The Show Must Go Wrong
A downloadable game
You are the “heads” of one-person departments in a smaller, regional theatre. It’s tech week for the biggest show of the season. You’re overworked, underpaid, and doing your best with not enough support. Same old, same old.
You likely have been dreaming of a job like this since high school or college. You were taught early that there’s not many jobs in theatre and it’s a tough industry to “make it” in. Truly, you’re lucky you’re here. It’d take a lot to get you to give up such a coveted position.
The Show Must Go Wrong is a short card game where players deal with complex problems and take on stress as they race to the end of tech week towards opening night.
In The Show Must Go Wrong, players race against a jenga tower to survive tech week before the show comes crashing down around them, or they burn out.
To play, you'll need:
- Six players
- At least six index cards, but more on hand is better
- Pencils
- A jenga tower
- A set of playing cards with two jokers
- At least one six-sided dice
- A coin
The Show Must Go Wrong was designed by Elliot Peterson, who can be found on Bluesky.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $2 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Exclusive content
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Community Copy
If money is an obstacle, feel free to pick up a community copy of this game. Each sale will add an additional community copy.
Comments
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Written with the lived-in charm of somebody who clearly knows the subject. The specificity of prompts is the draw here. Bonus points for pro-union propaganda. I really like that every player has a unique (and actual) role without any of them being a game master as such. It’s also refreshing to see a TRPG written in a completely real-world setting, with offbeat but normal problems. I love a good fantasy element, but it’s not the right call for every game.
Neat, original mechanics. The combination of both cards and a block tower is an intriguing semi-random element I don’t think I’ve ever seen done quite this way before. This would be a lot of fun as a party game for six, kind of a combo board game / group narrative / RPG situation.
I love games that take a sharp editorial perspective on the world, and The Show Must Go Wrong has that in spades (plus diamonds, hearts, and clubs). Whether you intend to play it during downtime backstage or just read it, this game gives unvarnished insight into the real workings of life behind stage -- in fact, I would call it a "must-read" for anyone contemplating a career in theater.
Mixing don't-make-the-Jenga-tower-fall mechanic of Dread with playing-card prompts as in The Quiet Year, this game provides a simple framework for reliving the
traumadrama of running tech for an underfunded theater company. Theater kids should instantly recognize the realistic, modern-day setting (the designer is a literal pro!), but for the rest of us, the "Definitions" section is both informative and vividly real.Within the 54 card prompts are a mix of every Murphy's Law scenario for a small theater, from cast drama ("Two actors have a fight and demand separate dressing rooms") to honest mistakes ("You triple-checked everything. It seemed flawless. But when you tried to fit the scenic piece into place, it didn’t fit") to raw hubris ("The jukebox wasn't supposed to make noise or light up originally, but sure let’s add it during tech"). Against all of this, your stress marker keeps ticking up until you can't take it any more and quit, leaving the rest of the team to deal with your less-competent understudy.
Roleplaying games have a reputation for attracting "theater kids," but there's precious few games about running a theater -- The Show Must Go Wrong finally fills that void!