Dead Air
A downloadable game
DEAD AIR is a solo RPG about running a radio station after a nuclear apocalypse. The elevator pitch is Threads meets The Thick of It - DEAD AIR faces the unrelenting horror of nuclear obliteration with the grim certainty that things can always get worse. The game was funded on Kickstarter raising a frankly frightening £10,424 in only 21 days.
The 48 page zine takes the form of a collection of found documents collected before and after the bombs fell. You will take on the role of station manager, alongside any other roles that you can't find wasteland survivors to fill. The job will have you spending as much time trying to make sense of ancient and conflicting broadcast guidance as you will keeping the generators running (and the wolves at bay).
The only materials required to play are a deck of playing cards, a pen and paper, and a copy of the zine. Optionally, you can record your programmes live if you have access to (even very basic) recording equipment and a desire to perform!
At the start of a game you will be issued three remit items. For example, deny the English exist, assure the public that It Can Never Happen Again, and that the government definitely still exists. Halfway through the game a fourth remit item lands on your desk, and it's never good news. Maybe now you'll have to tell your listeners that It Happened Again. Oh dear.
Each turn is broken into three rounds - scavenging, broadcasting and Problems. In the scavenging round, you manage your broadcast equipment and send out runners to scavenge fuel, equipment and valuables (like clean water). In the broadcast round you will be given a variety of prompts to write and produce your broadcast content for that turn. This might be a script, some music, or an interview with a man who lived to the great old age of 32. Finally, Problems will arise which test your ability, mettle and, occasionally, your gas mask.
You'll "win" by fulfilling your remit - but it is important to remember that any outcome in which you survive for a few more weeks counts as a victory in the wasteland. On the other hand, failing to meet your remit is likely to have you reassigned to "rebuilding detail", which has a lower life expectancy than "wolf keeper-away-er", so you might want to try your best.
- a contingency government from The Before Times,
- a brutal dictatorship ruled by a one eyed mutant called Blind Christ, or,
- a fanatical theocracy who believe that a pre war messiah called Ben Lomond will lead them to the land of drinkable water and significantly fewer bear attacks.
You do not need to be Scottish or know a lot about Scottish culture to understand the setting - it is designed to be read from context clues in the collection of found materials which make up the zine. A central theme of the game's design is that information is very easily lost or corrupted, so if you get something wrong, you're actually right!
The design of DEAD AIR is a love letter to obtuse, bureaucratic and confusing paperwork. The zine takes the form of a collection of found documents. The feeling the game tries to capture is that you have opened a long forgotten drawer, found decades upon decades of conflicting documentation, and now you have to figure out how to make sense of it all.
The graphic design draws inspiration from UK government messaging about All Things Nuclear - spanning from just after the end of WW2 right up into the 90s. DEAD AIR owes a lot to the utter futility of messaging like Protect and Survive.
We have a discord server if you are interested! https://discord.gg/cqjUcMCbWH
Status | Released |
Category | Physical game |
Rating | Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars (11 total ratings) |
Author | Sleepy Sparrow Games |
Tags | Audio, Comedy, Indie, journaling, nuclear-horror, Solo RPG |
Average session | A few hours |
Languages | English |
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $9 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Comments
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Any chance of more print editions?
The print edition is available at a load of different retailers (including https://www.blackwellwriter.com/products/dead-air-a-game-about-radio-activity ) - the multiplayer expansion is coming out Soon™ and will probably be bundled up with Dead Air USA when it arrives (late this year hopefully :)
I take it Dead Air USA will have a CONELRAD/Fallout theme?
Someone pointed out to me that this game takes a major inspiration from Threads and now I HAVE to buy and review it
Thank you!! The game is a bit sillier than Threads because I wanted people to be able to play it without having to pay for their therapy afterwards, but you can hopefully still see plenty of the DNA in here
I'm excited to play through my copy and see how much influence I can find!
Really really fun game.