THE REFRAIN
Each player should say if you are - playing a new survivor character,
- playing the survivor of a previous Verse card, or
- helping portray the Restless and the abandoned ruins of the world as a "non-survivor."
Then: each survivor should say - your name and look,
- the things that you are carrying and how, and
- the way you came to know one or more of the other survivors, either before or after the world was destroyed.
Each non-survivor should describe a sign or trace of the Restless or their
missing victims that the survivors have come across, perhaps in the last day
or two of travel across the desolate terrain.
RUNNING ON EMPTY
Then: your group has run out of one or more critical resources: gasoline,
cigarettes, food, water, baby formula, bullets, toilet paper, batteries, tampons,
prescription drugs, medical supplies, or something else. Go around and have
each player, say something simple and basic that you no longer have.
Just over the ridge, in the fading hours of twilight, you see an abandoned
gas station and mini-mart. The non-survivor players describe what it looks
like and list a few signs that it has been previously disturbed.
The survivors decide how you want to approach this: are you all going
to check it out together? Will some of you stay behind? Do this quickly.
Play out your reconnaissance of the station. The non-survivor players
decide which of the things you need are there and reveal the unexpected: a
tire iron, flashlight, keg of kerosene, headless corpse, etc.
Then, if you left survivors outside, they spot the Restless coming. Do
they shout and risk drawing attention? Do they quietly flee? Play this out.
The non-survivor players then describe how the Restless destroy, kill,
absorb, or consume 1 or 2 of the survivors. The survivors say what they do
about it, but they ultimately have no say in who they must now leave behind.
FRIENDLY FIRE
Then: Split the survivors into two groups. If you were traveling together
previously, you have become separated. Decide how.
Both groups are running from the Restless when you meet unexpectedly
and violently amid the dark and confusion. The non-survivor players say
where you run into each other and what’s going on around you.
Take turns having a survivor mistakenly attack one of the survivors in
the other group with whatever weapon is available. Reap the consequences
of this debacle until all the survivors have attacked or someone manages to
halt the violence.
The survivors then assess and respond to the consequences, but have to
get the injured up and moving as quickly as possible, because the Restless
are still coming.
The non-survivor players then describe how the Restless destroy, kill,
absorb, or consume 1 or 2 of the slowest or most severely injured members
of the combined group. The survivors say what they do about it, but they
ultimately have no say in who they must now leave behind.
SANCTUARY
Then: the survivors have found or built a shelter to hide or protect you from the Restless.
Decide what the shelter is and where it is located.
Each player also says one or two things about the shelter and what’s inside or in the surrounding area,
describing how you assembled or discovered those things.
While you’re in the shelter, the animal attraction between two or more of the survivors could become overwhelming.
Each survivor says who you are secretly or openly attracted to, and compatible groupings then say how you sneak off to
find some place to consummate your shared passions.
Each survivor who is not engaged in this manner then says how you also let your guard down, relax, or let you emotions out,
whether a little or a lot.
Next, have each survivor say how the group’s inattentiveness exposes you to potential danger from the approaching
Restless. The non-survivors say how many are approaching, from which direction, and how.
Survivors who hesitate or are distracted have no chance to prepare or escape.
The non-survivor players then describe how the Restless destroy, kill, absorb, or consume 1 or 2 of the survivors.
The survivors say what they do about it, but they ultimately have no say in who they must now leave behind.
DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES
Then: the exhaustion is overwhelming. Decide where you make camp
for the night, not in a shelter but out in the open. Say who’s taking the first
watch, and then each survivor says what you do before falling asleep.
When only the watch remains awake, each of the non-survivor players
says something about the night. Is it eerily silent or full of noises? How does
it smell? What are the weather, clouds, and moon like?
All of the slumbering survivors are dreaming of the past. Take turns
having each survivor describe the memory you are reliving, but then have
the non-survivor players alter one or two details to be disturbingly surreal,
sad, or frightening. Play out the nightmare, ending with the survivor being
woken up to take your turn at watch. Before switching to the next dreamer,
describe any changes in the mood of the night.
The final survivor to dream should be the first one on watch. They are
awoken in the dim light of the morning by their own dying screams as the
Restless consume them. The non-survivor players describe how this happens.
The other survivors then describe how they wake and flee. The Restless
can destroy, kill, absorb, or consume 1 more of the survivors if they like.
THE PRISONER
Then: you have come across an abandoned research facility of some
kind—medical, scientific, or military. Decide how and where you found it,
and then describe its environs, letting the non-survivors take the lead. Briefly
play out wandering through its trashed and deserted corridors and labs.
Then say how you discover it: a single Restless imprisoned in a cage,
showing all the signs of having been tortured or experimented on. It lashes
out violently when it senses the survivors, but it is weak, injured, and trapped.
Have a debate about what to do with it. Don’t bother being polite with
the other survivors: assert your opinion recklessly. During this debate, the
non-survivors describe what the imprisoned Restless does as it watches,
waits, bides its time, and perhaps makes overtures to one or two of the more
sympathetic or less threatening survivors.
If the debate resolves what must be done, have at it: whatever you decide,
it probably doesn’t go well. The non-survivor players are welcome to describe
how the imprisoned Restless (alone or with its arriving fellows) destroys,
kills, absorbs, or consumes 1 or 2 of the survivors. If you voluntarily set the
imprisoned Restless free, it will not harm those who have directly aided it.
