solo_knight | 🚂 First Impressions: Call 'em Out

First Impressions Call ‘em out

What is it?
An LGBTQ Power Fantasy of Spite Instead of Survival
This stretches the definition of ‘game’ because this is not about play; it’s about providing catharsis, and pre-loading the espirit d’escalier: you think about what you want to say, and hone it, so that if you encounter the hatred and phobias at your family gathering, you know how you want to counter them.

Is it playable out of the box?
Yes. I’m not completely convinced it’s a ‘game’, but you can certainly use it straight away;

Amendments:
Bring your own -ism – but if you’re in the target group, you’ve heard them often enough.

Tools
1 or 2 d6, a coin/d2; a bucket load of resilience.

Price:
$1

Verdict
🚂 Honourably Retired

I did not play this. I am not the intended audience, but I can see it being cathargic to someone who is stuck having to be polite to vile and agressive family members.

This has only one (very positive) ending, which is why I am not completely convinced ‘game’ is the right descriptor.

As a mental health tool, I can see it work very well. Facing a random challenge at a time when you’re prepared to deal with it, starting from an emotionally resilient point, and having all the time in the world to write down your responses is how you build resilience (I use tarot cards for this).

The permission to get angry, to defend yourself, to express yourself, no holds barred – a solo game is the perfect medium for that.

And this is inspiring me to think about ‘what is a game’ especially in solo space.