Awards & Contests THE 2020 SUMMER GAMES - GAME DESIGNER'S CHALLENGE EDITION

Shogun World was for me the only one where two worlds collided really. The real one and Shogun World. Also I have never seen the TV Show (but the old Yul Brunner classic several times, I know Anthony Hopkins is in it and I gotta watch it, stop telling me!), I felt like I got a feeling for what this was about. Loved the idea of robots being trapped in endless cycles of death, trying to escape. Great Rules. Added something to the game, by adding this sentence that Hosts are gonna die and resurrect regularly.

The other three are more or less on the same level for me. All excellent and all making great use of the historical setting in their own ways. I could not have decided between the three, honestly.

P.S.: I was kinda surprised we had ZERO alternate reality games.
P.P.S: Amazing tasks you give those guys so far @The Jedi in the Pumas. Love them a lot.

 

I must say... I agree with Draco here:

Where's the alternate reality here, boys? I was thinking that this image was ripe for that kind of direction.

Today's the last day to get these discussions out of the way, folks. I will be posting my breakdown soon and then the last and final GM challenge will be posted!!

 

Host Evaluation

Dejima
Originality: 10/10
Use of Image: 4/10
Use of Genre: 7/10

To me, the clear winner. Originality maxed for a trading game when every, and I mean every game except ELL, game on the board is generally played the same way with the same rules. There is also the clear possibility for stories to be told between the lines. It is nice to have a game be explicitly about one topic, but the players will be the ones that color the world while also pursuing clear objectives. Use of image was low because the game has nothing to do, explicitly with the image and, as I penalized a game in the previous round for this, you could replace the image with any other related image and the message would've remained the same. Nothing details a clash of two worlds than European expansion into Asia. This game needs to see a launch sometime in the future.

The Last of the Ninja
Originality: 6/10
Use of Image: 7/10
Use of Genre: 5/10

A solid OP and interesting setup. I think its kind of hilarious that the creator of this and the creator of Way of the Samurai came up with a similar concept. Use of image was clearly related and could possibly even be a scene out of the game itself.

Way of the Samurai
Originality: 6/10
Use of Image: 7/10
Use of Genre: 5/10

Gave this and Last of the Ninja the same scores for the same reasons. Both are engaging, but if both these games were launched at the same time, it would be hard to see a clear difference in how it would be played. Which is not a bad thing. The players and GM are what makes all of our Jedi V Sith games different.

Shogun World
Originality: 4/10
Use of Image: 7/10
Use of Genre: 8/10

Originality takes a hit due to it being basically a game adaptation of Westworld. Image usage was fitting....almost a bit picturesque as I can imagine a Host, having replayed the same life over and over again peering down on the guests entering Shogun World again. Dope. Very dope. Clash of two worlds is clearly identified and obvious, but effective.

 

AANNNNNDDDDDDD NOWWWWWW

THE THIRD AND FINAL GAME MANAGER PROMPT



BUT WAIT....THERE'S MORE



THE THEME: Managing Employees at the End of the World

and.... Both images will have to be used in the OPs!


....
.
....

GO!

 

Ahaha, I missed the last round completely. Dammit. Looking forwards to what round three will bring.

 

Think nothing keeps you from telling us who was your favorite, right?

 

Shogun World.

 

The worm image has been with me the entire competition and I’ve been waiting to unleash it!

I can’t wait to see what you guys come up with!

 

Oh this is gonna be interesting. I would have a game in mind actually ... right away.

 

Submit one as a guest slot! Would love to see what you have thought up!

 

Pretty busy with Vox Popoli and updates right now, but if I make it until deadline I am gonna send you one ... no promises though.

 

Before the authors are revealed, we should get a chance to guess!

 

When the winner is declared I will allow the guesses to be publicly posted. When i run this next time, I may drop the anonymity if we have less than 5 players. While I trust and love the RPF, I have to try to compensate even a little for the bias that can occur.

 

Isn‘t today THE day?

 

No, Finski.

Allow me to shake my head in disappointment for 5 minutes.