CONTAMINATED
Then: at least one of the survivors has been wounded by the Restless in
a non-fatal manner. If this isn’t already true, say how it occurred. The nonsurvivors
say how the infection has grown worse and what form it takes,
preferably something strange and disturbing.
The wounded survivors then say how you have been concealing your
infected injuries from the others, and then the other survivors say how they
nonetheless discovered it. Play out the confrontation that results.
It is time to make some difficult decisions; the group has stopped for a
break in the mid-afternoon (the survivors decide where), tending as best you
can to these infected wounds. What will you decide: Leave them behind?
Euthanize them now? Amputate a limb?
Whatever you decide, it doesn’t go well. As you enact your choices
individually or collectively, one or more of the wounded succumbs,
becoming partially or wholly one of the Restless (non-survivors say how).
The players of the transformed then describe how you personally destroy,
kill, absorb, or consume 1 or 2 of the survivors. The survivors say what they
do about it, but have no say in the final outcomes.
THE COMMUNITY
Then: after several long weeks of running and watching your companions
perish at the hands of the Restless, you finally make it out of the wilderness!
A military checkpoint stands before you, a tank- and artillery-protected gate
in an immense and impenetrable wall that extends across the horizon. Play
out this encounter. You can approach joyously or cautiously, but the nonsurvivors
will play the soldiers and medical staff there as friendly, welcoming,
understanding, tolerant of suspicions, and eager to reassure you and bring
you inside where they can attend to all your needs. A chopper to take you
further into the Free Zone should arrive any day now!
Next, cut to several weeks later. You are living in the community behind
the wall, free of the Restless. You are eating well, sleeping in beds, learning
how not to be exhausted and afraid all the time. Everyone keeps repeating:
“That chopper should arrive any day now!” But something’s not right. Play
out a few moments from your day-to-day lives where a few of the survivors
express their concerns to each other in secret. The non-survivors should
regularly intervene with forced smiles, reassurance, and distractions.
Then: the non-survivors reveal the dark pact the community has made.
Play out how you discover it and how you are all killed or assimilated.
Take a quick sense of the room. Do you want to keep playing?
About Restless
Restless is a game written by J. Walton and released CC-BY 4.0. The text of the game and instructions are his.
Restless was written for the 2014 Golden Cobra Challenge.
Restless was played at The Museum of Life and Science in Durham.
Restless was turned in to this silly toy by John C of Flatland Games. John cut The Citadel.
The player's icon, left, is CC BY 3.0 jake sones. The restless icon, right is CC BY 3.0 Rémy Médard.
Book icon, left, CC BY 3.0 Nathan Thomson.
The background textures came from http://philbit.com/svgpatterns/
How To Play
Read aloud and follow these instructions at the beginning of the game, repeating them if new players join.
Restless is a game for 3-8 players about a group of survivors being hunted through the abandoned ruins of the world by a monstrous, unyielding horde. The game is intentionally vague about what these monsters are like: they can be zombies, shadow creatures, robots, or whatever else you decide. Sometimes the nature of the Restless can even shift during play.
A single session of Restless can range from 1 hour to 4+ hours, depending on how long you decide to play. A session is composed of a number of different situations called “Verses,” which are the cards with white text blocks on the front. To begin play, shuffle the Verse cards together, face down, and then draw one from the top of the deck.
The first instruction on every Verse card is to consult the yellow “Refrain” card, which is repeated between Verses. The Refrain card tells you how to choose and describe the survivors and also about the role of “non-survivor” players. The survivors and non-survivors will likely change between verses, and the Refrain is also when players can drop in and out of the game.
Each Verse will take roughly 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how quickly you play. At the end of each Verse, the players will be asked if you want to play another Verse. If not, some or all of you are welcome to stop.
Each of the Verse cards, along with the Refrain card, is meant to be read aloud one paragraph at a time. You can either have the same person read an entire card, or switch readers between paragraphs, but you should definitely switch readers between cards.
It is very important to stop at the end of each paragraph and follow the instructions in that paragraph before you proceed to the next part of the card. There are sometimes surprises and unexpected developments that are introduced in later paragraphs of a Verse card, and these can be spoiled or even cause minor problems if they are revealed beforehand. Additionally, it can be difficult to keep track of everything that a card asks you to do, so it‘s better to proceed one step at a time.
If you occasionally make a mistake and read more that one paragraph at a time, that‘s okay. Just back up, read the next paragraph you need to do again, and proceed from there. But try to remember to proceed slowly and deliberately, one paragraph at a time.
Thanks for playing Restless
Freeform games like this are exciting because they help any group, even strangers, find a common language in which to tell a story together.
Explore some other freeform games at 2014 Golden Cobra Challenge
Traditional role playing games serve a similar purpose. Check out Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures, which takes the language of the world's most popular roleplaying game and turns it into a collaborative storytelling game about kids overcoming evil in the vein of The Dark is Rising, The Chronicles of Narnia, Wizard of Earthsea, and a hundred other books we loved when we were younger.
Welcome to Restless
This replaces the deck of cards for the game Restless by J. Walton.
Restless is a game for 3-8 players about a group of survivors being hunted through the abandoned ruins of the world by a monstrous, unyielding horde.
Have your group respond to each prompt, then, when you've resolved it, tap or click it to move on to the next. You may see an icon for the survivors or the restless. This will let you know which group gains focus for that prompt.