INTRODUCTION

Data Sparrow is a remotely-operated art collective active since 2021, mostly operating in the fields of tabletop gaming and music publishing.

Our main aesthetic touchstones include late 20th century anime and videogames, but individual inspirations obviously vary wildly from member to member - despite our shared tendency to fall into mecha anime tangents whenever a development session runs for long enough.

We are not a company, but we believe in a proper paper trail. We are an art collective, but we're a friend group before anything else. We believe that no idea is stupid enough not to be put to paper, and we will make games out of the least marketable concepts we can think of just to see what happens - and because, as it turns out, making art with your friends is really fun. That and the fact that we're more or less all fortunate enough to not have to treat this endeavor as our dayjob, although the kickbacks do help.

CORE TENETS

Artistically speaking, Data Sparrow works are more or less all built around three core tenets: SIMPLICITY, SINCERITY and STYLE

SIMPLICITY means making things that don't take days of preparation to understand the rules for, or, if we can optimize for it, set up. In the case of tabletop games, that specifically means things you can buy, print and play without excessive resource expenditure, with rules that are simple to understand but kinetic enough in practice to feel fresh and interesting.

SINCERITY means that, whatever the subject of a particular work is, we do our best to treat it with respect and conduct appropriate research. We don't make things about topics we don't personally enjoy or find interesting - and we hope that, through play, you may get interested too.

STYLE means a marriage of beauty and practicality: a meeting between minimalist layout designed for ease of printing, paired with lavish key art in a variety of visual styles, using a variety of composition techniques - from 2D art to 3D renders to photo-compositing, the only limit is our own capabilities.

UNIFIED SETTING

Most Data Sparrow games take place in a unified science fiction setting designed from the ground up as a creative playground in which to explore a variety of aesthetics, themes and game genres. That, and because developing a single setting over multiple projects helps you build a very useful backlog of visual assets you can recycle and historical events you can use to greatly expedite worldbuilding. Work smarter, not harder.

That said, we're not on some narrative FOMO, "cinematic universe" nonsense. The intricacies of 24th century powerboat racing are not necessary to understand why the capital city of a dead empire is now a very pretty open-air prison. Every Data Sparrow work is, ultimately, a standalone affair, from which you may extrapolate a few, entirely optional, background "narrative arcs" by following the path of recurring players - like certain corporations or non-state actors.

But you can also not do that, and that's entirely ok.

...WHY'D YOU REWRITE THIS PAGE?

If you're a returning visitor, you may notice this page used to read a lot differently - and, in some aspects, a lot worse.

That's because, at the time of writing, the writer (who is also writing this new page. Hi!) didn't think highly enough of their work to present it in an objective light. All that talk about being "all-too-eager hobbyists" was preemptive deflection of negative criticism born from insecurity.

Then, in 2025, we released four games and a very important promotional zine, alongside a slew of complementary material for all the above. Aside from working him to near burnout, this escalation in capabilities and output finally made him realize that Data Sparrow is an outfit worthy of respect if not, according to some of our peers, a "class act". This rewrite is an effort in finally acting like it.

Enjoy your stay and contact us if you'd like to know anything about our current or upcoming projects.