Here's what I'm thinking:

-2 players
-2 characters, created by looking at the people around you and picking one or tweaking one to make her grabby--one or two adjectives, a word about a single standout element of looks/clothing, that's it.
-a single intriguing situation that will get resolved by the end.
-the first text is me introducing my character and throwing down the situation, the second is you introducing your character and hooking in to the situation.
-played through texting messages back and forth from our phones, maybe 10 messages each and that's it.
-No more than 3 sentences per messages.

I think the entire design would only need to consist of the above rules, plus a handful of situations, plus a mechanic for resolution (which is either hard or loose--something kicks in to trigger resolution because of something a player wrote, or "the game ends in 20 messages: play toward and resolve that ending between yourselves"). Plus, maybe something that's unique to the text message format that will inform/shape play somehow (other than the above constraints--here I'm thinking something about the inputting of text messages themselves, but I don't know what); I haven't thought about it too much yet.

That sounds a lot like some of the "Norwegian Style" games that are coming through at the moment.

I'd be interested to see how you'd set up a premise for the initial situation and maybe some ideas for plot development....but otherwise you're right, you wouldn't need much more to get a playable game.

Take a look at Happy Birthday, Robot! for an example of a game that could be played this way -- though HBR does require some dice and coins.

In HBR, players take turns adding words to a sentence. Sentences join together to make a story. There is no conflict resolution mechanism. Each sentence is written in three parts: the Storyteller writes a bunch of words that may include the free word "Robot"; one of her neighbors adds a bunch of words and may include the free word "and"; the other neighbor adds a bunch of words and may include the free word "but." The BUT doesn't always get used; however, when it does, it often creates conflict. The dice are used to see how many words people get to add. Coins are used to track the progress of the story, to give other players extra words, and to force the Epilogue (end of the story).

There's a bit more to it than that, but this should supply some awesome-grist for your thought-mill.

cool, Adam, HBR has been on the periphery of my mind but hasn't come into the middle of the sea of games I'm swimming in. I'll go out and actually read how it works, now.

Currently I'm thinking that the game will have a general theme with various situations presented as options. Perhaps the theme will be, but I'm waffling: estranged friends meeting up again (seems kind of appropriate and ironic considering the long-distance medium of the game. Also, an old friend called me out of the blue to tell me her dad is dying today, while I was thinking about the game--so I'm sure that's had some impact on my thoughts).

For the starting situation, which is basically a small Kicker, I think I'm going to steal a mechanic probably whole-cloth from Ben Robbins' game Microscope (which is still being worked on/in playtest as far as I know). Here's the text:

Microscope wrote:
2) State the Question

Current player states a Question that this Scene will answer. The Question is why we are watching the Scene in the first place, and the Scene isn't complete until we find the answer.

          Does the king betray his neighbor? Does the soldier
          choose love over loyalty to his country? Why did the rebels
          surrender?

A Question can be a simple yes/no or it can require a more detailed answer.

A Question can establish facts. If the Question is "who murders the king?" then it tells us the king is going to be murdered. There's no avoiding it. Careful crafting of the Question can shape the Scene. "Why did the king betray his country?" spawns a totally different scene than "Does the king betray his country?"

Okay, we are ready for playtest, folks. I still haven't read HBR, but I like where this is going, so I'm going with it, and if I hit any snags during playtest maybe it'll help me out (still planning on reading it in the next couple days).

So, the rules:

-The game is played through texting messages back-and-forth.
-2 players: this is you & friend.
-2 characters: this is your playing piece in the game, whom you create with words.
-No more than 10 messages each, though if the game finishes before that it's fine.
-No more than 3 sentences per text.
-Player 1 chooses the situation, Player 2 chooses the setting. The situation is the point of play: what is the answer to the question? We don't know, and we find out by playing. Once the question is answered, the game is over. Don't rush toward the answer. You have 10 turns, and it's an intimate setting. The point of play, is to play, and end when you reach the end condition. The setting is color for both of you to hook into, no more no less. Let it breathe.
-Once the situation and setting are chosen and communicated, each player creates a character. You do this by looking at the people around you and picking one or tweaking one to make her grabby--one or two adjectives, a word about a single standout element of looks/clothing, that's it. You don't need to write about your character before the game proper starts: introduce her in your first turn. Include a name, if you wish.
-You say what your character does and says, and not what the other character does and says. You can include other, new, spontaneously created characters, and both players get them as an additional playing piece, to do what they want with. Any other setting element also belongs to both players.
-The game starts with player 1 playing their first turn, and goes from there. If you're getting to your last message or three, begin to draw things to a close. Think of pulling a drawstring on a bag, slowly, steadily, definitively.
-There is no time limit. The nice thing about texting is that you can play this through the day, at work or wherever. I figure games will range from 30 minutes (for those doing nothing else) to a day or two. In any case, don't expect your playing partner to respond immediately. He'll do so when he can. Still, if it's been a half a day or so with no reply, maybe see what's going on.

some advice: Take what the other player says and build on it, like you're both making a lego tower. Don't knock it down! Let their turns inform yours, such that the answer to the situation, the ending of play, is something you've both created and had input into, even though it may be fully revealed in one player's turn.

the situations: player 1, choose one

1. Does the Jilted choose love over vengeance?
2. Why does the boy not speak?
3. Does the mother give in to her addiction?
4. What caused the man to finally show a real smile?
5. What is hidden in their father's secret laboratory?

the setting: player 2, choose one

1. An abandoned beach house, salt & sand in every crack.
2. A wet, black, night, under the single orange lamp of a streetlight.
3. In the dead husk of the sugar factory, the setting sun glinting off broken glass.
4. Just before dawn at the ballfield, with fog-horns in the distance.
5. In the wheat fields the day before harvest: a flaxen sea of silence.

commentary: So, yes, I just kind of brainstormed those situations & settings on a whim, though the settings at least seemed to take on a theme all their own. Basically, these are all for playtest purposes, to see what people make out of them, and what kind of packed little scenes they generate. The game doesn't have a title yet, but I've got at least one brewing.

Anyway, if you want to play this with me, send me a PM or email, and I'll give you my phone number. Or if you play it with someone else, come back and let me know how it goes. Thanks, folks. I hope this works, but who knows? I'm excited.

Hans wrote:
-The game starts with player 1 playing their first turn, and goes from there.

Stuff will be posted in AP soon.

So, to close this thread out, rather than just leave it hanging:

I played a couple games, and I just don't think there's much there. It was okay, but it's really just a simple exercise in collaborative micro-fiction through texting, which I found out I'm not really interested in, so I'm not going to work on this further. Thanks for making the effort to give me your thoughts, Adam & Vulpinoid!