The Joker Game

[Dusty]

Welp, my sick and twisted brain has come up with another idea for a roleplay that I can't help but not look into, so I might as well see if anyone would actually be into it. Anyone who knows me real well knows that I like to have RPs whose entire purpose is to mind-f**k my players, and this one is no different!

Honestly, its more of a concept than a proper roleplay at this point, but I feel like its a style that has not been done a whole lot yet, so that's why I'm throwing this here.

So the concept comes from an anime I recently watched called the "Joker Game" (I highly recommend it by the way). Essentially, its about Japanese spies in the early days of World War II. The roleplay I would do really has nothing to do with this, but more taken from what some of the characters point out in the first couple episodes of the roleplay in respect to politics. In many ways, the political scene pre-WWII is like a poker game, where each player at the table is vying for power and information they can use against the others. Favors are done, secret meetings are held, promises are made in order to give the greatest advantage to yourself. In a poker game, you have both players and spectators, and the spectators can give signals in order to help the players cheat. But you never know when a spectator's favor shifts from one person to another, and the signals they gave you can easily turn into a weapon to be used against you.

Based off of that probably sub-par explanation, essentially my idea for a roleplay is to put players into a situation where they are competing against each other striving for one goal. The players can work together making alliances and against each other in order to further their own goals and "win" the game. But like in a poker game, you never know when your allies will turn against you and start to hurt you instead of help.​

That's essentially my idea. It would probably be a shorter roleplay that I would run a few times in different settings depending on how well it does, but I'd like to hear your guys' comments on what you think before I commit to anything specific.

(Here is a link to the part of the show that kind of explains what I'm getting at, probably does a better job. Skip to 7:05 for the full scene, or 8:40 if you only want the explanation part till around 11:40)

Spoiler:

http://www.crunchyroll.com/joker-game/episode-1-joker-game-part-1-702531

 

[Djobi Djoba]

That show actually looks very interesting! Thanks for the recommendation.

My first impression is, I don't know how much potential it has for a RP. Maybe the show touches more on the idea of the Joker Game in later episodes, particularly in how it affects things outside of their poker game, and it's just not making much sense to me because I don't have the full context.

That's just a first impression though, and like you said, it's a very rough premise. This could be a very interesting idea if placed in a proper setting, and if the goal of the game is something that is both tangible from the get-go, and has a sense of urgency and importance, not just as the goal of the RP, but within the RP.

 

[moon]

Interesting premise. Sounds a bit like a light version of Hunger Games? Maybe not with a death-or-life setting in that sense, but Hunger Games was always interesting in that they sometimes had to make alliances to survive, but in the end the nature of the game itself forces them all to turn on each other.

Would the players plan openly and only have their IC characters be in the dark about the real intent of the others, or would it be orchestrated somehow so that a few players should plan privately between each other (or with the GM) now and then and actually don't at all know what the other characters will be up to next?

 

[Dusty]

Interesting premise. Sounds a bit like a light version of Hunger Games? Maybe not with a death-or-life setting in that sense, but Hunger Games was always interesting in that they sometimes had to make alliances to survive, but in the end the nature of the game itself forces them all to turn on each other.

Would the players plan openly and only have their IC characters be in the dark about the real intent of the others, or would it be orchestrated somehow so that a few players should plan privately between each other (or with the GM) now and then and actually don't at all know what the other characters will be up to next?

Interesting connection to the hunger games. I've never liked the series, but I can see the connection and may use some ideas from that.

As for the characters planning things, that would be private. I'm big on social games where most people are in the dark and being manipulated, so that's why this thing intrigued me. Players would be able to plan things between themselves privately, making alliances without the others knowing (except for hopefully the GM).

And to answer Djoba's comment, I definitely don't think that the show Joker Game itself would lend itself well to an RP. Its a fun show, but not really something you can write an RP about. Which is why yes, I would be using another setting, and only using the concept of the players competing against each other, secretly working together, and screwing each other over.

 

[basisPx]

It's quite interesting. Poker as well as any other game is a game, you never know when your allies turn against you and start to hurt you instead of help. It's a psychological game, so when you know the main tips, you're a good player. I adore this game, but I wasn't a good player until I found tips and ticks at NetBet. Now I play and win money and everything is wonderful