ZIP, the story

The world: Zitopia and the Great Refuge

Zitopia, the city of bags, satchels and luggage of every kind. At the heart of the city stands the Great Refuge: a vast wall of shelves lined with glowing vials. Each vial holds an entire world, miniature and alive, and as long as it shines, its world is fine.

But outside, the worlds are going dark. One by one, they lose their light and threaten to vanish for good. The Zitopians found only one answer: send backpacks into the field to capture the worlds in peril and bring them back to the Great Refuge, safe and sound. Bags are the only things sturdy and big enough to carry a whole world without breaking it.

So Zitopia turned it into a great annual event: the Great Bags Contest. Officially, you save worlds. Unofficially, everyone battles for the title, because a motivated bag brings back more worlds than a bag that dawdles. The winner sees their vials displayed at the very top of the wall, and their name enters legend.

The opening: how it all begins

Zip is the new kid, a young backpack of worn leather who has everything of a seasoned adventurer, except the experience. Sharp eyes, a crooked grin, he plays the old-timer: a winged hat screwed onto his head, a colourful scarf he swears he brought back from a faraway world, a walking stick in his left hand and big boots made for scrambling.

His dream: to line up his world-vials on the wall of the Great Refuge. The truth is, he is a beginner. But he has unshakable confidence, boundless energy and not the slightest fear of looking foolish. What drives him: collecting worlds, showing off, and proving he can save more of them than the legends who came before him. The winged hat is not just a style: Zip is fast, too fast sometimes, and that is as much his strength as his flaw.

He sets off to explore, a bit at random, not quite sure he is doing it right. And then, around the bend of a cave, he stumbles on a vial resting on the ground, a little world glowing inside. Surprise, then a wide grin: "wait... so that's it." He picks it up. At that same moment, a glimmer catches his eye, deep at the back of the cavern. The exit. Zip walks toward the light and there, before him, as far as the eye can see: worlds going dark. Vial in hand, he dashes off. The mission begins.

The mission: capture, zip, save

In the field, Zip grabs a piece of world and slips it into a bag. As long as the bag is open, you can see the world growing inside, but it stays fragile: overloaded, it overflows and bursts, and the world is lost.

When the world holds just right, neither too light nor too heavy, Zip zips his bag shut. That seals it, and the bag becomes a glowing vial, ready for the Great Refuge, untouchable. A zipped bag is a saved world.

That is the whole move of the game: you fill a bag, you zip it, it becomes a vial. And when a bag is perfect, you call out the Zitopia motto:

"My bag is done."

One more world made safe.

Why finish first (and why play with others)

The Great Refuge does not have room for everyone. Each expedition has a limited number of vials to save, and the agents fight over them. That is where the race is born.

The first agent to fill all their bag slots closes the expedition: the Refuge rings the closing bell, everyone is called back, and the saved worlds are counted. The best total takes the title of Great Bag of the Year.

Hence the real tension with several players: finishing fast while you lead denies the others the time to catch up. Too slow, and a rival zips up before you and cuts your comeback short. Too hasty, and you botch your bags and burst them. Everyone watches the others, pounces on their open bags, and secures their own before the wave. You don't save worlds each in your own corner: you snatch them from one another.

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