[The following is my submission for the sad mecha game jam. I would urge you to participate, but by the time you read this it’ll probably be too late. Tough luck.]

Dry Fire

a game of piloted robots

What You Need:

• 3 to 6 siblings, between the ages of 4 and 12, who have recently experienced a family tragedy
• An empty living room
• An urn containing the ashes of your father
• The gun your father shot himself with, unloaded

Play:

Move the coffee table to the middle of the living room, if it’s not already there. Put Dad’s urn and the gun on the coffee table.  Everyone sprints to a different corner of the room, about equally far away from the table, and stands there. Count down from ten together, aloud. When the countdown ends, make a mad run for the coffee table and try to grab the gun. Don’t be timid. Fight for it if you have to. Keep at it until only one player has their hands on the gun.

The player holding the gun is the mech pilot. They set the scene. Tell the other players what’s going on, why you’re about to fight. The story can be nearly anything you can imagine, but it must include giant monsters and one big awesome robot. Oh, and don’t talk forever. Christ.

All other players are kaiju. Kaiju cannot speak, but they can scream. The kaiju want to kill the mech pilot. Don’t think too much about why.

The kaiju chase the mech pilot around the living room, trying to tackle him. The mech pilot fights back with his gun. Roughhouse. Make noise. Point the gun at each other. Make a loud bang when you pull the trigger.

If a kaiju manages to wrestle the gun away from the mech pilot, they become the pilot and the pilot becomes a kaiju. Play continues as before.

At any time one of the kaiju may kneel behind Dad’s urn and speak in the deepest voice they can manage. They’re now the commander. They have the power to give the mech pilot orders, and the pilot should try to follow them. Feel free to disobey the commander a little though, or at least to find ways to turn his directions upside down.

The game continues until Mom catches you. Remember where you left off. Try to pick up the story the next time you’re alone. Imagine each game is an episode of a sweet TV show. All of these episodes together form the campaign.

The campaign ends when one of the players figures out how to load the gun.