, where Egyptian cosmology is the core mechanic. In development — target launch early 2027.","title":"Duat: Last Voyage of the Pharos","type":"games"},{"content":"Smoking Gun is a murder mystery board game currently in development.\nUnder the hood # Balance work is driven by a Python simulation that plays thousands of games to examine scoring, bonus sizing, and edge cases.\n","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/games/smoking-gun/","section":"Games","summary":"A murder mystery board game, balanced with the help of a Python simulation.","title":"Smoking Gun","type":"games"},{"content":"","date":"4 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/devlog/","section":"Dev Log","summary":"","title":"Dev Log","type":"devlog"},{"content":"","date":"4 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/duat/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Duat","type":"tags"},{"content":" I began this project with the promise to do these things:\nBe true to Egyptian cosmology. I wanted the game\u0026rsquo;s mechanics to mirror the various parts of the soul, the concepts of Ma\u0026rsquo;at and Isfet, to explore Ab, Ba, and Akh, and to see how these could be applied directly to storytelling mechanics.\nKeep the focus on creating stories. The CALENA framework has been proven over and over again in workshops, online gaming, storytelling conferences, and gaming events. I wanted to take everything I had learned from CALENA and bring it to bear on Duat:LVotP.\nBe true to the genre of psychological horror. From the themes of the Episode cards, to Events, to Narrative cards (level 3), and even the edits to the Character and Activity cards, I wanted Duat to provide a playground for creating disturbing, unsettling stories around the table.\nSetting that is modern and familiar. I chose something everyone knows and many have enjoyed—a cruise liner. But not just any cruise liner, one that is of extreme luxury and traveling the Mediterranean, heading for Alexandria, Egypt. I wanted the name of the ship to have meaning, so I picked the MS Pharos of Alexandria in honor of one of the seven wonders of the world, the Pharos lighthouse, which stood as a beacon to bring sailors home to Egypt.\nCollaborate whenever possible. I wanted to collaborate with other psychological horror, Egyptian cosmology, roleplayers, writers, and storytellers to craft a truly unique and expansive game that could be expanded and extended for years to come.\nOn the collaboration front, we recently added an outstanding Ohio poet David Hershhorn who shares a fascination with Egyptian culture and the unsettling nature of horror. Learn more about David from his website https://www.davidhershhorn.com/. We welcome his contributions to the project!\nMore about Duat →\n","date":"4 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/devlog/duat-design-promises/","section":"Dev Log","summary":"The five promises behind Duat — Egyptian cosmology, story-first play, psychological horror, a luxury cruise to Alexandria, and collaboration.","title":"Duat: Last Voyage of the Pharos","type":"devlog"},{"content":"","date":"4 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/game-design/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Game Design","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"4 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/horror/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Horror","type":"tags"},{"content":"Welcome! This is where I share the games I\u0026rsquo;m building — tabletop storytelling, deduction, and a few playable experiments — along with notes on how they get designed, tested, and balanced.\n","date":"4 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/","section":"SchwartzGames","summary":"","title":"SchwartzGames","type":"page"},{"content":"","date":"4 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/storytelling/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Storytelling","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"4 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Tags","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"4 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/site-news/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Site News","type":"tags"},{"content":"The site has a new home. Expect game pages, a few playable experiments, and behind-the-scenes notes on design and balance.\n","date":"4 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/devlog/welcome/","section":"Dev Log","summary":"The site has moved to Hugo — here’s what’s coming.","title":"Welcome to the new SchwartzGames","type":"devlog"},{"content":" Why I Make Games # I make games to bring epic stories to life. Everyone has a story to tell, and almost every game I create either helps you tell your own or lets you shape your version of one that really happened.\nIn Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, you play a member of Scotland\u0026rsquo;s influential nobility. Your decisions shape the fate of a young queen, determine who wins the loyalty of those closest to Mary at court, and decide who rises to become the most powerful figure in Scotland.\nIn Kingdom of Italy, you lead a faction through Italy\u0026rsquo;s turbulent era of social revolution (1861–1946). Choose your leaders and causes wisely, and adapt to your opponents\u0026rsquo; tactics to come out on top.\nIn Smalltown Tales, players work together to build memorable characters, gripping plots, and immersive settings, using the same techniques skilled writers rely on.\nMy current project, Duat: Last Voyage of the Pharos, is a psychological horror storytelling game set aboard the MS Pharos, a ship bound from Alexandria into the unknown. It\u0026rsquo;s targeted for release in early 2027.\nCollaboration Is Key # The best things I\u0026rsquo;ve made came from working with others. Collaboration takes a project in directions I never would have imagined, and the result is always more interesting and more memorable than what I\u0026rsquo;d have created alone. For Duat, I\u0026rsquo;m working with Ohio poet David Hershhorn, whose voice is shaping the game\u0026rsquo;s atmosphere.\nIf you\u0026rsquo;d like to collaborate on a current or future project, email me at info@schwartzgames.com. I\u0026rsquo;d love to talk and see if there\u0026rsquo;s a fit.\n","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/about/","section":"SchwartzGames","summary":"Why I make games: bringing epic stories to life, and the collaborators who help me do it.","title":"About","type":"page"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/authors/","section":"Authors","summary":"","title":"Authors","type":"authors"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/board-game/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Board Game","type":"tags"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Categories","type":"categories"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/deduction/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Deduction","type":"tags"},{"content":"Games I\u0026rsquo;m designing, playtesting, or publishing.\n","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/games/","section":"Games","summary":"","title":"Games","type":"games"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/mystery/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Mystery","type":"tags"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/series/","section":"Series","summary":"","title":"Series","type":"series"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/tabletop/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Tabletop","type":"tags"}]