At least you’re not alone.

A roleplaying game by Ben Scerri (pronounced "Sherry") created for Hashtag Ad Astra Jam.

SECTION ONE: INTRODUCTION.

CRITICAL SYSTEMS FAILURE!

Attempting reboot in 3... 2... 1...

REBOOT ATTEMPT FAILED!

I’m sorry...

LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS ARE DOWN!

ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY SYSTEMS ARE DOWN!

OXYGEN LEVELS ARE CRITICAL!

There’s nothing more I can do: please evacuate the craft.

THE LAST LIFEBOAT HAS BEEN LAUNCHED!

Would you like me to put on some music?

At least you’re not alone.

SECTION TWO: SETTING-UP THE GAME.

The cargoship ‘A-man-tees’ floats adrift in space, irreparable and dying. But there are a few survivors left on board, and the AI remains kind. You have a matter of minutes. How will you spend them?

Gather together a group of people you care about. There must be at least three of you, but there is no limit. You must all be comfortable touching each other, and perhaps kissing, as that may occur. Talk about your boundaries before play begins.

Have a phone on hand that can play music without advertisements, and choose whoever gets to hold it first however you wish. Henceforth, the phone is named Amantes, and it is your ship’s AI.

Everyone must arrange themselves so they are out of reach of everyone else in a circle. Hands should just fail to touch when you extend them to their maximum.

SECTION THREE: PLAYING THE GAME.

Whenever a song is played, it should be loud enough that you can’t hear a whisper shared between two other survivors, but not so loud that anyone is uncomfortable.

Whenever you are called to take a “step”, move about a foot closer to them. It doesn’t matter if you are standing, sitting, laying down, or however you are playing.

You may not speak unless the rules say you can.

The person holding ‘A-man-tees’ chooses a song to play over the comms. They choose who goes first by calling their name.

When it is your turn, you may do one of the following:

- Defy zero-gravity and move towards a survivor: move one step closer to someone else, and hold them as closely as the distance allows. After doing so, everyone except the person you moved towards must take a step away from you.

- Expend precious oxygen and confess how you feel: tell someone else something true about your feelings for them, however loudly you wish. After doing so, you must take three steps away from everyone.

- Ask ‘A-man-tees’ to change the music: if you can reach ‘A-man-tees’, you may take them and change the music. After doing so, you must take three steps away from everyone. The survivor of your choice must follow you until they are holding your hand.

- Share a kiss: if you are holding a survivor close, you may share a last kiss and then step away from them. You may never step towards them again for the rest of the game.

After you have had a turn, call someone else’s name to have theirs. A name cannot be called again until everyone has had a turn. Repeat until you have listened to as many songs as there are survivors, whether you listened to them to completion or not…

SECTION FOUR: CREDITS.

Written on the land of the Boon Wurrung and Woiwurrung (Wurundjeri) peoples of the Kulin Nation, with all possible respect to their Elders, past and present. This land was never ceded.

Written by Ben Scerri (@Ben_Scerri). For more like this, check out redworldpress.itch.io and patreon.com/redworldpress.

Thanks go to the team behind Ad Astra Jam for the inspiration:

- Kienna Shaw, kiennas.itch.io/, @KiennaS

- Jacky Leung, deathbymage.itch.io/, @deathbymage

- Dylan Grinder, anarisis.itch.io/, @Anarisis

And to my patrons for making it possible:

Abe Mendes, DC, Eric Vulgaris, Evan Nyquist, flying grizzly, Grant Ellis, Joshua Mackenzie, Kittens Place, Laura, Mark, Max S Dev, Meg Haas, Michelle Shepardson, Mikey Z, Nicholas Carter, Shawn, Steven Clark, Takuma Okada, and Will Triumph.

Made using the Aglet Slab typeface.