 

GAME MANAGER DESIGN #1 for Prompt 3:
​

Extinction Brothers Coffee Company




Welcome to Extinction Brothers Coffee! We heartily congratulate you for beginning your new career with the world’s largest chain of occult coffee companies. Extinction Brothers coffee has a storied history that you are now an integral part of! Our founder, Ahmed al-Ghaffar opened our first coffee shop in Yemen in 1550. Al-Ghaffar at the time was cursed with being troubled by many djinns. However, he found that the drink we now known as coffee (black, Arabica) offered him relief from the spirits that plagued him. Empowered by this knowledge, Al-Ghaffar founded the first of what eventually became a worldwide chain of occult coffee companies. Over time, it became clear that not just djinns, but all supernatural entities share a natural affinity for a good cup of joe! Extinction Brothers Coffee Company is now a critical provider of protection against the Eldritch abominations, demonic forces, and other forms of infernal mischief. Our customers may be sometimes temperamental, and occasionally terrifying, but our skilled baristas have a knack for providing the very best service. We are confident you will live up to the standard of excellence that defines our work at the Extinction Brothers Coffee Company. Our stark motto shares our absolute dedication to our work: “The Very Best Coffee… Or Death!”


"When serving Himalayan Furry Snow Worms - Low fat iced chai lattes" - Caffenomicon Mystica 115:2


The Game

Welcome to Extinction Bros Coffee Company! In this game, players will be serving as employees in the newest branch of Extinction Bros Coffee. Every two weeks, a new scenario will be launched revolving around a supernatural “customer” or customers who arrive at the store and will be expecting certain levels of service. Clues from Al-Ghaffar’s mystical bestiary the “Caffenomicon Mystica” will be scattered throughout the game, so players will need to be paying attention to every GM post. If employees do well, rewards will be bestowed upon the café. If they do poorly, a disaster will fall upon the world. These disasters will get progressively worse as failures mount. Also, curiously, the regional manager has it on good authority that corporate expects that these “customers” will slowly increase in pickiness and difficulty. Some people might interpret increasingly difficult customers leading to increasingly dire consequences as a sign of the end of the world. But that can’t be right, can it? Even if it is, corporate is confident in its employees’ abilities to keep the world safe.

Players will be expected to take on certain positions within the cafe, and will be responsible for making sure the operation of the cafe runs smoothly. Periodically, a scenario may be "shifted", with certain players being assigned day or night shifts. During their shifts, only players working will be allowed to post. The GM will be playing the role of corporate and cafe manager, and will post worker "schedules" ahead of time. The cafe manager may also choose to appoint an assistant and shift manager as need requires.


"Certain ghouls care not about what coffee they are served, but rather the vessel in which the coffee is contained. When in doubt, black with a skull symbol is the safest." - Caffenomicon Mystica 130:17

The Rules

• GM is Law
• No Godmoding
• GM will control management and the principle supernatural entity of the scenario. Players may control other NPCs if done responsibly.
• Time progression is linear. There will be minor jumps between scenarios.
• This thread will utilize an RPR OOC Room, “The Break Room”. Customer clues may periodically be posted there, so please visit it periodically.
• Any other questions can be PMed to the GM
• ALL SHEETS MUST BE PMED TO THE GM FOR APPROVAL

"Zombies, Thralls, and other possessed can have their bloody thirsts quenched by extract of cinnamon stirred well into two shots of espresso" - Caffenomicon Mystica 55:140

The Character Sheet

First Name:
Last/Family Name:
Gender:
Skin Color:
Eye Color:
Hair Color / Style:
Title (Barista, Janitor/Stocker/Cleaner, Cashier):
Clothing / Appearance:
Personal Bio:

 

GAME MANAGER DESIGN #2 for Prompt 3:
​

Thomas had to smirk at that one. It was one of the jokes from last Saturday's stand-up event at the small cafe. It was a cafe for the Los Feliz crowd. That was another word for everybody being with the democrats and a high tolerance towards gay couples, with a lot of wanna-be artists thrown into the mix. Speaking of which he turned back to Jana, beautiful uptown girl Jana, who looked at the print he had brought.



