The coffee shakes in your hand, threatening to spill into your cereal. You’ve decoded the orders in today’s paper – the secret message planted by a handler too clandestine to name. Another public figure has set in motion a twisted conspiracy and it’s up to you and your team to stop it. The mission will be dangerous – deadly – but you’re all that stands between the world and catastrophe.
You shower and dress in a hurry. You reverse the car out of the driveway, pass the turn toward your office, and get on the interstate. The squad is already waiting at the airport.
Good luck, Operator.
Have you ever felt like the newspaper is trying to tell you something if only you could crack it. Do the spaces between words in a paragraph form tantalizing shapes of absence? Maybe you’ve circled a familiar-looking face in a photo and been struck by the sudden, inescapable desire to break out the corkboard and pushpins and weave a web of red yarn so impenetrable that the truth and mysteries of the world are laid bare. If you’ve experienced any of these inklings, the latest project from Something’s Awry Productions might just be of interest to you
Created by our own Kurtis Theorin, “Ripped from the Headlines” is a one-page RPG for 2-4 players and one GM played entirely within a physical newspaper! Using found phrases, dubious connections, and webs of intrigue, players create secret agents and send them on a mission to thwart a ludicrous conspiracy inspired by today’s headlines. Use the front page to construct zany missions in a process that’s part roleplay, part Mad Libs. Stop ChatGPT from sabotaging a cage match between Tech CEOs in Venice! Or save Greta Gerwig from Spain’s World Cup Team who’ve been brainwashed by an AI dating app! The team at Something’s Awry has always been fond (to put it lightly) of board games, and we’re excited to constantly be stretching our wings and expanding our horizons in our work, tackling narrative experiences in film, TV, video games, and now tabletop RPGs.
So if you’re itching to unravel the truth behind the serif and feel like a frazzled investigator as you circle and connect words on your newspaper-turned-character sheet, check out “Ripped from the Headlines” in the link below, and keep an eye out when reading tomorrow’s daily paper: you never know when we’ll be in touch. 🕵
Something’s Awry team play testing “Ripped From The Headlines!”
Get “Ripped From The Headlines”