While I write this, the Games You Can MAKE bundle is running on Itch. This bundle focuses on TTRPG creation resources from asset packs to full SRDs. One of my SRDs, This Game Takes Place Anywhere! is part of the bundle, and I realize that I never did a full write-up about the system when I first released it.
So, no time like the present, eh?
What Was MegaMart?
The game system found in This Game Takes Place Anywhere was created for This Game Takes Place Entirely In A Mega Mart Parking Lot! a rules-lite TTRPG that, as the title suggests, takes place in a supermarket parking lot.
I’ve always adored games set in small environments, especially if the game remembers what you’ve done in that environment previously and adapts the gameplay to fit. I love how they allow you to build on your previous actions or for old events to come back to haunt you in the future.
The pinnacle of this style for me is Pick Up the Phone Booth and Aisle, a pair of one-turn adventure games. The player is stuck in either a phone booth or the Aisle of a supermarket and has a single turn to do whatever, but the different endings you get frequently reference each other, with many of them giving you new ideas for things you can try when you play next time.
This idea is also a classic comedy trope, as a character will do something obvious or innocent in act one, but that will cause issues and hijinks in act three.
Setting the game in one place and heavily encouraging players to remain in that single location leads to this escalating chaos as players can build on the things that happened on previous turns. Plus, previous actions can transform into issues, forcing players to constantly think on their feet or try and work around their old decisions.
This desire also heavily influenced the game’s rules. To make this style of chaos work, players have to have space to improvise and use things in unexpected ways, something only possible with looser mechanics.
This is why players can put any word as a skill rather than having lists of pre-defined ones. This openness means they can find ways to twist the concept they selected to do different or unusual things. And it makes it easier for players to build off stuff other players have done previously.
One of my favorite mechanics from the game is the “What The F*** Is This Doing Here?” one. This one-per-scene move allows someone to name an item and instantly find it. What I love about this mechanic is that once the object is introduced, it remains in the game, so while one player may have had a simple use of it when they used the move, other plays can grab the item and use it for their own ends, playing into that classic comedy structure.
Plus, when a player uses “What The F*** Is This Doing Here?” they nominate another player, and that player has to come up with a reason for that object being present in the parking lot. This encourages world-building and gives other players ideas and concepts they can hook onto when they make their moves down the line.
Turning A Game Into An SRD
Originally I hadn’t planned to turn the game into an open system. But, after the game came out, several people contacted me, telling me how they had tweaked the game to fit their group’s specific needs and desires. Because of this, I decided to make an SRD for the game so people could more easily modify the rules and so people could sell the resulting creations.
The trickiest part of making this SRD was working out how to communicate why the mechanics are the way they are. A big issue I have with many (but not all) SRDs is that they simply list the mechanics and don’t explain why the system’s creators made the mechanics the way they are. This can lead to you changing something, only to realize several hours later that you’ve broken an essential mechanical interaction, so your game is now less fun at best or non-functional at worst.
It’s likely that the original creators discovered this interaction during playtesting. But without that being conveyed to the SRD’s reader, other creators are forced to spend time making that painful discovery again.
Because of this, I spent a lot of time fiddling with the text to make sure it made these details clear without overwhelming readers with pointless behind-the-scenes facts. This means that other creators have a solid base to work from when making modifications, and they don’t need to spend time designing and playtesting concepts I already know won’t work in this system.
Communicating these elements also means creators will know if the system fits their needs from the start rather than realizing it doesn’t work for their idea after spending hours doing design work.
It often felt like being an old-school cartographer, trying to show off where I had been while leaving room for what others may discover. Stopping now and again to write “Here Be Dragons” next to things I knew wouldn’t work due to my experiences.
I’m also a fan of SRDs containing behind-the-scenes information in general. If I’m picking up a game’s SRD, then I must love that game enough to want to make additional content for it. And if I love the game that much, I would relish the chance to learn more about the original designer’s creative process, as it might teach me something I can take away and use in my future projects.
It’s like the director’s commentary on a movie. The best ones don’t just tell you what’s happening on screen. They give you an insight into the backstage minutiae that made the movie how it is and give you a glimpse into how the director and actors approach things, allowing you to appreciate your favorite movies in a whole new way. In the same way, a good SRD or behind-the-scenes post lets me enjoy my favorite TTRPGs on a deeper level!
The “Games You Can Make Bundle” runs until late February 2023. Buy it here!
This Game Takes Place Anywhere! can be found here:
Jonathon Greenall is a freelance writer, artist, and tabletop roleplaying game designer who has written for CBR, Polygon, Nintendo Life, Gayley Dreadful, Enbylife, and many other publications. They have also published several popular and highly-praised tabletop roleplaying games including “You Have One Ability….The Ability To Fuck This Up,” “Macarons, Milkshakes, And Magic,” and “Wander Wizards.”
Jonathon has always been fascinated by media, from the big hitters to the small, obscure, and often overlooked titles that linger on the sidelines, capturing both the on and off-camera stories that make these shows so fascinating.
Jonathon is also a major anime fan, having been exposed to the medium through shows like Sailor Moon and Revolutionary Girl Utena. Since then, Jonathon has maintained a passion for anime, watching most new shows each season and hunting down overlooked gems from previous ones.