“To permanently become part of the beauty of the Zone”
July 12, 2023 7:49 AM Subscribe
“The Zone itself undulates between three possible descriptive modes - sublime, spooky and grotesque - and becomes controlled by players after they perish inside. Only one player will make it to The Center, and everyone else who has perished collaboratively decides their final fate, whether that’s evisceration by a plant werewolf or a slow dissolution by way of radiation.” (via) The Zone is a storytelling RPG inspired by horror works like Annihilation, Stalker, Uzumaki, and the SCP Foundation. It’s “play to lose” — players know from the start that their character will almost certainly die, which frees them up to take big risks that fuel exciting stories.
The game was originally planned for physical release in March 2020, but…stuff happened. The game designer changed course and instead released it as a free, no-prep, GM-less, virtual tabletop. The physical version of the game has been rescheduled for release later this year. In addition to playing free online, you can check out a trailer, read the wishes players make at the Center of the Zone, create your own game mod, or watch an actual play with the game designer, Raph D’Amico.
The game was originally planned for physical release in March 2020, but…stuff happened. The game designer changed course and instead released it as a free, no-prep, GM-less, virtual tabletop. The physical version of the game has been rescheduled for release later this year. In addition to playing free online, you can check out a trailer, read the wishes players make at the Center of the Zone, create your own game mod, or watch an actual play with the game designer, Raph D’Amico.
uh oh
posted by cortex at 10:18 AM on July 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by cortex at 10:18 AM on July 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Ever since I got to play Trophy Dark, I've become extremely interested in/obsessed with Play to Lose games, especially as a way to make horror "work" and avoid incentivizing minmax behavior in players. I am so deeply into this and will be trying to assemble a game ASAP.
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:54 AM on July 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:54 AM on July 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
I am waiting impatiently for my Kickstarter rewards, I’m so excited for this!
posted by skycrashesdown at 11:23 AM on July 12, 2023
posted by skycrashesdown at 11:23 AM on July 12, 2023
So long as nobody references Cthulu
posted by BlunderingArtist at 12:51 PM on July 12, 2023
posted by BlunderingArtist at 12:51 PM on July 12, 2023
Yeah since the Yellow King, specifically in the lair of the True Detective season 1 ending, would be a better fit.
posted by Apocryphon at 1:12 PM on July 12, 2023
posted by Apocryphon at 1:12 PM on July 12, 2023
I don’t love the term “play to lose,” because you shouldn’t.
I prefer the tension between “play to win” games (notably D&D and many OSR games) and “play to end” games (e.g. Cthulhu Dark, the Carved from Brindlewood games, most PbtA). In the latter, there is always an ending for your character; it can be happy, sad, horrific and come slow or quick, but you are playing for your story to reach a cathartic end that feels right to you and the rest of the table.
If you haven’t tried Carved from Brindlewood, it’s a system where your characters solve mysteries by collecting clues (and navigating danger) and then building a solution themselves. Mysteries are held together by an overarching plot that gradually becomes clear, and the characters, whose pasts and futures are slowly revealed to the table through play. Currently, games include:
— Brindlewood Bay — retired women solve mysteries and encounter horror in a quaint New England town. Think Murder, She Wrote with an eldritch horror garnish.
— The Between — monster hunters who are monstrous stalk Victorian London in pursuit of a shadowy mastermind who might be more moral than the characters. Penny Dreadful if PD really hated colonialism.
— The Ghosts of El Paso — damned souls in the Old West hunt ghosts to foil (or advance) the interests of a Ribber Baron. Deadwood if they were really dead.
— Public Access — Young people in the early 2000s go back to a small town in NM to hunt for a lost public access station. 80s and 90s nostalgia and the very weird. Kind of Stranger Things but more adult and much weirder.
All of these have a structure that encourages players to push their characters to the edge while providing a narrative framework likely to lead toward a clear resolution to individual stories and the campaign. The first 3 are available via DTRPG, with the last expecting a Kickstarter this year, maybe early next.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:49 PM on July 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
I prefer the tension between “play to win” games (notably D&D and many OSR games) and “play to end” games (e.g. Cthulhu Dark, the Carved from Brindlewood games, most PbtA). In the latter, there is always an ending for your character; it can be happy, sad, horrific and come slow or quick, but you are playing for your story to reach a cathartic end that feels right to you and the rest of the table.
If you haven’t tried Carved from Brindlewood, it’s a system where your characters solve mysteries by collecting clues (and navigating danger) and then building a solution themselves. Mysteries are held together by an overarching plot that gradually becomes clear, and the characters, whose pasts and futures are slowly revealed to the table through play. Currently, games include:
— Brindlewood Bay — retired women solve mysteries and encounter horror in a quaint New England town. Think Murder, She Wrote with an eldritch horror garnish.
— The Between — monster hunters who are monstrous stalk Victorian London in pursuit of a shadowy mastermind who might be more moral than the characters. Penny Dreadful if PD really hated colonialism.
— The Ghosts of El Paso — damned souls in the Old West hunt ghosts to foil (or advance) the interests of a Ribber Baron. Deadwood if they were really dead.
— Public Access — Young people in the early 2000s go back to a small town in NM to hunt for a lost public access station. 80s and 90s nostalgia and the very weird. Kind of Stranger Things but more adult and much weirder.
All of these have a structure that encourages players to push their characters to the edge while providing a narrative framework likely to lead toward a clear resolution to individual stories and the campaign. The first 3 are available via DTRPG, with the last expecting a Kickstarter this year, maybe early next.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:49 PM on July 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
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posted by gestalt saloon at 8:40 AM on July 12, 2023