Thoughts on Evocative and Thematic Titles in Verdant

Thoughts on Evocative and Thematic Titles in Verdant

In naming the individual chapters for Verdant, I'm trying to evoke some of the source material that is helping to inspire the game. That means calling back to early American literature. One peculiar, and to my ear amazing, quirk of the time period was long titles. And I do mean long. For example, you had this gem: The Sovereignty and Goodness of God: A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. But that's nothing. Here's another example: Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk, or, The Hidden Secrets of a Nun’s Life in a Convent Exposed, and that isn't even the full title! In all its glory: The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk, as Exhibited in a Narrative of Her Sufferings During a Residence of Five Years as a Novice and Two Years as a Black Nun, in the Hotel Dieu Nunnery in Montreal. It's not just a title, it's a plot summary!

For Verdant, here is a glimpse at the four main chapter titles covering the game's core rules. Let me know what you think. Evocative? Too much?

CHAPTER I: Once More into the Woods, or Your Initial Excursion, Gentle Encounters with Memories Lost and Found, and Pricking of an Unexposed Trauma Searching for Purchase in the Folds of Your Mind

CHAPTER II: A Malevolent Force, or the Corruption Come to Life and Henceforth Stalking You under Cover of Shade and Bramble through a Maze of Contemptible Pride

CHAPTER III: An Extended Stay, or the Unearthing and Reconstruction of Various Landmarks in Thorndale Woods While Navigating the Fecund Bowers between Terror and Self-Discovery

CHAPTER IV: Borne upon a Silver Altar, or a Trap Lying in Wait for Mankind, but Especially for Those Lost in Memory and Plagued by Damnable Corruption, Unaware of Their Impending Self-Destruction