The Waiting Game

Artist Statement:

I made this game because I wanted to explore the concept of “idle adventure” that takes place in one mundane, everyday location. I was inspired by my time spent waiting for the bus, something I do every day. Sometimes I’m alone but usually I am surrounded by other strangers. We are all waiting for the same thing to happen, for the bus to arrive. But once it does and we board we have different destinations expecting us. Even if two people share the same destination their reason for travelling is never the same. 

Getting on the bus is not so important on its own, but getting to our next desired destination, moving forward in life step by step, is at the center of living. So what if your ability to do so was taken away from you. Sometimes it feels like the bus will never arrive. Like the world trying to keep me from it. I thought, what if this was true? I spend a lot of time stuck waiting for life. Is the time spent waiting for life wasted? 

The main element I used was week seven of my Magpie book, collecting the spaces in my life. I was stuck waiting for the midnight bus during a torrential downpour. The game's opening description mirrors that night to the best of my memory, down to the western hemlock trees. That entry was the inspiration for the entire game. And many of the names I used for the Deck of Any Day Now cards came from the colleges I made in the first three weeks of the Magpie book. I flipped through the book and compiled words/phrases that caught my eye. Then I used them to inspire the situations attached to each card. 

I started brainstorming this game after submitting my reflection on the in class play through of Dread. The final question of the reflection asked what unique gameplay mechanics we would consider including in our own games. I did some research and found At The Monarch's Gate, which used tarot instead of dice rolling as its main gameplay mechanic. I decided to do the same, originally planning for pulls from a tarot deck to only determine the arrival of a certain NPCs or obstacles. But I decided to challenge myself and see if I could use one tarot deck for the entire gameplay including character creation. 

My design for the game was heavily influenced by tarot cards. I wanted each page to feel like its own card in a single deck. I liked the tie tarot has to destiny. While designing the game I hoped that choosing your character’s bus destination was more a way of choosing their personal destiny, what they hoped/dreaded was in store for them.  I tried my best to keep it to one page and followed the zine format allowed by the assignment guidelines. It is 8 pages, the length of the average zine, and does technically fit on one page. 

I hope the players have fun. That’s all I really want out of the game. I designed it to encourage deep character development, conflict, and reflection. But if none of that happens and the players still enjoy themselves, I’ll be happy with it.