CO-CREATORS: Amberlin Hsu, Torien Cafferata
GRAPHIC & UX DESIGN: Amberlin Hsu
STAGE MANAGER & UX TECHNICIAN: Johanna Arnott
UX CONSULTANT: Jacob Niedzwiecki
PERFORMER: Torien Cafferata
VENUE: Various (sandbox game), Saskatoon, SK

Play Fail Win (2020)

This is a roleplaying game that takes place in real life. The Guy you play is a Real Guy who performs all your instructions in a livestream, where you can either watch or play using voice commands over Zoom. You see what he sees. He does what you say. He has a To-Do List he is behind on and only few contacts on his phone but the world is an open sandbox game — because that world is our own world, full of potential.

The catch: like all Guys in Games, most would consider him Not Very Smart and will take everything you say at face value. But he can remember lots if you help him and if you don’t give up neither will he. We hope. He is Very Fragile and can Die from literally just embarrassment. Try Not to Kill Your Guy. If you do, that’s ok — he has three lives, because why should failure stop you?

The game is over when the timer stops, or when Your Guy loses all his lives (remember: any game is a platformer if you are brave enough!). There might even absolutely be secret achievements. There is however absolutely no deep meanings in this game, the least of which could have been neurodivergent communication, identity, and moral displacement — but sadly are not. This is Just a Game. And Your Guy is Just a Guy.

So.

How far will you go?

How much will you learn?

How bad will you die?

VIEW PLAY FAIL WIN LIVESTREAM RECORDING HERE