I've got a strange game that I've been wanting to make. It's a diceless game that uses evocative cards that inspire players to describe their actions in an elaborate, over-the-top fashion.
There's a grid of cards on the table that can represent an element of idea of the scene ("hungrey weapon", "twisted heap of discarded trash", "loyalty that defies sense", etc). Players have cards in their hands that represent their own approaches or abilities ("precise as a chisel", "giant messy axe", "a speed that's almost magical"). On their turns they can alternate Scene cards and Player cards to describe their actions. Other players can play Escalation cards to push them in various directions ("more dangerous", "act it out", "tell it from another character's point of view"). The idea is that each turn is dramatic and unpredictable.
There's no resolution mechanic on the player turn - whatever they say they do, they do (within certain constraints; they can't just kill the big bad or resolve the scene's conflict). But the GM gets a turn afterward. Each time a Scene card is selected, there is a GM card underneath. The GM card determines how impactful the GM's response is. Does it injure a player? Force a difficult decision? Put them at risk? The GM cards also serve the function of tracking how close the players are to resolving the scene.
Finally, there's the world-building. The setting is a multiverse, and each session takes place inside a different verse, or reality. The verses are constructed by placing cards into slots on a page. A slot might be "Government structure" or "Philosophical crisis" or "Impending threat". Once filled, a given page should give the structure of the verse and the conflict that the players will be engaged in while in that verse. Each verse will have a different genre (horror, sci-fi, talking animals, etc) to evoke a theme and a feeling.
It's a lot, and it's a very different playstile from anything I've seen. I'm worried that the basic play element, using the cards to describe the action, will either be too limiting (leading to frustration) or too open (leading to a feeling of randomness and disconnection from the narrative). I'll have to playtest to see.
Also need to think of a name.