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A game about Independence, Control, Freedom and Compliance.
AREAS OF CONTROL
At the start of the game each person selects one of the following AREAS OF CONTROL:
- Surveillance (CCTV, grasses, phone taps, social media)
- Physical violence (physical intimidation, police, prison)
- Social (Institutions, healthcare, interpersonal violence)
- Economic (access to resources, scarcity, technology, work offices)
- Information (what is happening, what is known, law, tradition)
At the start of the game select one person to begin in the role of The Prisoner. If this cannot be decided mutually then the person who has most recently been the harassed in some way by the State takes the role. The other players are collectively referred to as The Village.
THE VILLAGE
The Village set and narrate scenes. Each person that is part of The Village can introduce, narrate and have final say over elements in the fiction that fall within their AREA OF CONTROL. This includes characters, situations, institutions, plots, devices or anything that they argue falls within their purview. A member of The Village cannot narrate anything they are unable to argue falls within their AREA OF CONTROL.
AREAS OF CONTROL purposefully overlap. This may lead to conflict and contradiction as narration of an ambiguous part of the fiction is taken one way or another. This is may happen for as long as everyone finds it acceptable. If anyone finds it unacceptable then the uninvolved players decide the outcome.
The Village always tries to meet these goals:
- To understand the reasons for a Prisoner wanting to leave The Village
- To preserve and expand the power of The Village
- To prevent The Prisoners from escaping
THE PRISONER
The Prisoner can only narrate their thoughts, feelings or actions. However, the outcomes of these are controlled by The Village. The Prisoner always tries to reach the following goals:
- To find out who is in charge of The Village
- To escape from The Village
- To keep your reasons for wanting to escape private
If The Prisoner is not willing to settle with an outcome given by The Village they may:
- RESIST and gain a INDEPENDENCE token
- Spend an INDEPENDENCE token and gain some FREEDOM
- RESIGN and select another player to become The Prisoner
RESISTANCE
If The Prisoner RESISTS then The Village will narrate one of the following ways that they try to BREAK them:
- Restrain, injure or immobilise The Prisoner
- Confuse, undermine, or frustrate the efforts of The Prisoner
- Co-opt, house-train or institutionalise The Prisoner
If The Prisoner RESISTS for a second time then the effects leave them BROKEN.
BROKEN
The Village narrates the current plans of The Prisoner failing but also them change in tactics by The Village in order to meet its goals. The person playing The Prisoner picks another player at the table. This person takes on narrating The Prisoner. The other players, including the person who had been The Prisoner up to now, take on the role of The Village.
INDEPENDENCE
If The Prisoner gains FREEDOM then they may narrate one of:
- Subverting one AREA OF CONTROL that will aid The Prisoner
- Avoiding one AREA OF CONTROL so it cannot target The Prisoner
- Outsmarting one AREA OF CONTROL so that it is one step behind The Prisoner
If The Prisoner gains FREEDOM twice before being BROKEN then they select an AREA OF CONTROL which is RETIRED.
RETIREMENT
When an AREA OF CONTROL is RETIRED it is no longer part of The Village and its player can no longer be selected as The Prisoner. They may add narration to scenes related to relaxation, obsolescence, or redundancy. When The Village BREAKS The Prisoner, a RETIREE may narrate one final use of their AREA OF CONTROL that will cause the attempt to BREAK The Prisoner to fail. The Prisoner still gains their INDEPENDENCE token but does not count as being closer to being BROKEN.
When there are only two players left who have not been RETIRED then we enter the FALL OUT.
FALL OUT
From now on:
- If The Prisoner is BROKEN then The Village wins. The Prisoner learns that they are in charge of The Village and that they can never escape. Each player gives a short vignette on how their AREA OF CONTROL (re-)asserts dominance.
- If the final AREA OF CONTROL is RETIRED then The Prisoner discovers that they were in charge of The Village all along and that they can escape whenever they want. Each player gives a short vignette on how their AREA OF CONTROL is finally abolished.