Soaps (Where Soap Opera Writers Get Their Ideas) (2009)

Soaps (The Game Where Soap Opera Writers Get Their Ideas)

Gina cries to Alan, "If we only had a baby! That would make the murder of your brother bearable! It’s just so horrible that Ashley had to go to prison for it."

"What do you mean horrible? That woman had a past more sordid than your brother-in-law Eric. At least that snake is in a coma. There’s some justice in the world."

Sound like a really cheesy soap opera? You’re right! And one that you wrote! Soaps (Where Soap Opera Writers Get Their Ideas) is a card game for 2-5 players for an hour or so, where players are the managers of new soap operas during a trial period: the player whose show draws the highest audience (as determined by what events occur on their soap opera and which characters each involves) will go on to the main season! Just like real soap operas, the twists and turns of the plots in the game can be unbelievable, outlandish, tragic or funny.

There are two main decks in the game: Events and Characters. Every Event lists what types of characters can be involved and have a point value. Every Character has a sex, a sexual orientation, a point value, and a typecast (a special rule that applies to that character). The strategy lies in developing your soap opera to allow more exciting events as the game progresses.

Soaps is not a spoof on any particular show: it mocks all TV drama. No specific knowledge is required.

The game is quite simple: an 8-year-old could PLAY it, but a parent might not be pleased if the child's show were to feature adultery, homosexuality, murder, etc.

The turn mechanism is unique in that in one week (one group of five turns, which are called "days") you draw only at the beginning, and then can plan out the whole week.

Cards include stereotypical soap opera events: affairs, comas, murders, lawsuits, marriages, twins, pregnancies, amnesia, et al.

An important dynamic in the game is whether a given character is gay or straight: a gay character must marry another gay of the same sex. Characters can come out and go straight, as well.

Each character has a special rule that applies to that character, their typecast. Typecasts may make them more attractive to do certain events, disallowed from doing certain events,or have other effects that can radically affect how you want to structure your show.

The game uses an external score sheet (which you have to provide or make - there's a master on this site).

The game is discussed on Facebook too: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Soaps/145853962117275?v=wall&ref=pdem.