"What do you say?“ Thomas asked and smiled.
"Did you make this?“ Jana asked and raised her brows.
"Yes, I am gonna make it into a graphic novel, probably.“ Thomas announced proudly. He was obviously enthusiastic about of what he had produced there.
"Amazing. Is that your way of saying you do not want the job?“ Jana asked and looked as if this hurt her feelings.
"What? No! I am considering the job. Just wanted to show you . . . This.“
"Listen Thomas, I lost two managers and I know you did an excellent job at Starbucks. I really need a team leader. So do you accept this or not?“ Jana had got a coffee shop from Daddy and was now in over her head. She leaned forward, almost begging with her big brown eyes.
Thomas looked around and sighed. He hated it already and the same was bored to death. "Yeah, okay. I can do it interims for a month or two and we see how it goes?“ He asked. Jana grinned, leaned forward and gave him a kiss on his cheek. „I am so gonna make this up to you.“ Thomas could not help but smile.
Then he looked around and shrugged.

"All right. I can do this.“ He said and sighed in resignation as he saw the hipster crowd around them. What a deadened.





The End of the World Cafe was actually not the best managed place. A barista, a cleaner for tables and dishes and someone for the counter, plus a manager which Thomas had just become. All of them had nothing to do. It was the set-up for a busy downtown coffee shop and not for a barely visited one in the arty part of town. Anyway, he would cut down the team by one if he was still around end of the week.

"Okay when do I start?" Thomas asked.
"Now?" She leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He sighed and nodded.
"Now it is then. Jana, do you have sometimes the feeling this is not ... really real?"He asked and Jana smiled what was probably a polite smile.
"Nope." She said and got her stuff together. "I am gonna be back at six to lock the place, okay?"
Thomas sighed again. He would have preferred to work on his graphic novel.

"Sure." He said and saw her leave.

Thomas got up and walked over to the one customer who had been sitting there all day.

"Another coffee?" Thomas asked the man and he looked up from his book.
"Thought this is self-service?" The man asked.
"We make exceptions. This one is on the house." Thomas smiled at him.
"Highly appreciated. Yes. Would love to have another." He answered.
"Good book?" He asked and the man nodded.
"Damned pageturner." He said and turned his attention back to the book.





Coffee, Sugar and Milk

a game about a coffee shop





Welcome to Coffee, Sugar and Milk, a piece about a coffee shop on a very quite Tuesday afternoon. The game takes place between 15:32 and 18:10. At 18:00 the coffee shop is about to close.

What you do with your character in that time is entirely up to you. Develop whatever plot you want. Or none. If you desire an NPC to be included, let me know.

So is there something about to happen? I mean, I am the GM do I have an idea of what this game will be about? Yes I do. That is all I am gonna tell you.

The Roles:

Thomas, the new manager who wants to be a comic artist (possibly NPC).

The Barista. You make coffee. You are good at it. Or not. The owner would not be able to tell the difference.

The Counter. You got to deal with orders and payment. Yeah. Not great, but a job ...

The Table Cleaner. Totally relaxed job, because not much going on today.

The Owner, aka Jana. Has no clue about coffee shops, but now owns one. NPC.

A Guest. Four of those available. You are there for whatever reason.

The Book Reader, he reads a book. All day. Been there all day. NPC.



Character Sheet:

Name:
Age:
Appearance:
Staff or Guest:
Job:
Why are you there?
Bio:




The Rules:

1. GM word is law
2. No Godmodding whatsoever
3. No combined posts
4. No supernatural or remotely fantastic characters are allowed. Everything else is fair game.
5. PM CS to the GM for approval
6. Have fun!

 

GAME MANAGER DESIGN #3 for Prompt 3:
​

Darkness is something kids are not scared of because it is empty. Darkness children fear because of what could be in it.

Jeremy was becoming a big boy by now, but he never had lost the feeling there was something in the dark. That night, when his Dad told him he would have to sleep without the nightlight, which had been broken by his big sister that afternoon, was the night when his nightmares finally came to get him.

The Monster slowly dragged itself out from the shadow and began it‘s shambling walk to the boy, who was sleeping peacefully in his bed. It had waited for a very, very long time to claim his soul and after all this patience it felt an absorbing hunger. Fluids dripped from it‘s mouth, it‘s claws nervously opening and closing again, as it approached the bed. It was just about to grab the boy, when it suddenly felt something. A presence of power.

"You cannot have him!“ Oria the Teddy yelled and raised his wooden sword against the creature. „This boy is under the protection of the Order of the Dream Defenders and you, dreaded beast, either walk away or I will slay you!“ The Teddy Bear yelled at the much larger creature. The thing raised it‘s brows, as it had never encountered a speaking, armed teddy before.

