I Crave the Loop

You thought it would be as simple as pouring yourself a midnight bowl of cereal and eating it. It began as it always does: A few steps to the kitchen. The snap of the fridge opening and the rustle of colorful cereal in a plastic bag. The gentle glug of milk. A quick bite and back to whatever you were up to before, you thought.

You thought wrong. 

The quiet patter of otherworldly feet. A distant, plaintive yowl. A creature with too many eyes and a sleepless hunger oozes from the walls and wriggles into a familiar shape. It smells your intent. It hears the sound of every spoonful. It whets its appetite on the mere possibility of your food. It hungers for your loops, and its craving will not be denied.

I Crave the Loop is a cute, roguelike horror RPG about eating your snack before a catlike eldritch critter catches you and eats it before you're done. Choose an origin, determine the creature that pursues you, and then FEAST and FLEE your way across a variety of snack-filled maps in search of a secure place to continue your midnight munchings. Each origin offers a different advantage, while each map offers different  items and layouts to leverage against THE CREATURE. 

The game uses a real-life snack as the clock for game completion—Each time your character eats, you take a bite in real life. Bites of your snack give your character ZOOMIES that allow you to stay ahead of the creature that pursues you, while items unique to each map give you advantages in staying ahead of it. Play smart, and you'll finish your snack in (relative) peace. If the creature catches you, its all over and you can down the rest of your snack.

Below you can find downloads for the game text and the associated maps to print out or draw on digitally. Enjoy!

Art for I Crave the Loop is by Bri de Danann. Layout is by Emily Entner. Editing is by Marx Shepherd.

What you need:

To play I Crave the Loop, you will need:

• 30-45 minutes
• Yourself
• A Snack
• Another player (optional, for multiplayer)
• 2-5 six-sided die
• Tokens to represent yourself, your snack, and the creature.
• Something to write with
• Something to write on