NOTE: the opinions expressed in interviews are those of the guests, not necessarily those of shadomain.com.
Today we talk to Jay Sojdelius from The Yellow Hand. You can find their work at
Hi Jay, thanks for talking with us. Your current crowdfunding campaign is for the TTRPG Simulacrum —a “Cyberpunk” game, if I had to name a genre. Perhaps you could let us know how you would define cyberpunk and how Simulacrum is unique in (or out) of the genre?
Cyberpunk as a genre has traditionally been defined as “low life, high tech”, and tends to be dystopian in nature. The general feel comes from the post modern merger of hacker culture and punk music. The setting – both its technological and its societal dimensions – tends to make victims out of the characters, sort of like the Lovecraft Mythos in Call of Cthulhu. There is no clear “enemy” to fight against, or at least none where victory is a possibility – the entire system is the villain. Simulacrum aims to change that, and puts a bit of a political spin on this, where characters are engaged subversively in corporate espionage, to counteract the most overbearing and fascist tendencies of corporate rule.
You’re in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign for Simulacrum. When does that end, just so our readers don’t miss out?
The campaign ends on May 7th.
The game is published by your studio collective, The Yellow Hand. How did The Yellow Hand get started, and could you tell us more about it?
The Yellow Hand is indeed a collective, with members from all over the world – a mix of writers, designers and artists. It got started in 2022 as a small playtesting group, trying out a boardgame I had designed which was based on an existing IP. We found the game to be fun, deemed it to be publishable, and ultimately opted to infuse it with our own IP, which eventually became Draconicus (http://Draconic.us ). We then proceeded to recruit new members, and putting out more of our own creations, mainly on DTRPG. Turns out, a lot of RPG enthusiasts have drawers full of ideas in various stages of completion! So far, we’ve produced seven proprietary RPGs (Draconicus, Sentience, Ashland, Once Upon, Tales of Menace & Mystery, Redacted and Simulacrum) with an eighth and a ninth RPG underway (Alea Temporis and Thanatos, Inc). We have published over 100 products, for our own product lines but also licensed materials for Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, and Monster of the Week.
You’re a game designer, writer and artist. Which came first, and how did you get started designing RPGs? Do you favor art, writing, or game design?
It all came about at roughly the same time. I was a compulsive game designer as a kid, and learned to write, design and illustrate while creating my own board games. I’d be hard pressed to pick a favorite lane – to me, the biggest enjoyment comes from combining these creative disciplines. I entered the industry professionally while in art school, working for the preeminent Swedish game publisher Target Games (which is now known as Paradox Interactive, today mainly publishing video games). Back then, Target Games licensed and translated games from Chaosium, Iron Crown, West End Games and Pacesetter, but also later became a licensor and IP developer in its own right, with product lines such as Mutant Chronicles and Kult. The game currently known as Dragonbane is a later development of Target Games’ FRPG Drakar & Demoner (“Dragons & Demons”).
Let’s get back to some details about Simulacrum. It’s set in Neo City. How would you describe the setting? Did the idea for the setting, the character scenarios or the game system come first?
Neo City can be likened to a sci-fi high-tech version of West Berlin during the Cold War. It is an isolated technological haven, closing itself off and protecting itself from the chaos following decades of environmental disasters. The highly advanced corporations of Neo City have benefitted synergistically from growing in close and protected proximity (much like today’s Silicon Valley), and have monopolized many technological inventions (such as nanotech), controlling their use and in some cases depriving the rest of the world of their benefits. The idea for the setting came first: the goal being to drop characters as spies into an unknown environment, where exploring the setting in order to carry out covert missions is the emphasis of the gameplay.
Players in Simulacrum choose an Archetype for their character. Could you describe how that works within the game and how it affects role-playing?
The idea for how archetypes work in this game is centered around teamwork, where each character has a distinct function to perform. The idea for the interaction and role-playing comes from the 1992 movie Sneakers, which featured among others Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier and Ben Kingsley. It was an ensemble piece where all the characters fitted together like pieces in a puzzle, and that interplay drove the narrative in a way I thought would work very well for an RPG.
Could you describe a typical scenario players might encounter in Simulacrum? What challenges might they face, and what abilities, equipment, etc. do they have to overcome those challenges?
Scenarios in Simulacrum are called Missions. They are derived from the overarching objectives of the characters, which are dictated by an employer of some kind, several of which are presented in the game with a number of typical suggested covert assignments, and coming with certain types of equipment and gadgets, including wearable cybernetics and biotech implants. For instance, PCs might be sent into Neo City by a rival corporation from outside, which is trying to steal valuable industrial secrets. PCs will mainly be opposed by Simulacra, artificial humans that make up Neo City’s police force, and serve the corrupt interests of Neo City’s corporate world. The Simulacra come in several models, from remote controlled robot-like drones to virtually perfect simulations of human beings, difficult to detect. Obviously, the corporations of Neo City are not really interested in parting with their secrets, so PCs will need to harness their resources, move quietly, strike quickly, and then get the hell outta Dodge.
What other hobbies do you have aside from game design? Do you play a lot of video games?
I used to play a lot of video games (mainly on Xbox or Playstation), but these days my interests lay in design and writing – i.e. creating gaming experiences rather than consuming them. At this point, game creation has become my most engrossing hobby, but I also spend a lot of time on music (Divine Comedy), books (Carl Hiaasen) and movies (the Coen brothers). As a one-time aspiring comic artist, I also still enjoy comic book art a lot. Most recently, I visited an exhibition of Alex Ross’ work, which was very impressive, and I still cherish the experience of having seen Chris Ware’s fantastic art in person at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art. I dig pop art in general and I am also an avid animation aficionado. Beyond that, I’m also pretty heavily invested in politics, and write a political blog.
Will you or your team be attending any upcoming conventions? Is there an opportunity for people to check out the game ahead of release (maybe playtests, online actual plays or demonstrations?)
We are trying to scale up our operation to be able to go to conventions more regularly, but given that our members are rather spread out, it is a bit of a challenge to get us all in one place at the same time. Right now, the first concerted Yellow Hand effort to present a unified front at a con will happen in January, at the 2027 PAGE convention in Philadelphia. Some of the larger cons are unfortunately still out of our reach, but we’re definitely aiming to get there, and Simulacrum will be one of several stepping stones on the way. We will offer playtests for anyone who is interested – check out TheYellowHand.com for a link to our public Discord server. We are planning on posting an actual play video in a few weeks, before the conclusion of the Kickstarter campaign.
What else haven’t we asked that you’d like our readers to know?
What is my favorite game system? I would pick the James Bond 007 RPG from Victory Games, it’s both fast, flexible and fun – characteristics I tried my best to replicate in my own STAR system.
Is Simulacrum the only game using the system in question? The answer is no: the same system powers our FRPG Draconicus, and our pulp RPG Tales of Menace & Mystery. We have other games in development which will also be built on this system.
Thanks, Jay!
Game Conventions in New Jersey!
Ecclesicon
Ecclesicon is organized by Wes Allen of DM Tales, along with some friends. The convention is being run by Central Baptist Church as a fundraiser with proceeds split 25/75 between the church’s “Raise the Roof” fund and Booksmiles.org. The event is May 1-2, 2026 in Palmyra, NJ.
Concoction
Concoction is a new tabletop gaming convention brought to you by the team that organizes the Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo. The event is May 29-31 at The Vineland Convention Center 631 E Landis Avenue Vineland, NJ 08340.
About the Author