"And how do you want to slay me, little guy?“ It asked with a raspy voice. The Teddy only smiled.

"With light of course!“ It said and from the tip of his word a blinding ray of white appeared. The Monster screamed . . .



_______________________



"Well, my friend. You have awakened indeed. What a rare occurrence. Not many awake nowadays. You are the one from little Daisy upstairs, are you? Well, welcome to the Order of the Dream Defenders now. We are the descendants for the great fluffy ones, who once protected the first children of men from those things that dwell in the dark.“


"There are rules, of course. No adult can ever see you like this. If one does you might loose all your powers. What powers? Oh we get there in a second. Anyway, let me warn you about the adults. They are cruel, skeptical creatures, who do not understand the dangers their children are in. They spend too much time away from home, do not listen to the children enough. They are stupid. Stay away from them when possible. They drink their coffee and need no sleep."



"They watch TV so they do not have to use their imagination."



"They have a cult who believes that believes that if something that does not happen on Instagram is actually not happening at all! So we try to stay away from Instagram, to camouflage us from this sect."

"Sure that is meant literally? Is that not some kind of slogan? A metaphor of sorts ..."

"You are not one of those Chinese smart ass bears they produce nowadays are you? Assure you nobody appreciates those. Listen pal, this intro pep talk is vague and mysterious anyway, so listen and don't disturb me. Got it?"

"Okay."

"Good what is up next? Why you have awakened? Oh because your little girl needs you, of course. We defenders all appear when needed. Right now we are needed more than ever, because we have beasts descend from the dark everywhere. It is the final battle. The End of a War that has raged for many years. If they win, they will claim the souls of all children and leave behind soulless husks, spending countless hours updating their instagram profile and waste all their fantasy with their gaming console. We cannot allow this. It would be the end of the world. Therefore I am happy you are here to protect little Daisy. She needs you now, more than she ever needed anyone. I am Boris the old Teddy. I actually once served her father. Now I am the managing director of the east Baltimore chapter of the Order of Dream Defenders. I will be responsible for work safety, weaponry and training of your FLUFF. Your Fluff, exactly. The power by which we triumph over darkness. Whenever you are cuddled by a child that loves you, the Fluff becomes strong in you. You have awoken, when your Fluff became stronger than her fears. Now you can use that love to overcome those creatures who want to harm her. How? No worries, I will train you. I will train you really well.“ Boris the old Teddy smiled. "Now go up and begin your shift. Watch especially the spaces under the bed and in the closet. That is where they hide usually.“

______________________

T H E

T E D D Y B E A R

C H R O N I C L E S

______________________




"Who that is? That is Viktor. Also called Viktor the Nightmare Slayer, Victor the victorious or ... Superfluff."

"Superfluff? Seriously?"

"It is what he is called. He is a legend. The greatest warrior the Order ever saw. I was still a young bear when he was ... retiring."

"What did he do?"

"It was 1942. As the adult humans count the years. There was a war in the human world and some humans called "Germans" bombed a place called "London". The fires burned many of our kind. Many more were left behind by our little ones as they got dragged to safety from the bombs. Terrible times. Can you imagine what happens when kids fear for their lifes? Can you imagine what it does to their world?"

"Nightmares."

"Exactly. Nightmares came from the dark and it were nightmares unlike any the world has ever seen before. Truly horrific creatures and the Order in a sorry state to oppose these monsters. Except one. Victor. He was resting in the arms of his little girl owner and charged and charged as she held him tight all day and night. He was invincible. One after one of these nightmares fell to his wooden sword. His fluff became so powerful, we called it ..."

"Superfluff?"

"Exactly."

"What happened to him?"

"Oh he was the wise ruler of the Order for many years. Until his kid went to university and left him behind."

"He lost his Fluff."

"We do not know. He was locked behind an unpenetratable barrier in a closet."

"You mean they locked it?"

"Yes."

"So he is still there?"

"Unreachable and in eternal slumber, yes."

_________________________
The war between light and dark is fought in every child. In their bedroom mostly. Dark creatures called Nightmares prey upon unknowing children, trying to take their souls and adults are too ignorant to see them. It is up to you, to defend those kids from evil.

