Gathering around to take part in a game you have very little knowledge of is no doubt a bit intimidating. Personally, I didn’t know what to expect and I could probably say that about my group mates as well. Automatically, I thought the process would take way longer than it actually did because of the general uncertainty of what we were doing. It was the first time any of us had played a tabletop roleplaying game, but I thought I could learn to appreciate this form of gaming as it was as our session progressed.
Starting off we all were assigned really strange, peculiar roles and it was comical at first, but then we all realized we’d have to form relations and try to connect a story amongst us all. After the relationships had been settled between all the players, we found it difficult to start of the story in a way that would make sense for all of our characters. We got a solid story started up after a while and as we moved forward, we all became better at progressing the story. I’ve never done improve before, so I’d admit it was difficult coming up with a story on the top of my head, but it became increasingly easier as the mood got lighter amongst us all. The general narrative that we created surprisingly made sense in the end and connected all of our characters. I was the only one to survive in the end, but even then I still had a very unfortunate ending by being ‘dead on the inside’.
I’m very proud of the narrative we all contributed to and felt all of us had an important part in making it such a comical yet sadistic one. At first I was unsure how this game would compare to a work of literature, but after experiencing it, I completely understand how this game is a work of fiction. Taking creative ideas and forming and organizing them into a narrative this way is no different than actually writing an essay, book, or other medium of literature. Looking at it more broadly, all games in general provide their own narrative that players experience and playthrough. Every players’ gameplay differs, so in a sense every player creates their own narratives based on their own ideals and logical thinking.
Initially, I didn’t know what role I’d take on or if I’d even be an important one, but after playing through Fiasco, it was clear every character had a huge impact on the narrative and I think that’s very unique about this game. Compared to the majority of times when I’m writing literature, this game stood out particularly because it was collaborative and was based on what the person before you wrote. I’m used to independent writing and forming my own thoughts and ideas to put in the form of an essay, but this experience definitely opened my eyes up to other forms of literature that don’t necessarily mean literally writing on a sheet of paper by yourself.
This assignment was definitely an experience that I’ll never forget and has taught me a lot about writing in general and the different forms of media a narrative can live through. I feel as I’ve progressed in this one experience alone by improving my improv and vocal storytelling skills to create stories. This assignment also allowed me to experience more collaborative approaches to literature and how many can drive a story at once. Overall, I really enjoyed playing Fiasco and wouldn’t mind playing again or introducing it to my friends in the future.
