That is one heck of a great requirement.

I like this contest, and I like your no-frills approach to establishing it. Very well done, and I'll make a point of thinking about it; if anything interesting comes up, I'll be there. Winning, of course. With murder.

Posted By: Jonathan WaltonSo, on second thought, I've decided the titling requirement is a bit strict.As long as your game has 'murder,' 'raven,' or 'crow' in the title, I think you're solid. So go ahead and write that game about the Raven Queen or whatever.

I'm glad you did that. I was figuring I'd end up giving it a perfunctory name just to fit the rules. The extra latitude makes a lot of difference.

neat!
What kinda format must it be in?
I am severely lacking in technological savy.

Nathan, I'll take text, HTML, pdf, doc, ppt, gif, jpg, tiff, mp3, wav, mov, swf, or any format that I freely download something (on Mac or Windows XP) that'll let me view / hear it. If it's something commercial or proprietary, ask first.

Posted By: Jonathan WaltonNathan, I'll take text, HTML, pdf, doc, ppt, gif, jpg, tiff, mp3, wav, mov, swf, or any format that I freely download something (on Mac or Windows XP) that'll let me view / hear it. If it's something commercial or proprietary, ask first.

What no interpretative dance?

Very cool! This scratches many itches for me.

I think that's how things are supposed to work around here now.

Just so you know, ravens and crows are not the same. Ravens have bigger beaks, different habitats, different tail feathers.

That said, I'm gonna try to write something up for this.

Twa Corbies
You need 3+ players, two eyeballs (real, glass, candy, rubber, whatever) and any Black Crowes or Nevermore CD.

Sit or stand in a circle with the eyeballs in the middle (on the floor or on a tabletop). Put on the CD. Players put one hand on the right shoulder of the person to their left and their right hand behind their own back.

If playing a Black Crowes album, grab one of the eyeballs with the right hand whenever the words "baby" "honey" "sugar" or "momma" are sung.

If playing a Nevermore album, grab one of the eyeballs with the right hand whenever the words "shadow" "darkness" "death" or "forever" are sung.

If you succeed, you get a point. When an eyeball is grabbed, the next round begins. Eyeballs return to the table. Everyone change hands (right hand on left shoulder to the right, left hand behind back, grab with left hand).

This continues until one player has scored 5 points. In the event that two people tie with 5 points, the person with the lowest score wins.

This is terrible.

Aren't groups of ravens called ''an unkindness of ravens''?

This sounds cool.

I hereby acknowledge my ignorance in regards to black birds that squawk and are associated with dead things. Feel free to include whichever ones you like.

Joe, your game looks sweet (if somewhat disturbing), but I'm not sure how to make an audiotrack like that either. If post it on YouTube, can you also put the file up somewhere to download, just in case we end up playing your game somewhere without internet access?

Jared, your game may be terrible, but I dig the eyeballs.

Matthijs, your game would definitely make my play group uncomfortable, but I dig the structure a lot. Very cool.

Technically, you're in the ballpark, since both crows and ravens are connected with death and death spirits.

I'm working on a little something.

I've designed an entry.



Its full title is "Gathering [Crows]."

Here's the opening paragraph:

The leaves are falling in New England and the Elf-queen leads her army out, doomed, against the tides of the Hungry. The turning of the year is in the balance and you are the gathering crows.

Because of its nature and content, I'm going to have to break rule 8. I realize this hurts my chances of winning, but the game turned out more personal than I'm comfortable making public. I'm going to consider carefully just who I'll share it with.

-Vincent

And here's mine: A Murder of Four

I think I followed all the rules, but there's no telling on rule #1. Also, the game requires exactly five players, but you didn't have a rule about that.

Wowie Zowie!

You guys are monsters, these are amazing. And thank you for this competition, Jonathan!
i will begin work immediately.

oh, Matthijs, i like your "ugliest person" idea. can't imagine a better way to fuck up social dynamics. Like, seriously. it's gold!

Ok, here is my contribution Murderland Road: A story+game of interpretative dancing. A couple of thoughts, I totally ignored rule #2 (mostly because I forgot about it) and my original idea wasn't this one, but I woke up thinking about interpretative dance (I swear it was supposed to be a bad joke) and ended up designing a game based on dancing. Seriously, a game where your actions are expressed via (kind of) interpretative dancing.

Daniel, you should totally check out Shreyas' game Mridangam, from Push vol 1, if you haven't already.

I wrote a furry voltron game but the session timeout ate it. It was called Murderland: Descent of the Raven Queen.

Posted By: jackson teguoh, Matthijs, i like your "ugliest person" idea. can't imagine a better way to fuck up social dynamics. Like, seriously. it's gold!