You are the only one they trust.

You are a Teddy Bear.

You are their defender!



________________________

Character Sheet:

Name:
Model:
Height:
Appearance:
Child to protect:
Age of the child to protect:
Special Fluff Power: (given by the GM)

_________________________


The Rules:

1. GM Word is Law
2. All CS to the GM for approval
3. Your character is Teddy Bear, so behave like one!
4. Fluff is charged by cuddling of children with the Teddy Bear. The GM will keep a record of how many Fluff Points are available. A Teddy cannot be injured, but if he is hit he might loose his Fluff. If his Fluff drops to zero, he might become inanimate again. This will be reverted, once he regains Fluff.
5. Enjoy the game!

 

GAME MANAGER DESIGN #4 for Prompt 3:
​

Grind House: How a local cinema cafe offers a silver lining in uncertain times
By Jessica Crawford
Published Aug. 13, 2022 at 5:53PM CDT

PLEASANCE, Iowa (URTP) - Nearly a year after the Leviathans first entered our atmosphere with warnings of an impending apocalypse, it’s safe to say our country, our entire planet, has never been the same since. In a world stricken by fear and panic, with economies collapsing and folks all over trying to make sense of a time where they truly are not promised tomorrow, it can be difficult to find peace and comfort amidst such chaos.

However, local businesswoman Willow McKinley, owner of Grind House Cinema & Cafe, hopes to provide just that for her beloved community here in Pleasance.

“We love our town, we love our community,” says McKinley. “Everything we do, we do for them, to provide a safe place where they can come, relax, enjoy the company of friends and drink some good coffee to get their minds off of things.”

Willow McKinley, owner/manager of Grind House​

McKinley, a 32 year-old Texas Tech graduate, has been the owner of Grind House for four years now, following in the footsteps of her grandfather, Joe McKinley, who opened the cafe in 1967.

“Pops always had three passions in his life: Movies, coffee, and people. And that’s why he created Grind House, because he was able to combine those three things in one place, and I’d say I definitely take after him in that regard. Running this place has been a dream come true for me.”

While the taste of the coffee at Grind House, as well as their delectable bakery items, is a staple of Pleasance’s community, so too is their movie theater, which has existed at the rear of the coffee shop since its construction and is the only operating theater in town. It is one of the few businesses that hasn’t been hit by the economic downturn that has been occurring over the past year.

“We’ve been pretty blessed to have not been affected by everything that’s been going on,” says McKinley. “Since there aren’t really many new movies coming out these days, we’ve been playing a lot of older films, and that’s actually driven demand up. I think a lot of people have become nostalgic for simpler times, and movies definitely help take them to that place. Along with a good cup of coffee.”

Grind House employees serving their customers​

A popular addition to Grind House’s stable of attractions is the new Movie of the Week feature, which happens every Friday night at 6:00pm, something McKinley implemented in an effort not only to bring the community closer, but also improve her employees’ engagement as well.

“Managing employees at the end of the world is kind of a tricky task,” McKinley says half-jokingly. “When you’re constantly living under the threat of everything coming to an end, it can be difficult to muster up the will to go to work. Like, what’s the point? And my employees are like my family, so when they hurt, I hurt. So we all sat down and had a big heart to heart discussion, talking about things like how to motivate each other, how to engage more with each other in the workplace and with our customers, and we came up with Movie of the Week. Everyone who works here is a big cinephile, so we all decided that we would take turns picking out one movie that speaks to us on a given week, and then play that movie in our theater for half price admission, every Friday evening at six o’clock. And for anyone in the audience who wants to stay after the movie’s over, the employee who chose the Movie of the Week gets to lead a discussion with everyone, and talk to the audience and the Grind House staff about the film. What the story meant to them, how it made them feel, all of that. And it’s been super popular so far, the customers and the staff here all love it, so it’s really exciting.”

Grind House’s movie theater​

And while the popularity of Grind House’s Movie of the Week combined with the allure of their house coffee and baked goods has caused demand to spike, McKinley remains coy on expanding her establishment to other venues.

“Obviously we want to reach as many people as we can, but we also want to maintain that level of comfort that our customers feel every time they walk through our doors. Because at the end of the day, what Grind House is all about is bringing people together, engaging with each other in conversation over delicious coffee and treats, celebrating the art that we love, and just being in the moment in a time when we’re not sure how many moments we have left.”

