[teen sex game]

[redivider]

[Ron Edwards]

Having just played Misery Bubblegum and having been thinking about Escape from Tentacle City, this is sort of hard to disentangle from those two games, in my head. I mean, it sounds fun in a sort of won't-ever-have-to-live-through-it-again way.

I'm especially interested in whether this particular outcome is possible: the two characters genuinely want to hook up, but it doesn't happen despite eminent opportunities and no lack of willingness - they just don't move on it when they should. Not that this reveals anything about that Halloween dance my senior year (punches pillow).

Can you give me a stronger idea of endings or at least personal conclusions?

Best, Ron

[redivider]

Hi Ron,

Yes, it's very possible for two characters to never connect despite one or more attempts. if their cards don't add up, they can't hook up. Players can try to improve the chars' compatability but no guarantees.

That said, as written it's not a game that gives characters (or players controlling chars) lots of agency to explore the subtleties of attraction in a step by step awkward courtship. Instead, with the truth and dare focus, it throws characters togethers, often unexpectedly. Players have to make sense of the pairing after the fact in the back and forth narration of what happened.

(I can imagine giving each character a crush at the start of each year of the game- with some mechanical benefit to connencting with the object of your desire above and beyond the normal outcomes of a succesful dare/hook up. That might cause players to be more intentional in who they try to link up).

There isn't a endgame summing up of each character's status or whether they achieved their desires - probably because during char creation you don't define what they want. I guess because the game has this pseudo-sociological filter followed by narrative explanation, I had chars start sort of as ciphers - as types more than individuals

Some of the individual hook ups generated strong conclusions, like marriage proposals, kids running off together, switching cliques, etc.

By the way, I look forward to a game that does allow a more controlled exploration of the themes you mention. Expecially if it can handle a diversity of adolescent dating situations (or crushes & unrequited/unconsummated relationships regardless of age), like my fav teens in school book, the short novel sweet days of discipline by the swiss writer fleur jaeggy, which has no boys, no sex per se (and none of THAT kind of discipline either...)

mark