Seagull
Ride the wind...
...discover the swimmer’s story
Playing Seagull
Seagull is a solo journalling game in which you take the role of a seabird riding the winds
above a swimmer undertaking a long and perilous swim. You will need eight dice with
the same number of sides, your preferred tools for journaling answers, 30-60 minutes,
depending on your style, and this game.
In Seagull you move through six scenes. Each scene has a set topic. When you approach or
repeat a scene, connect the scene to one of the four senses so that each scene is a unique
combination of topic and sense. Write your responses or let them loose on the wind.
There are two dice pools, one for you and one for the swimmer. After the first scene or
when you choose a move after a scene, you will be directed to add a dice to one of those
two pools. If you are directed to choose, add the dice to whichever pool you like.
He moana pukepuke e ekengia e te waka
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Playing Seagull
The Senses
• Sight Scenes
• Sound 1. Urgency
• Touch and Feel 2. Movement
• Taste and Smell 3. History
4. Resistance
5. Trajectory
6. Destination
He moana pukepuke e ekengia e te waka
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The Senses
Sight
Consider: the colour of the water, grey, green, blue, Touch and Feel
the look of the waves and swell, how the water
Consider: the temperature of the water, the feeling of
moves and how the water moves the swimmer, the
the water, battering, drifting, the presence of kelp
patterns of cloud on water, firelight by night, sun,
and sea-borne detritus, the feeling of the wind, of the
mist, rain...
rain, of hail, of snow, the sensation of effort, of
weariness, of the drive to continue...
Sound
Consider: the sound of the waves, roaring, surging, the
cries of gulls, howling winds, sounds traveling over the Taste and Smell
water, angry shouts, panicked screams, crackling flames, Consider: salt on the air and in the mouth,
drifting conversation, eerie silence... acrid smoke, loam, pollen, the damp earth
of the forest, cooking food, diesel and oil,
the taste of exertion, of blood...
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Moves After each scene, choose one of the seven
moves and cross it off the list. You cannot
• Fly Low: Move to the next scene and answer the scene’s choose that option again:
question. Choose where to add a dice.
• Fly High: Move to the next scene and answer the scene’s
question in broad strokes, as if viewing it from a great • Hang in the Wind: Stay in the scene, repeat the prompt,
height. Choose where to add a dice. giving a new answer and revealing new aspects of the scene.
Choose a different sense to any previous times you
• Circle: Stay in the scene, repeat the prompt, giving a new
answered the scene prompt. Add a dice to your pool.
answer and revealing new aspects of the scene, but this
time give the answers as if in slow motion, dwelling on • Skim the Waves: Move to the next scene and answer the
details both at the centre and on the periphery. Choose a scene’s question with swift and frantic action. This action
different sense to any previous times you answered the could refer to the swimmer in the present, or some aspect of
scene prompt. Add a dice to the swimmer’s pool. the swimmer’s past. Add one dice to your pool.
• Float Backwardsin the Wind: Frame a background scene • Land on the Water: Move to the next scene and answer the
that reveals something of the swimmer’s past. Add a dice to scene’s question from a position of resilience, floating still
the swimmer’s pool. Then move to the next scene. on the surface as the waves rise and fall beneath you.
Choose where to add a dice.
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Scenes
Tahi: Urgency
You are cruising on the breeze when a
solitary figure catches your eye in the water Whā: Resistance
below. They are swimming through the How does the weather hinder the swimmer?
waves with an undeniable urgency. Describe the wind and the clouds. Have they
Describe the swimmer as you see them, that changed since the swim began? The swim is
is, to an external viewer. getting harder; is the sea resisting them or are
they losing strength?
Add one dice to the swimmer’s pool.
Rima: Trajectory
Rua: Movement Toru: History
Describe what the swimmer is moving towards or
How does the swimmer move Who was the swimmer?
away from. Is their danger behind or in front? Does
through the water? Describe Describe a scene from
the danger threaten them or others? Is the danger
the waves and the water. their past that shows
personal, threatening family, friends, or partners or
their character, abilities
is it broader, threatening a community, culture, or
or relationships.
something bigger?
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Ono: Destination
You now have two pools of dice, one for the swimmer and one
for you. Roll both pools and look for the highest single dice in
each pool. If the swimmer’s dice is higher, describe how they
successfully reach their destination and accomplish their
objective.
If your dice is higher, describe how you intervene at a critical
moment either:
• to help them reach their destination and complete their
objective, or
• to prevent them from reaching their destination or
completing their objective.
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Designer’s Notes
Hamish Cameron is a game designer, ancient historian, Pākehā and tangata Tiriti Credits
from Waitaha who lives in Whanganui-a-tara, Aotearoa. Game design, writing, layout and background image by
The inspirations for Seagull include the following: Hamish Cameron. The decision to use “dice” for both singular
and plural is intentional. The following page contains no
• The people of Kēmu Whakatau O Aotearoa. I designed Seagull for the 2025 words.
KiwiRPG Game Jam, the prompt for which was “hīkoi”. I’m not sure if a
swimming journey would count as a hīkoi, but here we are. Editing by Dana Cameron.
• The manu moana of Aotearoa, especially the star of the game’s art. Hand drawn arrows on p.6 by Aiden Regalado from Noun
Project (CC BY 3.0)
• I designed and wrote this game while walking the shoreline of Paraparaumu
and Raumati on the Kāpiti Coast.
• The sign at the Raumati beach boat ramp describing the access rules of the
Kāpiti Coast beaches includes the whakataukī that I included as an epigram:
“He moana pukepuke e ekengia e te waka”.
• The sketched outline of the story of Kahe Te Rau-o-te-rangi was the spark that
brought these components together. To the best of my knowledge, this is not For Dana,
her story. αγάπη μου
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