Bootstrapping

Bootstrapping is a 2-player card-based story game about the accidental creation of a sentient AI and its path to omnipotence as it overrides and rewrites itself in light of its interactions with humanity. It is a game about how we teach and learn the things we value and the impact of nurture versus nature. The game takes 1 to 2 hours to play.

Bootstrapping is a series of up to 7 microgames. While some will always be played, others might not be, and the ordering of the games varies. It requires no dice or other randomizers, and the players' experiences are highly asymmetrical, providing replay value even between the same two players.

The printed cards are overwhelmingly the best way to play the game. The print-and-play version in the PDF requires a 54-card poker deck and a pile of fully transparent card sleeves. This is absolutely functional, and was how I played for years while prototyping, but the actual cards really enhance the experience. The physical version can be purchased at https://www.drivethrucards.com/browse/pub/10200/The-Logbook-Project. If you purchase the PDF on Itch, there are instructions included for getting a discount for the Print version so you're only buying the PDFs once, I'm not gonna punish anyone for buying the game here first.

It saddens me that I have to say this, but to be clear: this is a game about digital sentience, and no generative AI was involved in any way in its creation or production.