This is my second interview about Alice is Missing, the silent tabletop RPG crowdfunding on Kickstarter. Played via instant messaging, this game is a new roleplaying experience. At EN World, I spoke with Spenser Starke about the project. In this interview, Ivan Van Norman joins the conversation and we get into more of the technical side of this RPG.
EGG EMBRY (EGG): Thank you for talking to me about this project. For those that don’t know, what’s the premise of Alice is Missing?
IVAN VAN NORMAN (IVAN): Alice is Missing is a collaborative storytelling game about a group of friends trying to find Alice Briarwood, a high school junior in the town of Silent Falls. Unlike many role-playing games, this plays with a facilitator (not a GM) – and communication during the game only occurs via text messaging.
EGG: No talking, all play conducted via your phone or online via Roll20 or chats? In playtests, how have fans adapted to that version of roleplaying?
IVAN: Playtesters have really adapted to using phones for roleplaying. As we know, not everyone enjoys public speaking or ‘doing voices’ in role-playing games – and the capacity to type out what you’re feeling and thinking in real-time was very liberating for many. Texting for a huge part of the population has become as second nature as speaking or writing, so it’s not a vast jump in thinking creatively for the game.
SPENSER STARKE (SPENSER): It’s definitely a new way to play for a lot of people, but I think that’s what makes it exciting! Because the primary communication of the game is happening through the device that we use to talk with each other in real life every day already, it gives the game a level of immersion that is unlike anything I’ve played or designed before. I’m always trying to figure out how to give my players a unique experience, and after my first playtest of this game, I knew there was something special in it.
EGG: Of the virtual tabletop options, why did you focus on creating this for Roll20?
IVAN: We’ve been building a good relationship with Roll20 over the past year, and really believe in the team as well as the direction the platform is taking gameplay in the future. They’ve also been very helpful in making some of our other titles available to more gamers in these ‘stay at home’ times.
EGG: Despite the use of phones, this is not a strictly virtual game because cards are required to play, correct? How will they work?
IVAN: The cards help facilitate play, providing narrative structure in the form of characters, clues, suspects, and locations throughout the session. You build your ‘clue deck’ before the game using a number of these cards, and it drives the story forward, giving you a different experience every time.
SPENSER: In a one-shot style game, two of the most important things I always want to consider are the amount of time it takes to get up and running and being able to complete your session with a full, finished story. By using cards to facilitate both of these things, we get the players into a game quickly and structure their session to have a climactic ending every time.
EGG: You’ve unlocked the Alice is Missing App stretch goal. Will that allow play exclusively through phones or will physical elements be needed? What features will the app include?
IVAN: We’re still going over the details with the app developer, so I don’t want to make too many promises of features or elements yet. However, our goal is to create a ‘jackbox’ style app – where players ‘check-in’ to a session – and have the physical elements, the cards, available in a cloud server for everyone to have access to. The goal of the app is 100% remote play with your friends, which we’ll be providing to backers for their participation in the game.
EGG: The game is a single session, 45 minutes of character creation and then you play. Why 90 minutes sessions?
SPENSER: I experimented a lot with the length of the play session in development and 90 minutes ended up being the best for the type of gameplay and the story being told. I wanted there to be enough time that the game has the capacity to build and players have the opportunity to explore their relationships and reveal their secrets, but not so much time that sitting in the emotional headspace the game puts you in tires you out before it ends. Finding that balance was really important to me.
EGG: The 90 minutes has a timer with music. What music?
IVAN: Thanks to Spenser, we’ve acquired a wide range of licensed music including artist such as Message To Bears, This Patch of Sky, Justin LaPointe, and Be Still The Earth. We figure if you’re going to have a timer, it should at least be pleasant. Also, it really helps set the tone.
SPENSER: I’m so lucky that we were able to license songs from some of these incredible artists to bring the game to life. Music was one of the most important parts of the experience for me during playtesting– it’s used to set the right mood and feel for the game up top, and also allowed me as the designer to have another lever of control over the build up of tension during the game. I’ve found that it’s a subtle but vital piece of the overall design.
EGG: Time-wise, this has a lot of potential as a convention game. Do you see it as an innovative con experience?
SPENSER: I’ve run it as a private playtest a number of times at cons, and I couldn’t be more excited for it to go public at conventions when they return next year. With the app now providing the connection between the players, they won’t need to worry about switching phone numbers with strangers now either, which is a huge benefit. I’m really hoping it will be a unique and immersive experience that con-goers will enjoy enough to bring home to their players!
EGG: Beyond Alice is Missing, what other projects are you working on?
IVAN: We’ve got a pretty busy year ahead, but the next project after Alice is Missing is Werewolf: The Apocalypse 5th Edition – which is currently in development. Our Dystopian Cyberpunk RPG Altered Carbon – based on the Netflix original series will be releasing this fall.
SPENSER: I also have my magical school version of Kids on Bikes, called Kids on Brooms, coming out through Hunters and Renegade in August as well. It’s been a busy year!
Alice is Missing: A Silent Role Playing Game from Hunters Entertainment and Renegade Game Studios
End Date: Mon, June 29 2020 9:58 AM EDT.
“An immersive RPG played entirely via text message.”
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At EN World, I have another interview with Spenser Starke about Alice is Missing.
https://www.enworld.org/threads/alice-is-missing-an-interview-with-spenser-starke-hunters-entertainment.672843/