Awaiting the End

Universal
Future Proof Games
2014
Complexity: 1

Awaiting the End is a game about “a group of people awaiting a doom in an unpleasant place,” which makes it only slightly more uplifting than Camwhores. It’s also a GM-less game focused almost entirely on storytelling, which is the sort of thing that usually end up being a bit too role playing and not enough game for my tastes.


Setting: 2/3 [•]
No setting is provided, but that’s kinda the point. Creating the setting is actually part of the game, and can pretty much be anything as long is it adheres to a place where the characters await doom. This is done by each player writing one-word descriptions of a possible ‘World,’ ‘Place,’ ‘Doom,’ and ‘Hope’ on cards. The cards are dealt out by type, the players can switch them around a bit, and then everything but two of each type are discarded, with the remaining cards determining the primary and secondary details of each feature, which the players use so build up the setting and situation. So for example, if you had the following cards:

• World: Underwater, Western
• Place: Basement, Jail
• Doom: Ninjas, Explosion
• Hope: Tunnel, Secret

You could say that the characters are in a flooded ghost town, hiding in the basement of the jail, from the scuba-ninjas who are rigging the place with explosives, and their only hope is finding a secret tunnel to safety. This actually sounds really fun, honestly, just doing that part seems like it would be worth playing for.

Character Creation: 3/5
Characters in Awaiting the End are defined by a single-word ‘Personality’ and ‘Goal.’ Every player writes one of each on a card which are then dealt out to the players to determine their character. Like the setting, this sounds fun. Being given two random descriptors and having to base a character around them seems like like a recipe for some creative and/or wacky ideas.

Mechanics: 4/5
Okay, now onto the actual game. Once everything is set, the players go around each telling the story of how they came to be in the current situation. Other players are encouraged to ask questions to flesh out the story, except one who is the ‘Adversary.’ The Adversary brings conflict into the story by asking questions about how obstacles were overcome, the Storyteller must then come with a explanation of them overcoming the obstacle and one for how it led them to their current situation. The outcome is settled by a roll off between the Storyteller--who has 6 dice--and the Adversary--who has one. If--or rather when--the Adversary wins the player’s turn ends and moves onto the next, if the player wins they give one die from their pool to the Adversary, then the Adversary position--and their dice--move onto the next player. When the Storyteller fails all their remaining dice are put in a ‘Doom Pile’ and al the Adversary’s dice are put into the Storyteller’s ‘Hope Pile.’ Once everyone has gone the Doom Pile and each player’s Hope pile are rolled to determine who escapes the situation and who doesn’t.
I actually really like this. Aside from aforementioned fun randomness I like how the game has been designed to allow for all players to be involved during every turn, and how well each player does affects the chance of success for the entire group. Admittedly, a big part of that fourth point is for incorporating the building of the setting and character creation into the actual gameplay.

Writing: 2/3 [•]
Well, I guess every game has a weak point. The writing isn’t bad per se, it just doesn’t do a great job explaining some of the concepts. Specifically the process for generating the setting definitely could have been explained better, and the gameplay example given doesn’t really give the best examples for the various card types--how is “hungry” a hope? But like I said, it’s not bad, just the weakest area of the overall product.

Presentation: 3/5
The game is presented in a tri-fold pamphlet, which is a good thing to know before getting into it because that means the rules start on the third column of the first page. Overall it’s somewhat plainly, but very neatly laid out. The art and diagrams--while minimal--are appropriate and well done--also the diagram really helps with understanding the setting generation.

Final Remarks
Overall this is a nice little game. It’s a bit more in the “highbrow storytelling experience” category than the stuff I’m generally into, but I think it actually backs up the airs it puts on and the level of pretentiousness is going to be directly related to who you play it with. Also, one you learn them the rules are really simple. Like, I could easily play this game without having to reference any of the rules.

Base Points: 10
Character Creation: 3/5, Mechanics: 4/5, Presentation: 3/5
Adjustments: +0
Setting: +0, Writing: +0, Content: N/A

Overall Score: 67% (10/15 Points)
But what if all the players pick "ninjas?"