Revisiting Life in the Machine

Hey folx!

So it's been over half a year since I wrote Life in the Machine, the very first game I had ever designed. Since then, I've designed 4 more TTRPGs, with even more WIP.

Ever since releasing the first version of Life in the Machine, I was nervous about the lack of "typical" mechanics, particularly the fact that there's no conflict resolution other than via conversation. And as people played it, it became obvious that it was a barrier for some players.

So for the past few months I've been thinking on what I could do to refine the game without complicating the basic idea of it, to give more guidelines on the conflict resolution without taking away the conversational element. 

When the Your Move Jam was announced, I realized that something as simple as a single move inspired by PbtA could fix my issues. And so I developed the "Override" move, which pulls on the terminology and other setup in the game to create a possibility for mechanical conflict resolution. The game can still be played without it, but by implementing the single mechanic there's increased stakes and chance.

Hope you enjoy, and thanks for joining me on my journey through game dev!

Kienna