I think what would probably happen in my circle of friends is this:
- In part I, the fattest player would just say "That's me" and start the round.
- In part II, someone would probably take it upon them to claim they were the ugliest, followed by a short awkward silence where nobody would know whether to voice agreement or disagreement or just shut up.
- In part III, someone would go for the cop-out and just say that the youngest player was the most immature, and that was that. (In fact, I should probably have written in a clause saying that the decision has to be based on something other than age).

Posted By: Simon_PetterssonI think I followed all the rules, but there's no telling on rule #1.

Actually, the length can be quite easily adapted by changing the number of cards each player starts with.

Also, the game requires exactly five players, but you didn't have a rule about that.

And I realized, it's quite easy to play it with less players (just lose one of the Roles, or maybe even the Master of the Cards ...), but for more than five you need to get creative (like adding another role, who is the Ten).

Posted By: Jonathan WaltonDaniel, you should totally check out Shreyas' gameMridangam, fromPush vol 1, if you haven't already.

Very cool, my initial ideas involved hand gestures, but due to the one hour limit (including learning) it wouldn't work. I really like Mridangam's hand gesture system. I read only the first two articles from Push, only those converted to HTML. As the PDF version link appears on the articles rather than on the magazine page I assumed the links pointed to PDFs containing only the article, so I never managed to read the others. Sigh, now I have a few less hours in my day.

my game, let me show you it

Moving to Murderland

I will write my game now, here, in the commentary field.
_________________________________________________________

RAVEN - claw and beak
- a game by Tomas HV Mørkrid, 2008

1 - This is a game for three to five friends.

2 - You will all act as yourself in this game. Your name and sense and sensibility is all yours. Take yourself into the game..

3 - You will all bring a teddybear to the game, preferably your own, but any teddybear will do. The bear is you too, with your name and sense and sensibility. Take your teddybear into the game.

4 - There will be one sharp knife in the game. It will be passed from player to player, giving each a chance to have their scenes in the game.


5 A - A player with the knife will describe a conflict he/she has been in, and tell the players how he/she intend to resolve the conflict. Set up your conflict as a scene that makes your solution possible in a tangible way. Make your scene short and to the point, but be sure to leave room for the other players to introduce some adversaries in your conflict, to engage you in a dialogue that may influence the outcome.

Details on conflict
The conflict could be anything, from your childhood, youth or adult life, preferably an actual conflict from your life. Your solution to the conflict in this game may differ though, and may be far more violent than in your real life. The other players act as your friends and/or family, as they chooses themselves.

They will push and pull at you with their voices, to make you change your resolve and seek solutions more in tune with their ideas. They will always be people with ideas different from yours, and perhaps even with principles/ideals that is contrary to the solution you propose. they may oppose you in any verbal way, even by threathening with a full break with you.

Family may be your mother or father, brother or sister, or any more distant relative. They are not bound by your real family, but may invent a character on the fly and act him out as "Your father". If your co-player wants to, he may use the same "father" in several of your scenes.

Friends will be yourselves, placed in the situation. If you need to be childhood friends with the central player to do that, then you are, in this game. And you have to somehow be in opposition to the solution proposed by the central player. Best thing is if you can relate to the situation, and really disagree with the proposed solution.

One of you co-players may even act as your opponent, if there is such a person in the conflict. An opponent will always be a person you have placed in the scene, a person that stands to loose something if you goes through with your intent. Your opponent may also push and pull you, verbally, but may not force you to accept any solution not your own.

Co-players: be careful to state who you are when entering a scene: "I am Tomas, your good old friend, and I know your intent! Listen to me: it will not be good for you ...".

5 B - Eventually you will raise the knife, signalling the end of the scene. No more push'n pull is permitted from the other players when you raise the knife. They must be silent now. The solution of the conflict is in your hands. Whatever you friends and family, or opponent, have said, you can do whatever you want in this conflict. Any solution is allowed, even a solution that involves killing or maiming people, torturing them, sending them to jail or letting them be executed in the electric chair. You tell the other players how the conflict finally resolves. They must listen in silence, and watch the possible consequences in silence.

5 C1 - If you resolve any conflict by giving pain to yourself or others, you will stab your teddybear at the end of the conflict. You will start with any of the arms or legs, stab it, rip it open and tear the limb from the teddybear. Throw the limb away and take the rest of your teddy into your arms, hug it and hold it close, to comfort it. You will comfort it by telling it something like this: The raven has hurt me! The raven claws and the raven beak has hurt me! But the raven is gone now! Hush raven! Begone!

