Our manifesto

We are building a community joined by memorable moments, by making and playing energising real-world games. Through this, we've learned to value:

• Running and screaming over plotting and scheming.
• Memorable moments over detailed stories.
• Decisive improvisation over complex rules.
• Designing for cooperation over designing for betrayal.
• Short bursts of excitement over long events.
• Designing for everyone over encouraging elite performance.
• Enjoyment and collaboration over logistics and self-sacrifice.
• Friendly competition over high-stakes scoring.

That is, while the things on the right can be pretty good, the things on the left are brilliant.

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Design constraints

These beliefs lead to the constraint set we apply when designing games. Unlike our core values, the constraints evolve, and sometimes shift dramatically. Some of these place quite serious limits on what we can do, and that's OK - creativity comes from necessity.

Logistics

1. Zero crew. Everybody plays. After the briefing, anyone should be interchangeable with anyone else.
2. No secrets. Everybody gets a full briefing.
3. Two minutes of briefing. Fifteen minutes of setup.
4. One bag. As much equipment as a single determined person could carry on a bike.
5. One hour, maximum, of playtime. Multiple rounds are allowed.

Mechanics

1. Play for fun. Games do not need to be resilient against cheating or deliberate breakage.
2. Level field. Draw from sufficiently unusual skills that most people start at about the same level.
3. Avoid elimination mechanics unless they're really necessary.
4. Hazards should be obvious. People can be trusted to be smart about their own safety, but they need full information.

Aesthetics

1. Design first. We make games, not theatre. Aesthetics are always less important than mechanics.
2. Shoot first (and don't worry about the questions). Players should be thinking at a tactical, not strategic, level most of the time.
3. Pay the price. Serious errors should have serious consequences. Games do not need to be forgiving, or easy.
4. Be big, be loud, be frightening, be energising. We're making movie moments, and they're all action movies.

If these are interesting, we'd love to have you along at one of our planning/drinking/playtesting sessions..