Independent Creator Spotlight: Philippa Mort

Every month we feature an independent creator we love.

This month, we chatted with Philippa Mort, creator of Lost Post. 

Read all of our Independent Creator Spotlights on our blog.

Game designer and artist Philippa Mort’s first game, Tiny Home Terrarium, fit inside a jam jar. Since then she’s gone on to publish two more games (Lost Post and Be Our Guest) and several adventures for Mausritter, Wanderhome, and Eco Mofos. 

She’s been playing TTRPGs for 10 years and has been designing for three, after getting her start with the Storytelling Collective Write Your First Adventure workshop. 

“That inspired me to get started. Then I started playing lots of different games, and thought it’d be fun to do things with those games. I started finding out on Itch about all of the game jams, and I made my first game alone, which was Tiny Home Terrarium [for the Jam Jar Game Jam].” 

Since starting as a game designer, game jams have been a way for Philippa to work on smaller projects or something that’s less pressure. 

Lost Post, Philippa’s latest game, has its origins in the Lost & Found Jam.

“One of the best pieces of advice I got when I first started writing was ‘don’t try and write the perfect game or magnum opus straight away. Rather, write lots of small things and fail fast. Get all those ideas out and just see how it works. So that’s the thing I really have used: the game jam philosophy.” 

Unlocking Creativity with Solo Games 

Philippa has an affinity for solo journaling games. Both Lost Post and Tiny Home Terrarium follow that format. 

“I like the freedom that comes with a solo journaling game to do what you want to do. It can be a bit scary to start playing a journaling game. I feel like I’ve heard a lot of people say, ‘Oh, I’m scared to try it for the first time,’ but once you take the leap and start believing in your own choices, because you’ve got to put a lot of choice into the game…It becomes really exciting…you’re not just building the individual story; you’re often building whole worlds and ideas around it, and adding so much of your own thought into it…In a solo game, especially during the game, it’s all for you…You have the freedom to do whatever you like.” 

In Lost Post, players take on the perspective of a letter as it is passed between different mail carriers. Each carrier takes you (the letter) to a new destination with which you can interact. As you play, you change, grow, and rest in the postbox, waiting to be sent onward. The game encourages players to create stories about the letter and its journey, sparking both creativity and mindfulness.

“Most of my games are not making grand statements…they’re not world changing. But what I like is making games that offer that moment of escapism…It’s about letting [the player] have a nice time and forget about the rest of the world for a bit.” 

Upcoming Projects

Currently, Philippa is finishing up Mycelium, an adventure for Mausritter, about titular character who ventures into a garden overrun by mushrooms and fairies. 

Other projects include horror-adventure Butcher Bird, designed for a game jam, about a shrike, a predatory bird with gross feeding habits, and working on some New School Revolution adventures and games. 

“[I want to] look at some different ways to do dungeon crawls that aren’t just a dungeon, for example. I’m really interested in doing some stuff with sailing and diving down into the depths…but that’s perhaps one that’s going to be coming out more towards the end of the year.”

Finding Support & Building Audiences 

Building community and making friends with other creators who can relate and share relevant experience is key. Though admittedly cynical about making friends on the internet, Philippa’s group of creator-friends and collaborators has grown, turning into a thriving, supportive community. 

“Network and start doing stuff together because they’re going to be your peers as you improve, and the more you improve together, the more you are able to help each other. There’s a phrase, which is a little twee, but I quite like it: ‘the rising tide lifts all ships.’”

It’s also important to build an audience, with whom you care to share your work, your progress, and your thoughts. Philippa got her start on TikTok reviewing independent TTRPGs, where she has grown to several thousand followers. Now, she uses it as a platform to connect folks with the world of indie TTRPGs and her own work. 

“It’s a whole different skill to writing, and so take it seriously when you’re building that skill. Take some time to look into how best to do audience-building, marketing, and things like that. Every week, maybe you spend five minutes a day sending some tweets out or reaching out to people. Invest your time in it.” 

Connect with Philippa 

Website | Links | Itch | DrivethruRPG | Substack