These are the fragments of a dream I just woke up from. I can not really put you into the setting and be one of the acting participants, but I can render "the game", the options one has in it, the effects of ones actions and how to know if one is doing well or poorly. Ladies and gentlemen, lay back and enjoy a tour through the ramblings of my subconscious and get a grip of:

THE GAME

It is played as a group and there are different phases in it, which are wildly interactive and every little act you do in it IS significant and WILL influence the outcome. Basically every interaction will either support "winning" the game (making positive choices for yourself, influencing others in a positive way and helping them to perform well, overcome hindrances to be able to add to the cause etc. etc.). To win you have to successfully stop the attack of an alien species and this battle will be fought according to all the actions that were taken in the other phases.

Aha! So there is "good" and "evil" so how to discern between those two? "The game" has a reward based system that works immediately in some cases or delayed in others. The more influential a performed task was, the more delayed the reward will be and proportional to the effort you put into it. But: Making it extra difficult just for difficulties sake will not award more points. Using skilful methods and acting planned is worth more than brute force approaches.

So what's the reward? Freedom. The happier you are in performing a certain task, the more you know you are performing well in the game. But: There are hindrances. There is always a perverted counterpart to whatever supports winning the game, which is marketed as state of the art with an added veneer of "success". Becoming rich by selling people harmful products which will incapacitate them to fulfil their roles can be either physical or mental. Numbing drugs and mindless entertainment are two examples.

So what are the phases? It all starts with...

THE BUILDING PHASE
Here you can develop skills, support others in doing so, gather materials, knowledge, fight of enemies already on the map, develop countertechniques for the ones that are slowing down the progress of others by "supporting" with drugs and brainwashing that keeps people ignorant to their role in "the game".

In the end the skills you gathered do not count as much as what you did with them.

THE FIGHTING PHASE
After the time of phase one ran out, enemies will approach and try to overtake the playing field. Stop their attack and eliminate them to win. Who they are, how they try to influence the building phase, what their abilities and weapons are can be found out during the building phase. It can either be a walk in the park or a gruesome battle and defeat IS possible. Also what happens after winning or losing can be found out in phase one but knowing this is not essential it can add even more stress or motivation to phase one, depending on who finds out in which way...


Who wants to play a round?

It sounds fun. I want to play. Player One in On.
Who know we can end draw with alien. We may not be all that different. It is not necessary for the party to end with a mat. The party can also finish with draws (ending in draw). I am sure that draws can be achieved in several situations.

Lets try and make some fun