Group 17 - Reflection

            We always wanted the game to be based around a political campaign. The nature of a contest like that combined with the elements of debate, stance, and creativity that goes into running a campaign make for a TTRPG that’s both easy to grasp, and with the potential for complex verbal joisting.

            We decided early on that we wanted this campaign to take place in a fictional universe. The weight that would come with having a game based around politics and policy set in our world would ruin the enjoyment of the experience. It’d just be too intense. Instead, we elected for an alien world so we could craft a narrative that’s different than the real-world issues we experience today. It also just makes for a more colourful and engaging aesthetic.

            We toyed around with having this game in more of a tower-building format.  Raising funds, making signs, speeches, etc. But we realized that the real essence at play was around the debates.  We decided to focus more on that and have the other elements around a political election be implied.

            The format of the voting system came as both a way to keep the game even, and to mimic the democratic nature of an actual election. Scoring points comes not by the rules of the game, but by swaying the minds of your co-players. That’s what an election is essentially, and we wanted to capture that in our gameplay.

            The towns and races came later on.  This paired with the narrative around the previous “Minister Prime” fleeing during a time of crises was all to add colour to the world we’d created, as well as talking points for the debates. The towns and races came as a tool both to immerse the players in the game and to create diversity among the political factions. Because we were making the politics of this world less and less like our own, it was important to find a way to distinguish the political parties that would exist on an alien planet. This also allows for clashing perspectives throughout the game, even if its players share real-world political views.

            We used mainly Latin influence on the fake words within the game. The planet, Perennius-9, comes from the Latin for “long lasting”, and the “9” is for the nine races that inhabit the planet. Pointing at the narrative around the planet bouncing back from near destruction. The former Minister Prime is named Simian Cortex, which translates to “Monkey Brain”.

            Creating this game was both fun and productive. Our group worked really well together communicating and creating.  We each had very different skillsets that as a group complimented each other, as we were able to take on the responsibilities we were best suited for.

            We’re excited for others to play this game.

            Long live Perennius-9!