5 C2 - If you end a conflict with a stab, and no more arms or legs are left on your teddybear, you must stab its stomach/body. Rip it open and kill it totally! Be violently effective in shredding it to pieces! Leave only the head, your "soul", which you take in your arms. Hug it and hold it close, to comfort it. You will comfort it by saying something along these lines:The raven has killed me! The raven claws and the raven beak has killed me! My life is gone now! Hush life! Be dead, be still!

5 D - Pass the knife on to the next player. You choose which player is next.


6 - The next player will then go trough step 5 A to D.

7 - When all players have killed their teddybear, themselves, the game is over.

Aftermath:
If you want to stomp on your teddy-head now, you may throw it on the floor and do so. Or you may go out and bury it, making a silent seremony out of the burial. Or you may take it home, and place it by your bed as a reminder. Or you may throw it in a bin and forget about it.

You may even sit still for a moment, together, as a silent eulogy to the experiences you have shared in the game.

The choice is, as always, yours to make.

Have nice life!
____________________________________________________

That is my entry in this competition. It was inspired by the premise given by Jonathan Walton, my own game Flukt, and the wonderful and magical music of Björk. I hope some of you will play it ...

Posted By: Jonathan WaltonI was wondering if Matthew the Raven would show up in some form.

Actually I hadn't realised that connection until you mentioned it. I was thinking more of the feel of Neverwhere.

And, yeah, the one-hour/no-writing requirement does certainly lend itself to writing 'roleplaying poems,' which is semi-intentional.

I figured that was the case. The surprising bit was that I made one.

Well, I'm not entirely sure how much I like it, but I think it has potential. It's a bit more of a traditional RPG then I think some of the entries are (haven't actually read them yet). Here it is: Consider the Ravens by Sage LaTorra.

If anybody has feedback, I'd love to hear it.This is my first attempt at writing a game, so it's probably crap. As my AP English teacher would say, reviewing is like taking your baby and throwing it to the wolves. Have at it wolves.

Edit: Oh yeah, and if for some reason I should stop distributing this for a significant length of time, anyone who has a copy may begin distributing it.

Re: Consider the Ravens

I like it. It's similar in both subject and tone to the one I'm working on. But why separate Misery and Pain? They overlap in the real world, and in the game, they really don't have any structural difference.

I'd say it's close, but I don't see the current difference as being particularly meaningful. How about making Pain required for direct action against the target, while Misery can only be used indirectly?

Re: Moving to Murderland

I had a bit of a hard time seeing how it would actually work and understanding certain mechanics, but if I got the right idea of how it works, I like it. Your mention of a ko rule got me thinking of doing some kind of meaning/fiction on a game of Go, which is a really cool idea.

Re: RAVEN - claw and beak

Wow, intense. Again, I'd say that I feel more like it's a very intense conversation starter, or a interesting form of therapy, but I'm not sure about it being a game. The rules are more of a point of order than a game, at least to me. The rules don't resolve conflict, or even really create it, they bring us to talk about important things.

Like The Crows Danced Against It, I'm not saying anything bad. I'm just not sure which side of that fine line between game and improv it falls on. It still definitely made me think.

Posted By: sageRe: RAVEN - claw and beak

Wow, intense.

Thanks! It was an intense experience writing it. My wife immediately hated it, and got quite wild when I speculated loudly about taking our own teddybear (Mr Bumble) to a game of RAVEN. "No, you're not!" - she said, and hugged our teddy as if I was some kind of devil. But later on she called me "avantgarde", and that is, of course, a great compliment coming from an artisk like her (she is working a steel and glass and lights).

Posted By: sageAgain, I'd say that I feel more like it's a very intense conversation starter, or a interesting form of therapy, but I'm not sure about it being a game.

Oh, but Sage, you don't have to be sure of it being a game to play it. Go get knife and teddy!

Posted By: sageThe rules don't resolve conflict, or even really create it,

But they do! That is exactly what the rules do! How can you not see that? Is the theme too controversial for you to read the game straight? It is very simple: instead of having a die telling you how to resolve conflict, the player gets 100% authority over his own narrative (with push'n pull from the other players, of course). You set the conflict, and you resolve it, and if you choose a violent solution in any way you know what the consequence will be.

It's your own choice all the way, but you are not playing the game in a vacuum. Life is not a vacuum either, you know. ;-)

Sage, your MLWM-inspired approach is neat, and I really like the portion where the ravens don't directly interact with their targets.

Filip, "A Conspiracy" seems perfectly fine to me, grammatically. Also, I like that your game took a completely different approach than most of the others so far.

Posted By: TomasHVM

Posted By: sageRe: RAVEN - claw and beak

Wow, intense.

