Line by Line: Poems, Coffee, and an Open-Mic Night to Remember

The cafe in Line by Line has gone quiet. The expresso machine is cold, the chairs stacked, and the street outside is waiting for someone to walk by and come in. What’s the plan to bring it back to life? Gather a group of poets, make some coffee, and write.

Designed by Tilak Vyas, illustrated by Vickly Tran, and developed by Gretchen Papazian, Line by Line is a collaborative poetry-writing game for four to six players. Its inspirations include Travis Baldree’s fantastic Legends & Lattes novel and Anne Lamott’s writing guide Bird by Bird.

Players take on the roles of ‘Bards’ working together to fill the cafe and its tip jar. A House Blend card gives the group a shared subject and a choice of tones for the poems. Those ingredients come from decks of devices, words, and images, giving players prompts to work with as the poem takes shape.

The Bards choose a House Blend card. This will provide a unified subject and choice of tones for the poems they will write. The Bards may examine different House Blend cards or even create their own. Once a decision has been reached, it will govern the poems written throughout the rest of the game. Player One is chosen based on who wrote or read a poem last, or who last brewed a cup of coffee.

Beginning with Player One and going clockwise, each Bard takes one turn. On their turn, each bard may either Draw an Ingredient Card, Play an Ingredient Card to the Board, or Discard up to two cards from their hands (which can earn “Tips,” or points). They can also Take the Mic to perform a line of poetry aloud to enable all Bards to either draw a new Ingredient Card or replace one card currently on the Board with a new one from their hand. Cards are played to the table runner in the center of the Board, which has a point tracker for Tips around its edge.

When the boards table runner is full and everyone has taken a turn, the group gets two minutes to write a line. Players can discuss and collaborate before the timer starters, then each Bard tries to weave as many of the ingredients on the tabler as possible into their line. The more players who use a particular ingredient, the more tips it can add to the shared jar.

The game then moves to the Open Mic. Players can arrange their own four lines into individual poems, or take part in a second stage that has everyone pass and combine lines into new collaborative poems. Either way, the writing gets read aloud. Scoring is optional during Brewing, and the rules offer a choiec of one or two Open Mic stages.

The mix of gentle structure and open-ended writing is what makes Line by Line an intriguing campaign preview, and it’s a game that will certainly appeal to a particular demographic of gamers. The cards and short writing window give the group something concrete to start from, while the poems themselves belong to the players. It could make for a relaxed evening with friends, or a playful way to get a writing group or classroom creating together.

An optional curriculum guide is included among the components list so they’ve obviously thought of the potential educational use, which isn’t really a surprise when you conside the publishers behind the game are Central Michigan Univerity Press.

Line by Line currently has a prelaunch page available for people who want to follow the project and receive updates. The Backerkit campaign is due to launch on Tuesday 20th October 2026.

Brew well. Perform boldly. Fill the cafe.