Kingpink - Darkness

The most substantial divergence Kingpink takes from many popular story games is in the way it constrains the players’ agency in controlling their narrative. In most story games, the fun comes from players deciding what they want to happen next for their characters or for the plot as a whole. In Kingpink, the fun comes from riffing on the Themes in play to figure out what happens next, relying on interpretation and improvisation more than whole-cloth fabrication.

Playing Cards, No Dice

GM-less Story Game

1-3 Sessions per Campaign

EIGHT variant play styles

Solo-play Character Generator for other RPGs

Group World Building for other RPGs

And More!
The potential for strategy arises when you select which cards of your hand to play and when to play them. Everyone plays cards face-down at once to mark which Conflicts they want to tackle or develop. With players all deciding what to play based on what they think others might play, Kingpink has faint echoes of popular trick-taking card games, though the gameplay never strays from the story.

An earlier version of the Kingpink core rules were published in a digital booklet with a much lighter tone and feel. That version has less developed mechanics and takes place in a world of Saturday morning cartoons and explosive cuteness we have called Kingpink: Daytime. Other versions of the game and stand-alone iterations may follow in different formats, but this shiny Kingpink:Darkness zine is heretofore the definitive edition.

While we put “darkness” in the name of the game, it is still totally up to your group how much horror, wickedness, or combat you want in your campaign. The rules have been designed to invite open improvisation and to heighten dramatic twists, but these elements need not come
from murder or mayhem alone. If anything, the game so easily devolves into silliness that our tone here is meant more to prove serious play is possible than it is to cramp your non-horror style!