This is a five-session series where we will play a game of Alice is Missing first, and then play the same characters as teenage monsters across four sessions of Monsterhearts 2
Being able to attend every session is ideal, but not required. You should RSVP to each session you wish to attend. No prior experience with the games is necessary. All rules will be taught.
Alice is Missing (session 1)
CONCEPT: Alice is Missing is a silent role-playing game about the disappearance of Alice Briarwood, a high school junior in the small town of Silent Falls. After character creation, the game is played live and without verbal communication. Players inhabit their high school characters for the entirety of the 90-minute play session, and instead of speaking, send text messages back and forth to the other characters in a group chat, as well as individually.
AIM: Player characters explore their relationships with each other and Alice while also trying to figure out where Alice may be. The game regularly creates new information and plot events through the use of card reveals that occur at scheduled times.
TONE: Haunting, intimate, and potentially tragic, Alice is Missing puts a strong focus on the emotional engagement between players, immersing them in a tense, dramatic mystery that unfolds organically through the text messages they send to one another. Right at home with games like Life Is Strange, Gone Home, Oxenfree, and Firewatch, it’s designed to feel as much like an event-style experience as it does a role-playing game.
SUBJECT MATTER: Alice is Missing explores topics of lack of agency, death, grief, helplessness, loss, tense family dynamics, and violence. Player discretion is advised.
Monsterhearts 2 (sessions 2-5)
CONCEPT: Monsterhearts 2 is a PbtA game about the messy lives of teenagers who are secretly monsters. It explores the terror and confusion of having a body that is changing without your permission. The monstrosity of these characters is literal: they are vampires, werewolves, witches, and more. But their monstrosity is also allegorical, standing in for experiences of alienation, shame, queerness, and self-destruction.
AIM: Everyone shares the same agenda: make each main character’s life not boring, keep the story feral, say what the rules demand, and say what honesty demands. It’s about exploring relationships and internal strife. While not exactly player-versus-player, it is certainly a game where characters hurt one another, make mistakes, and navigate social fallout.
TONE: Imagine a teen supernatural romance with elements of horror. The tone may move between comedic and serious, but melodrama will always be the constant. Media touchstones include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vampire Diaries, and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
SUBJECT MATTER: Monsterhearts 2 explores some difficult themes: dysfunctional relationships, teen sexuality, coercive power, trauma, abuse, violence, and queer marginalization.
SESSION LENGTH: 3.5 hours.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 4 (one seat is being reserved for Jon Diaz)
RSVP OPEN ACCESS TIME: Nov 11, 2022 - 22:00 Pacific time
SET-UP : We will use Zoom and Discord for our sessions. I’ll email all players about a week before the first session with the necessary links and resources. We will plan to record, but I will confirm this with the players. The Gauntlet Code of Conduct will be in play and we will use Lines and Veils and the X-Card, as well as Script Change for safety tools.
Thank you to Donogh for the idea to pair these two games together!