Oh this seems like a blast! I'm normally kind of whatever about social deduction (board) games because they're kind of either "just math" or "just shouting," I think? And sometimes some people are playing the math game while others are playing the shouting game? Anyway, I think I like this much better.
I'm sure you know Win Lose Banana. I love WLB chiefly because the game gets out of the way of being silly. It knows the winner/loser dynamic is bunk in that kind of game, so it mostly gets rid of it and gives you the flimsiest possible framework for chumping your friends. This is similar, I think, but subtler, and moves more toward roleplay (obviously). This game lets the win condition drive behavior, but only just enough to hang a character on. The game framework is basically "character creation" for the group and group dynamic, and then the rest is having pretend conversations with your friends. Which is way better than math and shouting.
And I adore the idea of having recurring characters! I'd want to pass established characters around the group, see how other people play the ridiculous truck driver character I made, and see how well I can pull off the nodding academic character my buddy made.
I think there's another longer aspect of role playing Black River to explore but I'm not sure exactly what the mechanics would be.
I love the idea of persistent characters across sessions of the same game and across different games in the same setting. Like a Carl Hiassen book where old friends show up over and over.
Comments
Oh this seems like a blast! I'm normally kind of whatever about social deduction (board) games because they're kind of either "just math" or "just shouting," I think? And sometimes some people are playing the math game while others are playing the shouting game? Anyway, I think I like this much better.
I'm sure you know Win Lose Banana. I love WLB chiefly because the game gets out of the way of being silly. It knows the winner/loser dynamic is bunk in that kind of game, so it mostly gets rid of it and gives you the flimsiest possible framework for chumping your friends. This is similar, I think, but subtler, and moves more toward roleplay (obviously). This game lets the win condition drive behavior, but only just enough to hang a character on. The game framework is basically "character creation" for the group and group dynamic, and then the rest is having pretend conversations with your friends. Which is way better than math and shouting.
And I adore the idea of having recurring characters! I'd want to pass established characters around the group, see how other people play the ridiculous truck driver character I made, and see how well I can pull off the nodding academic character my buddy made.
Thank you again for the game. It's great!
I think there's another longer aspect of role playing Black River to explore but I'm not sure exactly what the mechanics would be.
I love the idea of persistent characters across sessions of the same game and across different games in the same setting. Like a Carl Hiassen book where old friends show up over and over.