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A BROAD ENTERED MY OFFICE • 2016 rpg finalist

Wilhelm Person • wilhelmsgames.wordpress.com

A BROAD ENTERED MY OFFICE 
By Wilhelm Person
A story game for six or more players in 200 words.

Something happened last night, the Private Investigator has been taken in for questioning. 

Setup
  Wear something nice.
  Assign three PI players and a Detective.
    The PI interrogated by the Detective. (Arrange two chairs facing each other.)
    The PI’s inner voice is the Narrator. (Decide a spot for the Narrator to be in.)
    The PI working on the case. (Mark a stage where the meetings and events can be played/acted out.)
  The remaining players play the people the PI meets.
  Put on some noir jazz.
  Have a whiskey.

The game starts when the Narrator says “So there I was, being questioned about the events of last night.”

Play scenes
  The Detective asks three questions and the PI in the chair answers the first two of them.
  The Narrator sets the scene for an answer to the third question.
  The actors play/act out the scene until interrupted by the Narrator adding more information or the Detective asking new questions. 

Swap roles as you please during the game.

The game ends when the Detective says “You’re free to go.”

Have another whiskey.

Author Comments (if any)

Author did not add any comments.

Judge Comments

This game drew me in with the title, and didn’t disappoint. A cheeky little noir game with fluid roles and an endless possibility of scenes. The ruleset is clear and fits the desired tone, and it would be super easy to pick up and play. This could play anywhere from a serious noir film to an overblown pastiche of the genre and I’m loving it. - Jacqueline Bryk

The concept of a player taking on the role of the PI’s narrator is genius, and that’s enough for me to warrant voting for it. Plus it does some fun things with narrative control and power - I can imagine the PI trying to talk their way out of a situation and their narrator revealing that they’re lying through their teeth, which gives a nice rhythm to proceedings. - Grant Howitt


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