Due to some unfortunate timing snafus (one of our game developers just moved 300 miles from home on Saturday and the other is wrangling a grueling academic schedule) our process has been rather extempore.  We first had our resident Shakespeare expert break down major themes of the plays categorized by genre.  Then, we went to work brainstorming the mechanics of the game.

Our layout expert has already created a template into which we may plug material once it is sufficiently copy-edited.

The premise of the game lies with Shakespeare’s groundlings.  Underprivileged viewers have decided to stage their own Shakespeare-inspired production based upon classic Shakespearean elements.  Players vie to be the star of the show as they traverse five acts of a comedy, history, or tragedy.  Mechanics focus upon upstaging other actors as well as how motives drive the plot but also ultimately lead to a character’s untimely demise.

Tomorrow, our wordsmith goes to work crafting the game.  Link to follow!

A few text messages, a phone call, and a 4 hour face-to-face planning session and we (finally) have an outline for a game!

I am excited to see what people think of Revenge of the Groundlings!

Good to see a bit more Groundling action!!!

I look forward to seeing some of the mechanics your team develops.
Some struggles I've faced with something similar include motivating players to build an overarching narrative, while competing against each other, focused on short term goals.

I'm trying to deal with it by regulating interruption, and providing goals that upon achieving, will better the structure of the story and leave the DETAILS to the players.

Hey gang!  Thanks for the support!

Have a look at our game here: http://daniprose.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/revenge-of-the-groundlings_final.pdf