I ran this in person as a ~spooky~ Halloween season game for friends--a group of experienced RPG players and people who had no idea what they were agreeing to. We played in person using cell phones, based on feedback/reactions, everyone had a great time!

Our group was really silly and funny, which wasn't the vibe I was expecting, but everyone got really into character. Because of the tone, I wouldn't say that we had the super emotional ending that others did, but the voicemails tied everything up nicely and brought some laughs and reflective moments.

Highlights: The game soundtrack/timer was great and added a lot to the experience.

I was not expecting my players to be into the idea of voicemails, but they did it and I thought it was a good way to wrap up the game. Great way for new players to get into role-playing--some of the people I thought wouldn't be into it really took the character creation and ran with it!

The character creation mechanics worked well and got everyone excited about their characters right away.

We did not end up using any X card mechanics, but I think the way the game designers suggest using them would have worked well and my players found it easy to understand.

Thoughts/suggestions: I was so confused by the time cards at first before I realized that there are three of each and you only use one. I do think it ends up being clear once you set up the game and re-read the rules, but I truly didn't understand some of the card mechanics until I was actually setting things up, even though I had read the rules.

The PDF is nice/good quality, I just wish I had gotten the hard copy because printing/cutting/organizing things took longer than I thought. That was my own fault, but definitely leave yourself some time if you are planning on print/play.

We had 6 people (1 last minute join), and two people just shared a character. I think it worked fine in a pinch, but I wouldn't plan on doing that unless both people are into it or know they will have a hard time keeping up/staying engaged so would appreciate having a buddy.

Our ending felt pretty rushed/kind of cheesy but I think this is because some of the clues got jammed up at the end and a lot of the pressure to tell the story ended up on one person. I don't know if this is typical, but something to perhaps monitor as the GM.

Overall, I would definitely recommend Alice is Missing. I think there's definite re-playability and it's a great way to introduce RP-ing to new players or integrate friend groups that don't know each other. Playing in person was super fun, but I think it would work just as well (maybe better in some ways) remotely.

Just to clarify: My experience with this game is that of a player having played it on Roll20/Discord.

"Alice is Missing" takes the missing person scenario and puts a new spin on it--new for me, anyway. Its context is simple and down-to-earth yet still compelling. The game's strongest asset is it's emphasis on text-based communication. Prior to playing this game, I had gotten used to communicating with my fellow TTRPG players verbally. The change was a pleasant surprise yet very much welcome for someone that appreciates silence.

More importantly, the text mechanic also inspires a bit of creativity and even an emotional connection on the parts of players. There are things that feel more nuanced and personal when expressed through text compared to the spoken word. That was probably one of the creator's intentions all along.

At least two things prevent it from becoming a perfect 5/5 for me: one, there are certain character tropes that I would have wanted to have seen and selected from; two, the type of ending that players encounter relies more on a certain game mechanic than most other things. Depending on what pops up, the ending can range from extremely unsatisfying to cathartic. Then again, perhaps the true joy of the game lies in its 90-minute journey, not its destination.

Nevertheless, these are minor gripes given the value that Spenser Starke has provided through this game. Its ability to take a bunch of seemingly everyday characters and make them come alive in 90 minutes through player improv and text makes it a winner. I am now studying the material and thinking of running it for others someday.

All in all, "Alice is Missing" is a solid offering from Starke. I was told that an expansion for this game is planned. If that is true, then it's definitely something to look forward to.

An amazing, fun and (near the end, especially) tense experience. I loved this game, and it'll stick with me for a while.

Just a note, I played this as a socially distanced variant during the pandemic. If I had to give it a tagline, it would be: Fiasco and 10 Candles have a beautiful baby with a countdown timer. Overall, highly recommended.

This review was also posted on the Just Barbarian Things Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/posts/43974474

What is Alice is Missing? The Basic Overview Alice is Missing is a single-session RPG where players (including the facilitator - yes everyone plays!) take on the role of the teenaged friends of Alice Briarwood. As Winter Break is about to begin, a poster showing that Alice is Missing goes up at school.