Thanks! It was an intense experience writing it. My wife immediately hated it, and got quite wild when I speculated loudly about taking our own teddybear (Mr Bumble) to a game of RAVEN. "No, you're not!" - she said, and hugged our teddy as if I was some kind of devil. But later on she called me "avantgarde", and that is, of course, a great compliment coming from an artisk like her (she is working a steel and glass and lights).

Posted By: sageAgain, I'd say that I feel more like it's a very intense conversation starter, or a interesting form of therapy, but I'm not sure about it being a game.

Oh, but Sage, you don't have to be sure of it being a game to play it. Go get knife and teddy!

Posted By: sageThe rules don't resolve conflict, or even really create it,

But they do! That is exactly what the rules do! How can you not see that? Is the theme too controversial for you to read the game straight? It is very simple: instead of having a die telling you how to resolve conflict, the player gets 100% authority over his own narrative (with push'n pull from the other players, of course). You set the conflict, and you resolve it, and if you choose a violent solution in any way you know what the consequence will be.

It's your own choice all the way, but you are not playing the game in a vacuum. Life is not a vacuum either, you know. ;-)

I'll concede, they certainly draw it out, but I don't see a whole lot of difference between the game and saying "sit down and talk about a conflict you had." Like I said, I think this is just a difference in our definitions of 'game' and not necessarily a bad one. I tend to like games that in some way create and resolve conflict via mechanical systems, and while I think your entry does a really good job of making people think about their choices (and probably make them feel very awkward in the process :) ), that doesn't make it a game for me. I think your piece has a lot of value as a way for creating creative responses and communicating a theme.

Posted By: joepub

Posted By: sageRe: The Crows Danced Against It

Great name, and nice taste in music.

My one critique would be, I'm not sure if I'd count it as a game. As a kind of post-modern improv performance piece, I like it, but I just don't see a game. There aren't really any rules for interaction, which seems to make the difference between improv and game for me.

I really like the concepts, the writing, and the soundtrack.

Thanks. I like my taste in music too!

I'm not sure I'd count it as a game either. I'm not particularly concerned about whether or not it is. It's a storytelling activity that fills a lot of the same itch that other story games do, and for me that's what counts.

I'd argue that there are rules for interaction. One person reads the entirety of the scene's stipulations when the song starts, then says "Begin", and there is no chance for clarification or exploration of the stipulations before play must begin. And people are given permission to do weird things with character ownership. And in a few scenes, players are even told they must inhabit certain roles in certain ways. I'd say that those are rules for interaction, personally.

Regardless, you should "play" it, as a post-modern improv performance piece. And then let me know how it went, who's heart broke, and what I made before I died.

Hmmm, that got me thinking. So I think you're right, there are rules for interaction. I think what I was looking for was rules that force me to take the story in ways I didn't intend. As I said in my previous post, I think this is my personal taste, not something inherent to your entry. I just like games that play a little more traditionally, that help me tell a story in ways that I otherwise might not, and hopefully steer things in an interesting way.

Like I said, I really like the concept, and the set music and timing should make for some very interesting sessions. How'd you get started thinking about having a set soundtrack and having that tie to the game? It's a really awesome idea that I'm pretty sure I never would have thought of.

Posted By: sageLike I said, I really like the concept, and the set music and timing should make for some very interesting sessions. How'd you get started thinking about having a set soundtrack and having that tie to the game? It's a really awesome idea that I'm pretty sure I never would have thought of.

Sage, I've written soundtrack dependant games before.

Bleeding Omaha (also a game I wrote for Jonathan Walton) is about emo musicians in Omaha, and the game is HIGHLY influenced by previous works of Omaha emo-scenesters. It involves writing and singing songs in the vein of, as well.

Ribbon Drive is a road trip game where players create mix tapes and bring them to the session. The mix tapes directly influence the game's situation and aid in scene framing. Switching tapes is a significant tone-altering event.

So... I guess playing around with music+gaming is something I'm interested in doing. Also, I was listening to music while thinking about this competition and was like, "I should make a game about THIS SONG! Oh my god, I want them to play this song at my funeral. I SHOULD MAKE A GAME ABOUT THIS SONG AT MY FUNERAL! Wait, even better..."

Voila.

I read this a few days ago and had no intention of doing something, but then Crow's-feet came out. Huh.

Posted By: Marshall BurnsSimon, thanks :) "Shiny objects" is honestly the first thing that pops into my head when I hear "crow." Death, omens, even the term "murder" is well behind that in terms of tangential association. Maybe I'm weird, but I don't think of crows as something dark and creepy at all. Really, I kinda like them.

