Marginalia

She was a footnote.

A Complete History of the Reign of Maharaja Vikramaditya of Ranisar (Vol. III, Professor Edmund Harrow, 1897) mentions her exactly once, on page 43, in fewer than twenty words: "His wife, of little historical consequence, is said to have kept a garden."

You are that footnote.

Marginalia is a literary puzzle game about a queen erased to a footnote in her husband's biography, who uses ink, citations, and contradictions to consume the book and rewrite it as her own.

A 15-minute single-player experience. Submitted to the GDAI PixelSakhi Game Jam 2026 (theme: "She is the main character").

Mouse only. Headphones recommended.

Made solo in under 12 hours.

(PLEASE TRY TO PLAY FIRST WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE INSTRUCTIONS)

HOW TO PLAY

1. Click BEGIN to start.

2. Move your mouse to control the pen. The red ink follows you — that is Aranyani, the queen the book forgot.

3. You have three actions at the bottom of the screen:

   • ADD CLAUSE (2 ink) — Expand your footnote with a new sentence.

   • CITE A SOURCE (4 ink) — Open a popup. Read the question carefully and choose the right source. Wrong answers cost ink. You need 3 correct citations to defeat the gold sentence.

   • CONTRADICT (6 ink) — Cross out one of Harrow's lies with red ink.

4. Your INK regenerates over time. Wait if you run low.

5. The GOLD sentence at the top is the lie. After 3 correct citations, click the gold sentence to shatter it.

6. After the shatter, the book opens to its INDEX. Click the entries where Aranyani belongs (some entries won't respond — that's intentional). After 5 successful insertions, the title page rewrites itself. 

End.