There are two main sections of gameplay. The voiced section allows players to collaboratively build relationships and information about Alice based on her Missing Poster (there are 10 possible Alices) and the prompts on the character/drive cards. Players also build up suspicions about the people and places in the town that they may encounter in the game. They then secretly record their last voicemail to Alice before she went missing.

The silent section has players turn to their devices and the timer start (game time is limited to 90 minutes in this section). The teenagers communicate via messaging. The facilitator sends the first group message of the game and then characters just start to interact and build upon the world. At timed intervals, random events (determined by card draws) are resolved by players around the table and incorporated into the 'text chain' as they try to figure out what happened to their missing friend. At the end of the game, the secret voicemails are played for the group.

Materials for Running the Game When you read through the game document it is very easy to understand how the game should be setup, communicated, and played. Everything goes in order and there isn't really any room for confusion. Very much appreciated!

The art in the book and the player-facing cards is really nice. You can download image files of character cards and missing posters from the site as well (for more print and play or online play flexibility) but the images in the PDF are also formatted in such a way to make them very easy to copy and use in an online game.

The clue/event type cards are the only ones that are not made available as separate downloads. They offer a Roll20 version (which I do have) that handles these as decks (I'll talk a bit about that later) but again the PDF does make it easy enough to access the card art if you need to work electronically.

A 90-minute animated timer with a soundtrack is free on YouTube to use for the game: https://youtu.be/ysOOFIOAy7A

How it SHOULD be Played It's obvious the game is least complicated when played in person. Even though the silent portion happens on devices/phones handling dealing the timed clue cards and being able to set a mood and speak out of character is something I can really seeing being the best environment for the game.

Adjusting for Social Distance There is an official Roll20 version. I did originally get that version to facilitate our game, and it is pretty and really easy to navigate. There is even a whole playlist for how to use the Roll20 version by the game's creator: https://youtu.be/3k4h__DmSFk

My only issue was that I knew we'd already be using Zoom and between Roll20, Zoom, the timer, and however we handled messaging I didn't want it to be too window-intensive. So I opted to use a Discord variant. There is an official Discord template, which I did modify for our game, available on the publisher's site: https://www.huntersentertainment.com/alice-is-missing

How I Setup Our Game First, I modified the Discord to streamline the number of channels and keep things as clear as I could. Since I knew I'd also be handling cards via Discord, I created a channel just for showing what would normally be face up on the table during the game as events progress.

I also created folders for each category of card and used either the available card downloads or saved cards from the PDF to make sure they would be available for displaying in Discord. I numbered the cards in each folder so that 'random drawing' could be handled by a die roll and then added a dice roller bot to the Discord to accommodate that.

From there, we were able to play on Discord in a way that closely mimicked the in-person setup with channels that worked for group and direct messages per character to keep everything in as few windows as possible. If you are using the template, just make sure to assign players to the Role in Discord for that character so that their view is simplified to just their group and direct chats. I had players write the text of their voicemail in their notes rather than recording it.

We used Zoom for our voiced section of the game, and used the screen share feature to run the timer as well. I used voice to prompt players to roll an appropriate die for timed events so that I could give them the card draw corresponding with that roll.

At the end of our game, we each read our voicemails in character to finish everything off.

How it Went and Final Thoughts Although I missed a couple of rules I should have said up front (we all get to be nervous running new games, sometimes!) it ran pretty smoothly. The timer and timed events means things WILL happen and an ending WILL occur no matter what. That being said, the open-ended nature of the gameplay can be overwhelming to some players, so make sure they are prepared for this type of story building if they are used to playing more structured games.

Playing online in the way we did definitely puts more on the Facilitator's shoulders to manage, but it is very doable. I was still able to send and answer in-character messages between events.

I would love to play this again with an in-person crew (when times allow for such things) just to play it the way it really seems to be intended.

Overall, highly recommended since it's quick to play and easy to learn. It's really beautiful. There are enough random options to make it interesting to play more than once. It's very affordable and picking it up supports an indie developer and game.

