WHAT IS MIRROR STATE?

BY MIRROR STATE JANUARY 10, 2019

Depending on who you ask you have several definitions to consider when it comes to what a megagame is.

We believe they sit somewhere at the intersection between roleplaying, board games, wargames, LARP and escape rooms with dozens, potentially hundreds of players taking part in a single-day, live action disaster movie.

Rules provide a framework and scenario to manage the passage of time in the game world and to give players objectives to chase after, but the games come into their own when the players take over and the day's story starts to emerge. Your ability to manage resources and plan strategically is as important as your skills at bluffing a rival, negotiating something favourable or simply lying to an authority figure by pretending that everything is fine.

You won't be alone. Often you'll play as part of a team, working together against the odds to achieve... well, a result that beats the odds. You see, Mirror State make games about the end of the world. We conduct the apocalypse from numerous viewpoints, always based in the real world with more than a nod toward some of the most entertaining Hollywood movies you've almost certainly seen.

We have one instruction we give all our players, in every game:

Just go with it.

You may be pretending to be the President of the United States, a government scientist, a decorated general, scoop-hungry reporter, plague survivor or any number of other roles. Just go with it. You already know how to play the part, you've seen the movies.

Do we demand roleplaying then? Costumes, rubber swords?

Not at all. Sure, some players will make a nod toward playing fully in character, but this is as often simply wearing a white coat to denoate a scientist as it is anything more than that. Jeans and a tshirt? Yes, Madam President. Go with what feels comfortable to you. As you play more games you might decide to up your level of character, but that's entirely your choice. You'll be surrounded by other players who feel a little out of their comfort zone, pretending to be the head of the FBI, an astronaut, some kind of supervillain - they feel a bit daft too, initially. Just go with it.

Our games are designed with a story at the heart of them. Sometimes there will be new events to change the pace of the game as it plays out, but without exception once the game is underway our designs act to enable whatever comes next. We keep an eye on the edges of the story, acting only to steward the action within the broad parameters of the game, but this game belongs to you. No two games are the same. You can play the same situation with the same people a dozen times and have a different tale to tell when each day is done.

Should you ever feel stuck, out of ideas, or backed into a corner we're around to help. You shouldn't ever feel like the game is passing you by. You won't be involved in everything that happens (we often find out major details of the story only after it's done!) but there will be an aspect of the game that is uniquely yours.

We work to give all players agency over their own destiny, and while sometimes the outcome may be inevitable, that doesn't mean the nature of that end point is decided. Will there be hope as the world stares into the abyss, will the rule of law crumble or will civilisation prevail? That's for you to figure out.

Everyone is the hero. Everyone is the star of the show. Pity the world's ending.

STAY ON TARGET