This game pretends to be funny (with a touch of "making you think"). It’s about absurd capitalism, corporate nonsense, ridiculous technology and the Church of Signal trying to “optimize” your life to death.
But it also asks you to play yourself (or a close version of you), seven years into a harsher world. That’s powerful, and well, it can also be risky.
One could ask "Wouldn't it be easier to use made up characters?"" Well, the purpose of the game is to make you think of our present: The world we're building today. I think it's easier and more powerful to explore that playing like yourself.
This section exists so you can decide how far you want to go, together, and how to pull back when it stops being fun.
You don’t have to use all of these tools, but you should at least know them.
If someone says: “I’ll play a version of me but with a totally different family situation, okay?” …that’s not just okay – it’s healthy. It means they’re setting their own distance.
Before your first session, have a quick talk: It doesn't have to be awkward. Something like: “This game uses our own lives as material. Let’s say clearly what’s off-limits for each of us.”
Use these two simple tools:
Lines:This are hard no’s. They do not appear in the game at all. Examples: Real-world trauma (e.g., “No scenes about my actual medical history.”), Certain types of harm (e.g., “No harm to kids/pets.”), Specific topics (e.g., “No scenes involving [X].”), If it’s a Line, you don’t foreshadow it, you don’t hint at it, you just don’t use it.
Veils: “Fade to black” topics. They can exist in the world but not in detail or on-screen. Examples: “Romantic stuff is okay, but we fade to black for anything sexual.” “Violence is okay, but no graphic descriptions.” “We can mention addiction, but no detailed play of relapses.” If someone says, “Can we veil this?” you cut away or summarize.
At any time, any player (including the GM) can say “Pause”, Say “Nope”, Or make an X gesture with their hands. When that happens the scene stops immediately. No one pushes for details. Group decides if rewind and redo differently, or fade out and skip ahead.
Always have this in mind: You’re not a therapist. You don’t need to unpack it. Just respect it.
This game can be funny, but we should be clear about who we’re laughing at. Try to aim the jokes at the absurdity of The Church of Signal, the big tech companies, the ridiculousness of “optimization” taken too far, the system, the policies, the algorithms... and well, CAPITALISM.
I'm sure I don't need to explain what to avoid making the punchline, I'll just say “We mock the system, not each other’s wounds.”
If that's the case, this game might not be for you at all.
A game by Keko Ponte. Feel free to drop me a line.