We had a virtual game recently and, although no rpg can promise to deliver its full potential for each game and group, had an excellent game, full of emotion (the playlist really helps getting in the mood, and the timer puts real pressure on the narrative). I'm not sure it's the most replaybable rpg there is, but we were trully satisfied with the experience so I most definitely recommand it to people wanting to impersonate teenagers telling their emotional secrets while searching for their friend (beware, this is not really a detective game, though).

Played Alice is Missing for the first time last night and it was one of the best RPG experiences I've ever had! Cannot recommend this game enough. All parts of the design work brilliantly together and the soundtrack with the animated timer is a joy.

The authors have a privilege of using iPhones and they didn't realize not every other phone operating system has an iMessage-like grup chat facility.

"Alice is Missing is impressive. A lot of care put into the game from design to art to support, a lot of potential for emotionally compelling storytelling, and a truly unique mechanic of play that takes advantage of the technology that's at our fingertips. Whether it's from Starke and co. or from other creators that get inspired, I hope we see more games like this in the future."

Read the full Cannibal Halfling Gaming review here: http://cannibalhalflinggaming.com/2020/09/25/alice-is-missing-a-silent-roleplaying-game-review/

The game is a oneshot that revolves around the missing teenage girl Alice Briarwood where the players take on the roles of her closest friends who try to find out what happened to her. During the start of the game, players can choose from a number of ready-made character cards, all of which have a relationship with Alice, as well as a background, a secret and a thing that must appear in a voice message to Alice that each player must record. You also get a random "drive" card that establishes a personality trait and the relationship with two of the other players. After a short presentation of each other, the game begins.

The game has a rather different structure as all communication during the game takes place quietly via text messages such as text messages or chat (both to the whole group and privately between the characters). The game is also powered by a 90-minute animated countdown with background music. At certain specified times (when there are 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 45, 40, 35, 30, 20 and 10 minutes left) a random clue card is drawn that establishes an event in the current game. In addition to this, there are also "location" and "suspect" cards that are linked primarily to the clue cards but also places where players can look for Alice. All communication about the different cards is then woven into their text messages. When the last clue card (10 minutes) is drawn, it describes what the search results in and in what condition you find Alice.

Since the game deals with a sensitive and dark subject, the author has included both a clear description of X-mechanics, but also "Lines & Veils" to flag subjects that players may feel are uncomfortable. "Lines" for topics that you do not want to be confronted with at all and "Veils" for topics that are ok as long as they are not described in detail.

I think this is a pretty exciting move to experience a story, although I am very unsure of how well it works in practice to "only" communicate via text messages for 1.5 hours. The layout is a bit strange when you have to use physical cards, and thus should preferably be in the same geographical location (but only allowed to send text messages). The game has a Roll20 variant ($ 20), and I would guess that the variant where you sat in completely different places can work better (especially considering today's rules regarding social distance).

I interpret the replay value of the product as low (I even think it is expressed that way in the rules). If you have played through it once, the risk is great that you do not get as much out of it when you know which "drives" there are.

All in all, I still think this is an exciting game and I would like to play it if I can only find good technical conditions for handing out the cards digitally (but not by adding another $ 20 to get access to the Roll20 version) .

Ever since I saw the live play of Alice is Missing at GenCon2020, I knew I had to try it!

Perfect to introduce people into the world of role playing or give veteran role players an experience unlike anything they have had before. The instructions are clear, clever, and concise. I also enjoy the streamlined Facilitator's Guide. The character and world building are immersive and by the end of the game - every player is on the edge of thier seats.

I also would also recommend checking out the Hunters Entertainment Discord server where there is a very vibrant community where the creator Spenser Starke takes the time to engage with the community, share stories, and answer questions.

For me, this is an evolution in gaming (especially in the time of Covid) and I am so glad to have found it.

I can not recommend this product enough!

The game Alice Is Missing is about 3-5 high schoolers in a small town trying to find out why their friend Alice is missing and where she is. The first stage of the game is character development--players create their character's appearance, pronouns, and motivations while assigning character traits to each other. After that, they assign links and backgrounds to various NPCs and locations in town. Then the game starts.

