Pitch
You play as Mona, a young woman who's been dumped during an evening at a nightclub who revives the breakup in her dreams every night, trying to get out of it by messing up with the events.You'll be exploring different version of the same dream on 3rd person, trying to break the spell by discovering different sides of the nightclub and various ways of interacting with it.Interactions will function as in Disco Elysium or I was a teenage exocolonist: through dialogue and card-based action-resolving
Key Mechanic
Card system
As actions in many tabletop RPG are resolved through dice, actions here are resolved through a hand of customised black jackAt the beginning of every night, Mona will get a very small deck of cards. Every action she'll resolve will grant her one more card linked to the actionWhenever a conflict will arise, the player will** draw 5 cards** and play a hand of black jack against the opponent (even if it's an object), various modificators can be applied depending on the action.Every symbol is linked to specific aspects, granting boost when used to resolve corresponding actions:♣ Skill, maestria, creativity
♥ Sensitivity, energy, openness
♠ Violence, agressivity, assertivity
♢ Knowledge, calculus, reasoning
Level and narrative design
The Ways
As Mona explores her dream, she will be able to visit various versions and aspects of the night she remembers. Sometimes the weather will be different outside, sometimes the nightclub will be a castle and she will have to infiltrate it as a deadly assassin mandated to murder the abominable DJ.These variations are called the Ways. Mona will enter through a different way every night, that can be chosen by the player among the ways they will have unlocked throughout the game. They can be considered as the different maps.
prototype
Character creation
I used Twine to prototype the character creation in the form of a discussion between Mona and her therapist Siobhan. Every answer gives Mona's starting deck a card.The prototype also includes a written version of the first night at the clubTo play it, you'll need a deck of cards (52 cards), a pen and a strong imagination. You might have to take notes if you're not willing to write on the cards
Want to play more ?
Me too, but it's only a design projectThe arts on the cards are made by Carne Griffiths (link below)