Review Rundown: The One Where We Make Up Stories

It’s a quick week this week, but a substantial one, with three reviews of two experiences meant to be shared with friends at a distance, and a glimpse of the latest from artist Mikel Glass in New York City.

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Cadences — Soft Chaos Cooperative
$15; Remote (Digital Download); Ongoing

Fellow correspondent Blake Weil and I approached Cadences like a LARP, thinking we’d be playing characters in an emergent narrative about human connection. And we were… sort of. Blake played “the Distance.” I was “the Pair.” We were tasked with telling the story of two people over time. The twist was that I needed to create and play both people, describing who they were, where they met, and so on. Blake would then key off of my descriptions to personify the Distance between the fictional Kat and Marcus (who sprung to life in my head before meeting in a New York diner when Kat threw a half-eaten bagel at Marc’s head, obviously).

Our game lasted a little over two weeks. I didn’t feel connected to Kat or Marcus the way I sometimes feel connected to a character after a great LARP, but I did feel connected to their world. Blake’s descriptions widened my normal scope of narrative interest out from “individual emotional growth is exciting” to “good lord, all human relationships wax and wane and they will until the end of time.” So in that respect, Cadences is a wonderfully introspective storytelling game that encourages empathy and emotional connection. You will feel things.

Some mechanics, like a meditative audio component, were interesting in theory but didn’t add much to my experience. I struggled with the amount of time Blake and I took between turns, although that seems to be a feature of the game. Moving in and out of a fictional world multiple times over the course of a few weeks wasn’t easy for me; it broke the immersion that I look for in Live Action Role Play. But people who enjoy short bursts of episodic play will love it.

Ultimately, Cadences is infinitely adaptable and every playthrough — even between two people who have played together already — will be unique. I’m looking forward to switching roles with Blake next week. We’re going to see what kind of story emerges when I’m the Distance, and we use voice memos instead of emails.

— Leah Davis, New England Curator

While Leah covered the broad points, it’s worth pointing out the difficulty of the role of The Distance is equal to that of The Pair. While The Pair has to coordinate the entire story, the distance needs to work entirely in abstraction. I found a comfortable groove morphing into landscapes that reflected the relationship, before ultimately folding into nothing as the distance became infinite, and thereby undefined. The struggle is an interesting gameplay mechanic, but can feel disempowering to more story-minded players. A deck of inspiration cards never quite needed to be used. My one attempt ended in feeling like I was torturing a metaphor to fit the story, and I ended up discarding the attempt.

All in all, while I would recommend Cadences, it is a game for experienced players. The challenges, and their subsequent rewards, were occasionally overwhelming even for ourselves (two seasoned LARPers). All in all though, it was a rewarding, if occasionally frustrating, experience.

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— Blake Weil, East Coast Curator At Large

The Traveler’s Guide to Little Sodaburg — Meridian Adventure Co.
$125 per group (2 to 6 people); Remote (Website); Ongoing

Before going any further, let me give The Traveler’s Guide to Little Sodaburg the highest recommendation I can. It’s a goofy, well-crafted, incredibly delightful confection of an online escape adventure. The art is gorgeous, the acting is silly but perfectly suits the tone, and the game continually surprises and provokes genuine laughter. Just go. Read no more.

(Spoilers below.)

For those of you who have already played, or have chosen to ignore my advice, the time travel conspiracy romp that is The Traveler’s Guide to Little Sodaburg stands with if MUSEBIYA, Pursuit of the Assassin Artist, and Escape From the Science Lab of Shifting Rules as a triumph in the online escape room genre. Taking place across numerous municipal web sites, a multiplayer hacking simulator, a first person adventure game, and so, so much more, Sodaburg finds its success in the sheer breadth of activities that comprise it. Jackbox Games-style structuring makes sure even the shyest and least experienced players participate, while clever writing and adorable storybook art mean everyone’s entertained even while paused for a moment.

Special praise has to go to the game mastering. A puzzle involving vocally guiding a sentient Roomba (you just have to be there) became our party’s favorite after the Roomba gleefully participated in even our most absurd requests. The lack of a timer and fail states might make the game feel less intense to die-hards, but they would be missing the laid back vibe that makes the game shine.

(End of spoilers.)

Escape rooms often forget that they’re about the journey as much as the thrill of victory. The silly, dare I say bubbly adventure of Little Sodaburg would melt even the most jaded heart. If you ignored my words, your loss that you can’t go in blind, but I’ll say it again; just go!

— Blake Weil, East Coast Curator At Large

Update the Gallery Experience — Mikel Glass
Free; New York, New York; Run Concluded

Walking through an explosion-shaped door, I find myself in a disorienting and bright white corridor filled with smoke, until I find myself staring at a huge canvas portraying a Biblical scene, only all of the angels’ faces are contemporary pop icons.

To get to the main section of the Update the Gallery Experience gallery, I must pass through an obstacle challenge, where I walk on and over books placed on the floor, while I push forward on large art canvases which obstruct my way. Each one is covered in highly detailed and intricate brushstrokes but I am instructed to not merely look at them but to touch them to get through.

I get down on all fours to enter a crawl space, again filled with artwork, but here a small child welcomes me to the “fort” and offers me a companion to keep me company through the rest of the gallery, a small doll. If this all sounds like something of an artistic fever dream, you only know half of it. This is like no other gallery exhibit I have ever been to.

Artist Mikel Glass has created an impressive display of works for this short pop-up exhibit. Initially, Update the Gallery Experience all feels very overwhelming, with so much to stimulate the senses. My first thought was that I wished there was more space around each piece, to be able to enjoy it individually on its own merit, but I realize that here each piece wants to bleed into the next. There is method to the madness, and a whole ton of artistic talent on display.

The most striking moment for me of the whole experience is the casual and relaxed atmosphere that this post-apocalyptic world has. A dog roams around the space (a very good boy, indeed), and children run around freely and interact with the art in ways the grown-ups are too timid to. A young girl holds in her hand a scarred, beaten up Cinderella doll, and while she is surrounded by what some would call “creepy” dolls, she shows no fear. Instead, she simply sits in the sandpit, and quietly hums to herself as she braids the doll’s hair.

All are welcome at this gallery and all are invited to participate as much as they want with the artwork. There is no right or wrong way, but you are actively encouraged to get up close and personal with the art in Update the Gallery Experience. It’s a transformative experience, a whole new take on what it means to attend a gallery showing. I, for one, am most certainly for it.

— Edward Mylechreest, New York City Correspondent

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