The core gameplay is a narrative-driven timed session that takes place entirely via text message. Players are not allowed to speak during the 90-minute gameplay. Instead they message the entire group and each other, crafting a narrative about teenagers struggling with life and Alice's disappearance. Every 5-10 minutes, an event happens that is organically integrated into the text chains until they find out what happened to Alice.

The game's potential to have dark themes is encouraged and reinforced within the gameplay, so it important to set up lines and veils prior to the game's start, and it encourages (and comes with) the 'X' card if those lines are crossed or realied throughout gameplay.

A critique would be that if the players aren't up for some light to heavy improvisation, they may struggle at first. This is, still an excellent and innovative product.

Alice Is Missing is a pretty unique RPG where the gameplay is centered around losing yourself in the characters and story. In this capacity, the game requires an extensive set-up and debrief period where players truly define their characters and the background of the area. There are safety mechanisms built in to make sure that not only players feel comfortable, but also to enable players to play their characters rather than themselves.

You might ask whether 5 static characters, 10 static suspects, and 10 static locations allow for replayability -- and the answer is a resounding yes. Even though those 25 cards exist, in each game, those characters and locations take on lives of their owns, and so they're not really "static" at all. Each time you play, you can expect a completely different set of characters, even though they may have the same NAMES as ones you've played with before.

There are two aspects of this game that, to me, make it rather unique. First, the lack of a centralized game master makes it so that all players feel equally important in crafting the story. Second, once the game begins, all verbal communication ends, and everything is then played out through either texting or text apps (such as discord), and pumping the supplied soundtrack to deepen the immersion.

In my experience, it is best to allocate 3 to 4 hours to really create the world (1-2h), play the game (1.5h), and debrief (.5h). You'll certainly think about the characters and stories you left behind, and ponder the loose ends for days. You're encouraged to leave them behind, as we'll never visit them again, but it is really hard. Lots of what-ifs resonate throughout your mind, and you truly grow attached to the people you just shared 90 minutes with.

Alice is Missing truly shines when you have people willing to create people rather than stat sheets, and who can think on the fly and weave stories. The communication and story building are much more rich than you might initially expect, and the experience can really stick to you. I truly enjoyed my experience, and I look forward to exposing more friends to this game and crafting our own story soon.

TL;DR: This is a silent story game about people. Find four good friends and craft a deeply emotional story that will stick with you for a long time.

This game has possibly created a completely new genre of TTRPGs and it's such an incredibly simple yet deep game to have done so.

I'm absolutely in love with the artwork, congrats to all involved with the art. The calming and mysterious colours really evoke that sense of anxiety that the game strives for and (spoiler alert) captures in droves! The simplicity of character creation gives you a vague concept, just enough to give you direction but little enough to allow you to take that idea and really make it your own. Playing a roleplaying game completely via text message is a perfect way to capture the connected disconnect of modern society. It feels much more comfortable to send a message as another person than to try to act like that person, so it only elevates the immersion (particularly if you're playing online or in separate rooms). There's a certain tension of which I'm sure everybody is aware, waiting with bated breath for somebody to send some very important new by text message, staring at your phone and seeing "-is typing..." for what feels like minutes. All that without even mentioning that soundtrack!!! The game is played on a timer which is accompanied by a breathtakingly authored soundtrack of licensed music with a haunting beauty. The soundtrack mirrors all of the emotions that you will feel in the meticulously crafted to a cinematic level and although I understand licensing won't allow me to download the soundtrack, I can certain download the individual tracks to create my own Alice is Missing playlist. By the end of this game, if given the gravitas that it deserves, your players will be fighting back tears or letting them out as they recall everything that transpired during its 90 minute length.

Easily, best TTRPG of the year! 10/10

I grew up with DnD and the classic dungeon crawler adventures. Later on in college a friend pointed me to World of Darkness titles like Vampire and Werewolf. When I asked what the goal of these games was, was there some grand treasure to be found or some demon to defeat, I was told not exactly. The point of these games wasn't to overthrow an evil empire or save the world, it was to tell a story. It was to create a moment which we would recall and share years from now. It was develop an experience.