Copyright 2022 URTP. All rights reserved.

​

They arrived one year ago, in the summer of 2021. Giant, flying creatures unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. There were so many of them, taking up all that space in the sky, the sun peeking through them like treetops in a forest. Leviathans, we called them.

We didn’t know what to do, how to react. Suddenly, all at once, they made this strange noise that echoed throughout the entire planet. Nobody understood it. We tried to communicate with them, but they didn’t respond. We tried to shoot them down, but our weapons had no effect. They just... flew. Massive, cylindrical behemoths, with fur like animals and mouths like perpetually grinning humans, freely roaming the skies of our planet as if it was their own.

Every sixty minutes they made the same noise, each one of the thousands in unison, echoing throughout the world like a planetary bell tower signaling the arrival of a new hour. A slow, low, eerily guttural noise, reverberating for a minute or two before reverting to silence. An audio technician in New York recorded the sound and filtered it through a computer program, manipulating it until he made a horrifying discovery.

The creatures were speaking. The same words, every hour like clockwork, in distorted English.

“The end of this world draws near.”

​

We were sent into a worldwide panic. Everyone demanding answers, how we were going to fight these indestructible creatures that heralded the end of our existence. Leaders urged everyone to stay calm, that we couldn’t be sure of the motivations of the Leviathans, if what they seemed to be saying was true or some auditory illusion. Riots broke out in the streets. Chaos was rampant.

But nothing really changed. There was no extinction level event. No nuclear war, no plague, no giant meteor crashing into the surface of the earth. The creatures still flew overhead, speaking their unintelligible warning of our impending doom every hour, and making air travel impossible. Some folks tried to go back to their regular routines, attempting to ignore what was happening above them. Others weren’t so rational. Many quit their jobs, seeking to make the most of their lives before it all ended. Spent their life’s savings trying to find some semblance of normalcy. Economies across the globe spiraled. Entire populations struggling to make sense of it all.

Now, one year later, political leaders from every corner of the world gather at a global summit to discuss potential resolutions for the Leviathans’ presence.

This is not their story.

Scientists from all over work together to understand these creatures, how they survive, how they communicate with each other, how we can communicate with them, and where they come from.

This is not their story.

In the small town of Pleasance, Iowa, a locally owned and managed cinema cafe provides a safe haven for its community and employees, a bright spot during dark times.

This is their story. This is your story. Welcome to The Coffee Shop at the End of the World.

​

In this game, you will play an employee at Grind House Cinema Cafe, working under your manager, Willow McKinley. Your responsibilities range from taking customers’ orders, making coffee, baking pastries, and even popping some popcorn for the moviegoers. You will also be able to interact with your coworkers, and help to provide a friendly atmosphere for the establishment.

As an employee at Grind House, you have the ability to choose which of two shifts you will work. The Morning Shift, which takes place from 6:00am until 2:00pm, or the Evening Shift, which takes place from 2:00pm until 10:00pm. Choosing which shift you take on can have an effect on what your responsibilities are in the cafe, what kind of customers you’ll be serving, and which coworkers you’ll be working alongside.

Of course, work isn’t everything, and everyone needs to have some Personal Time as well. During the hours of the shift in which you’re not working, you are free to spend your time as you wish. Spending time with your loved ones, studying a subject you’re passionate about, or if you get along with the coworkers on the opposite shift, hanging out at Grind House as a civilian and conversing with your fellow employees. Anything is fair game (as long as you’re able to make it to your next shift, that is).

Now, as any working person knows, doing the same job day in and day out can become a bit of a grind after a while, especially with the threat of an apocalypse looming over you (literally). That’s where the Movie of the Week comes in.

​

Every Friday in-game, an employee will be selected on a rotational basis to choose a movie for the theater to play, open to the public for half price admission. However, you won’t be choosing any movie that exists in real life. Instead, you will create a movie that exists in this fictional world, from the title to the genre and plot synopsis, and you and all of your fellow roleplayers will be active participants in it. An RPG within an RPG, if you will, with the chosen employee's player acting as a GM responsible for creating the world and giving their players situations to react to.

