Death and Taxes: Debt and the Tokugawa Samurai (Twine Edition)
You play as a financially struggling samurai in the Tokugawa period. Make sure you have enough money to keep your family fed, and don't lose your pride.
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This game was made by Haley Price in 2022 for UT Austin's JapanLab as part of an initiative to teach students how to make historical games in Bitsy and Twine. Play the Bitsy version of this game here!
Special thanks to Adam Clulow for providing resources and to Cameron Friday for playtesting!
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I also made a series of tutorials on how to use Twine:
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Works Cited
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Readings:
Constantine N. Vaporis. “Samurai and Merchant in Mid-Tokugawa Japan: Tani Tannai’s Record of Daily Necessities(1748-54).” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 60, no. 1 (June 2000): 205–27.
Images:
Anonymous. Lady in Waiting under a Willow. 1800 1790. Surimono. Rijks Museum. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/mijn/verzamelingen/3469108--haley-s-corner/samurai-debt/objecten.
Katsushika Hokutai. Man with Umbrella by a Water Barrel. 1805 1800. Surimono. Rijks Museum. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/mijn/verzamelingen/3469108--haley-s-corner/samurai-debt/objecten.
Katsushika Hokusai. Supplies for the Tea Ceremony. 1799. Surimono. Rijks Museum. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/mijn/verzamelingen/3469108--haley-s-corner/samurai-debt/objecten.
Katsushika Hokusai. Poet Reads a Poem. 1797. Surimono. Rijks Museum. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/mijn/verzamelingen/3469108--haley-s-corner/samurai-debt/objecten.
Keisai Eisen. Samurai with Sake Bowl in Hand. 1830 1825. Surimono. Rijks Museum. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/mijn/verzamelingen/3469108--haley-s-corner/samurai-debt/objecten.
Kitao Masayoshi. Sea Animals. 1824 1775. Picture. Rijks Museum. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/mijn/verzamelingen/3469108--haley-s-corner/samurai-debt/objecten.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Man with Long Pipe. 1835 1830. Surimono. Rijks Museum. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/mijn/verzamelingen/3469108--haley-s-corner/samurai-debt/objecten.
Utagawa Kunisada (I). Samurai at River. 1850. Picture. Rijks Museum. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/mijn/verzamelingen/3469108--haley-s-corner/samurai-debt/objecten.
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Comments
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I chose to review my spending so my character chose to stop writing at night to avoid using lamp oil but the very next day for some reason he stays up lighting the lamp oil and falls asleep which leads to a fire. Like everything else. Good game.
Very interesting game! I only played once so I'm not sure if it's possible to beat, but it sure gives a good sense of the powerlessness of not being able to make ends meet.
Love your work with using games as a tool for communicating history, just came across it today.
I'm working with supporting the cultural heritage sector using digital storytelling and I'm also a bit of a game developer on the side with an interest to use game development as a way to stimulate discussion about the climate and environmentalism.
Is it even possible to win the game? I keep on failing when the wife dies.