It was a revelation in how I thought about how Tabletop games should be played.

After my group's session of Alice is Missing, I couldn't help but be brought back to that exact moment. Playing the game with a handful of friends who were coming from more traditional combat TTRPG settings, you could hear it in their voices that they were having a similar revelation. That was moment that we shared together that we wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon.

Meant to be played as a oneshot among friends, the Alice is Missing takes about 2-3 hours to play through in total. With the first 60-90 being used to create characters and make connections between those characters, and then 90 minutes (With a running timer) playing out as a shared storytelling experience. Every 10-15 minutes a random event card is played and acts as a roleplaying prompt for the troop to expand upon. AiM encourages interactive shared storytelling, where each player adds to the collective narrative however they'd like. This continues onwards, often with ever increasing stakes, until the last seconds are ticked and the experience ends.

In our game, a player went looking for Alice and drew a card that said the location they were in was stuck with a disaster; which they reasoned to be was a fire starting to grow out of control. Later on when the same location was used again, the fire became a central theme for another player's prompt which we expanded upon further still. By the end of our 90 minutes session, we were breathless- having just lived through a story with the same impact of a high-stakes high-school thriller.

While initially developed to by played among friends over cellphones, I'd argue it works even in this new normal that we're living through within Discord or Telegram chatrooms. We played using discord and the Roll20 addon. I'll admit we did have to to pause the game twice due to roll20 having issues with shuffling and card drawing, but it didn't ruin the experience. I'm secretly hoping for a Tabletop Simulator DLC because roll20 isn't the best for handling cards among.

The game isn't for everyone. Players who have a hard time or aren't interested in being immersed into their characters might find the game to not be their cup of tea. However for those of us who want to leave reality behind, even if it is just for a eveing, Alice is Missing is an experience you'll never forget.

This is the best TTRPG experience I've had, hands down. The fact that it is experienced through text is extraordinarily immersive; there is nothing to draw you out of the world of Silent Falls, the way that can happen in TTRPG's where everyone is able to flip from voicing in-character to voicing out-of-character in an instant. The care you have to take in crafting responses and deciding how to incorporate information is a beautiful way to tell a story with other people. I've played with friends and with strangers, and both have been equally meaningful and fulfilling.

I believe that the best way to play is to make both yourself (as facilitator) and your players aware of the style and rules of the game ahead of time. There are thankfully so many resources, all very well put-together, that make it extremely simple; Becca Scott at Good Time Society on YouTube has a short video explaining the course and expectations of gameplay, and Spenser Starke has put together video guides on how to run the game through Roll20, which you can find on the Hunters Entertainment YouTube channel. You can also find a full actual-play of the game on the Hunters Entertainment channel, which is both a very good example of how the game works AND a wild time to watch for pure entertainment purposes.

The best thing about these kinds of games is that the set-up is just as fun as the actual gameplay itself. Alice is Missing relies on the imaginations of its players to populate the world with places and people that feel real -- characters that you root for, suspects you're afraid of, and locations that are foreboding enough to feel like something very bad could happen there. Coming up with those things together at the table or in a Discord call leads to such fulfilling storytelling, with details being added by each player and adding on top of one another into something that is unique every time.

After the game begins, the soundtracked countdown timer and the Clue Card system are such a fascinating way to create both atmosphere and forward plot momentum. Clue Cards give prompts that allow players to create storytelling beats that match the characters and locations that they have come up with together while being specific enough to add necessary tension. The way that they are timed throughout the game is perfect to keep the ball in the air, adding new information about Alice's disappearance at crucial moments that lead to a truly dramatic final ten minutes in every game.

I can't wait to keep playing this game. I want to meet as many versions of these characters as I possible can, and see all of the kinds of fates that might befall them and Alice with each new combination of players bringing their own fascinating take to the worldbuilding of Silent Falls.