Of course, these “movies” won’t last the length of a full RPG, so they will be divided into three scenes: the Introduction, where we will meet the cast of characters; the Confrontation, where a dramatic situation occurs that moves the plot forward; and the Resolution, where the climax of the story takes place and we witness the end of the movie. The GM will have control over how long these scenes last, allowing them to play out naturally but not lingering for too long.

Once the movie is over, the chosen employee will lead a discussion with their coworkers and members of the audience, talking about the movie, the characters, and their thoughts on different aspects of the story and how they related to them.

And if an employee is a little unsure about the specifics of their responsibilities during the Movie of the Week, fret not. At the beginning of our game, it will be Willow McKinley’s turn to choose the film, so that will give you a chance to see how it all works without having to worry about the potential burden of putting it all together yourself.

Now, as you may have noticed, between different shifts for Grind House staff and an event that occurs every Friday evening, this game will be affected by the time at which it takes place. But there are no set rules and restrictions in place for how fast or how slow time moves in the game. Scenes will be allowed to breathe and flow naturally without players having to worry if they’re moving too fast or too slow, and the GM will determine when to move the time forward to progress the story, which will be quite loose and freeform, a sandbox for the characters to play in. I hope you’ll join us.

​

Character Sheet:
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Appearance:
Personality:
Shift: (Morning or Evening)
Biography:

Rules:
1: Send character sheets to the GM for approval.
2: All posts must follow the TOS.
3: If a player fails to respond to a tag in a reasonable amount of time, the GM reserves the right to control their character(s) until the player’s return.
4: NPCs will be controlled by the GM, but players can feel free to use them in their posts within reason.
5: The shift you start out with does not have to be permanent. Your character may change their schedule by requesting it to their manager.
6: Questions, comments, suggestions, etc. can be PMed to the GM at any time.
7: Have fun!

 

Man, I just need a coffee . . . Quit three days ago and seeing those OPs is really cruel, man. Really, really cruel.

 

This was one hard round to decide . . . The final round definitely brought out the best in all four contestants. What a round of coffee-themed OPs! Haha.

So one by one my feedback on them.

Coffee, Milk and Sugar at first seemed like a total slice-of-life game without a plot. I wondered who put up Clerks for a coffee-shop. Then I stumbled over the hidden message in the bolt letters. Oh how cool is that! Reinvents the whole OP. Pretty nifty idea, but I feel like it could have been a little more intriguing, if there was a bit more of a hint at that. Would probably be an awesome game, but my least favorite of the four OPs, as I felt it is all tease. To based on this concept of a hidden message. Nevertheless, the OP needing least time to give me an idea of what the coffee shop is like. Very compact and effective.

The Coffeeshop at the End of the World is amazing, too. Written very well, taking the coffeeshop premise again and this time really putting it to the literal end of the world. The game-within-a-game thing is very cool. My only critic I have is it is probably very hard to pull off in practice. As cool as it sounds, I feel it will be hell to manage two shifts and a game-within-a-game in a one year or more running game.

Extinction Brothers Coffee Company was easily my favorite in the Coffee Shop trilogy. A coffeeshop for the supernatural creatures, that must serve them well or the world will end! It is totally surreal. I feel it got the right kind of humor and then the right kind of story. Amazing OP and it is a shame I could not give two votes, as it was only beaten by a tiny degree by . . .

The Teddy Bear Chronicles, the one game not set in a coffeeshop and making those employees to be managed Teddy Bears fighting lovecraftian Monsters (and growing up kids and adults as well as real world events). The whole set-up was just cute. But the OP did not rely on being cute, but actually began seeding hints at a plot. Somewhere between a kid’s game, a horror game, a fantasy epic and a tragic story about how childhood ends. The one OP I felt had a story to tell, which I am personally looking for in OPs. If I had to join one of these games and only one it would be this one. Simply because I would like to see how this last battle of Teddy Bears and Nightmares plays out. Silly premise, made into an epic game. Irresistible for me. So with a heavy heart I picked that one, purely based on my „what game would I join“ criteria.

What a great contest this was! Twelve OPs of that quality, just amazing!

 

Normally I’d wait till the voting is over, but I completely agree with Sirak’s breakdown. Extinction Bros is just... amazing in theory.

