Hyperreality - The Reality TV Gameshow RPG

Over the weekend at LunaCon I had the opportunity to play Tim Rodriguez's / Brooklyn Indie Games upcoming game, Hyperreality. It's a tabletop role playing game where players are guests on an amped-up reality show. Ours was a Lunar Rodeo on the Moon, where I was a trucker named Curtis who had severe road rage, and tried to feed his horse gasoline to give him a little extra kick. And thinking about it that isn't that much stranger than 40 women living in a mansion fighting over a Bachelor, Honey Boo Boo, or Celebrity Diving.



And that's what makes this game so great. You can be as crazy or weird as you want to, and it still fits perfectly within the realms of Reality TV. In Hyperreality, you have challenges that are titled by the host/DM, then defined by the players. Two players will go head to head and dice rolls will determine their success. Then, depending on the color of the die, their outcome will be decided by either themselves or the viewers.

There are also confessionals. In true Reality TV fashion, the game is interrupted by a player pouring out their soul to the camera (and we actually had a camera at the table) in an attempt to earn additional dice. If you incorporate one of your player tropes/characteristics that you made at the beginning of the game, then you get one die. But if you use one of your secret tropes created by the other players, you'll get two dice. The secret tropes are where everything gets crazier. My truck driver "cried a lot" but also was "secretly Helena Bonham Carter". I revealed that one while wrestling a pig. My makeup started to fall off and I confessed that I was researching the role of a truck driver for an upcoming film. Big ratings from the audience on that one.

Hyperreality is now on Kickstarter and has a very low entry point at just $10. I can say first hand that it was a blast, especially if you enjoy Fiasco or other storytelling RPGs. Brooklyn Indie Games previously released Ghost Pirates via Kickstarter to much success, and has some other great games in the pipeline. If you're at Pax this weekend you can check out Hyperreality, or head over to Kickstarter for more info.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2068026266/hyperreality-the-reality-tv-gameshow-rpg