I've been waiting for someone to enter a game that trades on the decidedly lighter symbolism that crows have traditionally had in America and Australia. Or something about the trickster-creator god Raven that for certain aboriginal cultures fills the role Coyote does in native-American ones.

Posted By: misubaI've been waiting for someone to enter a game that trades on the decidedly lighter symbolism that crows have traditionally had in America and Australia. Or something about the trickster-creator god Raven that for certain aboriginal cultures fills the role Coyote does in native-American ones.

I thought mine did. There's no explicit mention of those traditions, but they definitely were part of the inspiration.

Carrion - Pt 2

Play occurs in the following order, repeating each round until all but two players are dead:


A. Circle the table

While the participant in charge of music plays or sings tune, all players walk around the table (like you are playing musical chairs). When the music stops, players take seats. Without pushing other players, try to sit down in a chair that (a) has few pox tokens in front of it (if you know or think you know how they are distributed), (b) is not next to chairs other players are sitting down in, (c) is not next to any corpses once players have started dying, and (d) has the crow token if you know or think you know where it is. As in musical chairs, players must always walk forward at a steady pace; you can't stop in front of a chair until the music ends.

B. Look at tokens

Without letting the other players see what you have, look in your container.

C. Move towards the fur trader

The player with the fur token now announces that they have it. If there are empty chairs next to that player (on one or both sides), the players nearest shift over one seat to sit in the previously empty chair next to the fur player. (Representing the lure of the fur trade). Only the player or players next to the originally empty seat move; other players do not move when the initial shift opens up a new empty seat or seats. When they shift they leave the container in front of them and look at the container at the new chair they shift into. If no one sat at the chair with the fur token, skip this step.

D. Crow moves players

Next the player with the crow token may choose to use their authority as priest to move one other player (not themselves) or swap two players. They can move players in order to separate or unite a female and a male player – representing the priest's interest in regulating sexual and family life. In a game with only one gender of players, the crow character can separate or united players with different colored hair- representing Indians and settlers or heathens and Christians. The player(s) who get moved leave the containers in front of them. The crow player can narrate briefly on the situation that led him to move other players around and players who were relocated can add their thoughts. Skip this step if no player has the crow token.

D. Fur trader swaps containers

Then the player with the fur token (who could be different than earlier in the round), can trade their container and all its contents (fur token and any pox tokens) for the container of either of the players sitting adjacent to them. If you have the fur token, you want to trade to a player who hopefully has fewer pox tokens in your container than you do in yours. Players involved in a transaction can briefly narrate what occurred. If no player has the fur token, skip this action.

E. Announce symptoms

After all moves and trades have occurred, any player who was infected by smallpox during the last round raises their hand.

F. Count pox

Each player counts how many pox tokens they have in the container in front of them (currently in front of them if they or their container has moved during the round). If you are sitting 'alone' with empty chairs on both sides of you, then subtract one from the number of pox tokens you have. If you have players sitting on both sides of you, add one to your number of tokens. If you are sitting next to an infected player, add an additional one to your number of pox tokens for each infected player you are next to. If you are sitting in between two dead players, add an extra one to your total. (There will not be any dead or infected players during the first round).

If you have three or more tokens after factoring in where you are sitting, you have contracted the pox. Do not tell the other players that you are contagious.

G. Narrate

Identify yourself as an Indian if you do not have the crow or fur token, as a European priest if you have the crow token, and an Indian or a European settler if you have the fur token. Give yourself a name and a quasi-historical role or setting if you like. Players who were shifted or conducted trades during the round should briefly narrate how their character moved to follow the animals or commodities of the fur trade or was relocated based on the whims of the priest. Players who took actions as the crow or fur trader can also describe their motivations. Player who are infected should narrate how they are coping with the illness or what they think brought it upon them.


H. Die

Following the first round of play, players who were infected during the previous round die from smallpox. Dying players can share their final words. Dead players stay seated in the chairs they occupied when they died. Dead players can take turns running the music

I. Dead players shift tokens

At the end of the round in which one or more players die, the rest of the players leave the room and the dead player(s) redistribute the contents of their containers among the other containers. There is one exception, each dead player keeps one pox token in the container in front of them, distributing the rest of the tokens and the fur or crow token if they had it. As during the initial distribution, the crow and fur tokens cannot be placed in the same container.

End

The game, and smallpox epidemic, ends when two (or fewer) players are left after the end of a round. These players can describe the fallout from the epidemic and what happens to their characters.

Posted By: misubaThis shows you that I haven't been keeping up fully. d'oh

Well, I don't think there have been any other light ones yet... (I know I'm just opening the door for someone pointing out I missed theirs, now).