Despair Dilemma
Thrills, Chills, Kills!
Genre: Death Game
Touchstones:Danganronpa, Squid Game,
What is this game?: Despair Dilemma is a game about playing as the directors in your very own killing game!
How's the gameplay?: Despair Dilemma is one of the more interesting games I've covered. The cast does not play individual characters, rather everyone controls the full cast of characters in some way, however players can sometimes zoom in and more directly control certain characters, as well as influence character moves by using their moves, for example the Massacre plot book being able to make any character with a motive murder another character. DD is also somewhat GMless! the role of Narrator is passed around different players. Players also have objectives during the main narrative, adding to a competitive edge that a lot of games don't have, the players are actively encouraged to sabotage each other's schemes and spend resources to fuck over your fellow players. The game's divided by 3 chapters, chosen by the Death Game Sheet, each chapter becomes increasingly more dangerous and adds new mysteries to the world to keep the world strange to the players, Death Game Sheets also determine the game's setting, maybe you're in a train going to nowhere, maybe they're on a boat, maybe they're trapped inside a high school, who knows!
What's the setting (If any) like?: You're in a death game! the specifics will be determined by the player's choices
What's the tone?: If you're familiar with Danganronpa or Squid game you'll know that this world will be fairly dire, while there exists a playbook that tries to keep the players hopeful, most games will be hopeless miserable romps through murder filled hallways
Session length: I'm not sure! I think this game would lend itself to longer sessions but shorter overall games, there's an expected cut off point to campaigns within the Epilogue chapter
Number of Players: 2+
Malleability: Uhhhh, None really? you're intended to play death games, you could make a custom death game sheet but yeah otherwise you're stuck with what the game gives you
Resources: The game comes with a folder full of things to help you play the game
This is... interesting! It's a lot more board game like than a lot of the games i've covered, but i really like that! a TTRPG can sometimes be a board game with extra improv, after all! The game's design is fascinating in how it automates many of its plot telling details, forcing players to make split second and rash decisions on what to do. Additionally, a simplistic character creation system means players can get attached to the characters within the game, but also struggle to keep them safe and alive.