Now that some core ideas are out, let's spend some time discussing them and pseudo-brainstorming about them.
It would be great if you'd take a moment to at least:
- Mention something you like about the idea,
- Mention something that you don't care for or are concerned about regarding the idea, and
- Put out anything else about the idea you'd like, including any basic implementation ideas.
Here's one of Scurra's thoughts:
Quote:
I want to pitch a game based around famous book plots. This was mostly inspired by Jasper Fforde's fantastic "Thursday Next" series of fantasy detective stories (I don't think he's very well known in the US yet, but he will be!) Anyway, the premise there is that Fiction is an alternate reality, and what we read in novels is merely the actions of a bunch of actors who do other things when they aren't needed in the narrative. However, there are trouble-makers who want to interfere with the stories: people who think that Heathcliffe should be killed, or that the rude bits should be excised from the Canterbury Tales and so on. So there is a whole department called "Jurisfiction" devoted to making sure that the plots remain intact; one of the original gags in the first book was the murder (in our world) of a minor character from David Copperfield who now doesn't appear in the book any more...
So the game would involve either the players trying to affect the plotline of a famous book (to insert their own characters or to change the ending to one that suits their hidden agenda), or the players having to try and stop external events from changing the plot of a book by "patching" the mistakes. As you can see, the game hasn't exactly been thought through yet, but it seemed like it had potential.
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I've not read these books, but they sound really great! I'll have to pick at least one up. Very cool.
As a game I see real potential. It seems like it could be really fun (and potentially funny), as well as educational. I really dig the idea of learning about the plots of famous books I haven't read, too. :)
A potential downside would be that it might turn people off -- the idea of literature scares a lot of people (even me a bit and I'm pretty well read). I think this could be overcome, though, in presentation and marketing.
From a basic functioning standpoint I think the idea of the characters trying to affect the plotline to their own "nefarious" ends would be cool. I can see a series of cards or tiles laid out in a pattern that shows the basic plot of the book in question. The players would then have something like hidden goals and would manipulate the plot by moving/replacing cards/tiles.
The rules might come with the plots for something like 20 classic books, and more could be published on the web or in expansions. Cool and fun idea.