When summer came, the infinite potential of the TI-85 went with it. It being a school-issue calculator meant our formulas, the only means of playing, were gone. This was devastating. We did write down, by hand, a lot of the formulas and how they were programmed. The hope was that we could buy another and put them back in. That was a far-off hope thanks to the cost of the device. So how then could we move forward? Well, we kept the same basic idea: video games without video games. This, in reality, led to two different versions of the next iteration of Final Battle. Developed in sequence, as one flopped and never made it to the table. But it of course made some massive contributions. The second lasted enough to run a very exciting campaign.

Our first foray into TTRPGs was, from what we know, pretty typical. Two children, a piece of paper, and a world of imagination. It sounds so very clichéd. And it was. I was a halfling archer, with a magic bow that could shoot magic arrows. We adventured into the woods and fought goblins. Nothing grand, but it sparked a new concept for us. Something we hadn’t considered before; video games without video games. Of course, we would talk about other games, shows, and movies and discuss what neat abilities were in those. After two weeks, it was over. We never saw our first GM again and never could thank him for everything he did and what it all led to. So I dedicate this series of retrospectives on Final Battle as follows:

To Daniel. Thank you for ignoring what our teacher wanted us to be to each other. And thank you for showing us a doorway towards who we could be instead.