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Actual Play Roundup: Day in the Live(s)

Remember how I said we played a mess of birthday Microscope at Story Games Seattle, all without realizing it was Microscope’s birthday? Here they are, plus a few more stragglers from the weeks before and after.

Beware: several of these are experimental “short form” Microscope, where the whole history is actually a very short period of time, like a single day. It’s madness. Madness!

  • Ω — Short form Microscope. Intertwined lives, loves, and regrets on the last day on Earth. Entire history span: one day.
  • For Better or For Worse — Short form Microscope. “Family drama, alcoholism, and desperate attempts at sex.” Entire history span: from breakfast to just after the wedding reception.
  • The Blight — You have to love a history with a question like “why did the colonists burn their own city to the ground and march into the wilderness?”
  • Nine Gods, Nine Plagues — Our simple “the gods punish mankind” history seed blossomed into a pretty deep and mythic examination of free will.
  • A day in the life of Alphred — Short form Microscope. Entire history span: one day in the life of Alphred, as seen through his eyes. This is not a normal Microscope game by any stretch. It technically breaks the rules-as-written in a few regards, like including seemingly contradictory events (some of which may be entirely in Alphred’s imagination, because he may be insane). That said: super cool.

There’s been talk about doing short form Microscope for a long time, but “Alphred” is the first actual session I know about. I have to say I’m pretty impressed with the results so far.

    Ben Robbins | March 4th, 2012 | , , | leave a comment