 

So I actually picked Teddy Bear Chronicles and I found it an easy choice. Four amazingly written OPs. The Coffee House Trilogy is full of great ideas. Love the hidden message in the mumblecore game. Love the game-within-a-game. Love the coffeeshop for occult clients. All great. Really amazing writing. Very innovative and original stuff. Thought provoking. We could discuss those elements over in the GMG. But they all feel like entries into a contest for me, not games going up next week. TBC felt like the guy got lazy and posted an OP he is playing somewhere else for five years. It is totally a playable game. Throughout the whole contest I always voted with „playability“ in mind. Nevertheless I must say I loved reading those four OPs. All four were incredible fun. Hope some of those ideas get picked up and developed further.

 

So I was explicitly asked to post the reasons for my vote, so here I am.

Really tough one as the final four are damned close in quality to each other. Had to look deep. First observation about the four OPs is three set their story in actual coffeeshops. One more or less made (again?) minimum use of the pictures to go his own way. We shall begin with what was dubbed the Coffeshop-Trilogy of games.


Extinction Brothers Coffee Company has an amazing premise, is written with an excellent voice of a narrator, is inventive and smart. It had also a pretty clear idea of how the actual game should look like (I disagree with one of the reviewers before strongly). It had all the elements of a winner and then I got to the point where staff schedules were explained. Half the players in the other shift are not allowed to post. This would never work. Me waiting for a player to post for a couple of weeks and stay interested? Maybe one turn, if the game was VERY engaging so far, but someone will stop posting and it will fall apart. Sorry, but I felt that mechanism was a fatal flaw. A shame because it felt like the natural choice for my vote ...


Coffee, Milk and Sugar. I was kinda confused here. Feels like someone was probably playing mindgames here? Anyway, not going into authors. The indie movie take on a coffeeshop. A totally engaging scene for a movie I might like, but probably never see because it only runs on small festivals. Seriously? What the hell. I had to give it that it succeeded in making me feel the coffee shop atmosphere, but what was I supposed to do? Play a guy in a coffeeshop? Alright. And then @SirakRomar pointed out the hidden message. Nasty one, too. Nicely done! Great gimmick. But it relies really a bit too much on the gimmick. Now I know it is a game where nothing is what it seems, but the intro post is not giving me enough context or I do not get it. Also would not players who did not get the message sign up for some Indie Drama and then be pushed into an occult thriller? Dunno how that works. Great atmosphere, cool gimmick but too High Concept.

The Coffeeshop at the End of the World took the most obvious and direct approach to the task handed by the Host. Well, why not. So a sandbox which is regularly interrupted by a three act mini movie to play out. Every Friday. Which means I play Saturday to Thursday regularly with a shift and I am free to use them for whatever I want. So how often will the movie of a week happen? A week of playtime is epic. It took games two or three years to cover that. And what do the other players do if I am writing an epic scene with my buddy, but they got through their shift quickly? I mean they got 12 hours done and I am still playing the first five minutes of my day shift in an intense exchange with another player. Felt the GM got that himself a little, as he began talking about time in the end. I feel every game is in trouble for synchronizing time, but this game pushes this by forcing the game to synchronize at the beginning of every shift. I got the feeling this won't work in practice. Incredibly cool OP, but hard to play.

Last but not least our Renegade. The guy who does not care too much for the obvious game to be played and just goes for his own thing. In all three rounds I gotta say I liked the attitude. Here it is pushed to the extreme. The Teddybear Chronicles is a totally different beast. A fantasy story with a bit of depth and humor in which brave Teddy Bears use their tragically short lifespan as children's favorites to protect them from monsters who want to turn them into coffee drinking and computer games playing soulless zombies! Like me! It is cute, but it does not stop there. There are solid narrative ideas like how real world events influence this war or the lack of understanding for everything adult by those bears. I felt this was a game that could not only run, but for a very long time. Story potential is unlimited in a world where a hero hiding his existence and reliant in the affection of growing up kids in a world where adults make the rules and the monsters below the bed are very real. Nicely done. I gotta say, I felt the OP went far away from the prompt, more or less using all three elements only to barely fulfill the criteria, but I picked it for being the purest OP, putting all creativity not into game mechanics and design, but story building and narration. So despite the flaw of not tackling the challenge presented directly, I picked that one as my favorite.

P.S.: When do we get the winner?!