8 Narrative/Story
 Back in their day, the grandparents dabbled in a few “naughty” things that no one in the family talks about—shady deals, a bit of mischief, or maybe a brush with the law. Those old misdeeds have piled some large heaps of money and some serious bad karma, and now, as they grow older, it weighs heavily on their superstitious minds. They’re convinced that to counteract this karma, they need to do as much good as possible, or else their remaining years will be shaved off, leaving them to die before they ever get to meet their great-grandbabies. Driven by a mix of guilt and the desire to live long enough to connect with the next generation, they’ve become compulsive about “doing good.” In their minds, this often translates into giving out money to family members to show their love, as that’s the only way they know how to, and make amends for the past. But as their children have grown up and built families of their own the distance has grown leaving them disconnected and alone. As age catches up with them, their memory has started to fade, making it harder to recognize the voices on the phone. Lately the phones have been ringing off the hook. With the hopes that it is their family members they so dearly miss, the grandparents answer only to realize they aren’t so sure who it is on the other side. The grandparents desperately try to recall details about their family to guide their decisions, but the fog of memory loss forces them to rely on small clues and intuition. It doesn’t make it any easier that they can barely hear the conversation after living 90 full years. The stakes are high, they must balance trust and paranoia, hope and caution, as they navigate their way through a maze of voices on the phone, searching for the true family members who they think genuinely care for them. But does the family really care anymore than the scammers do? That is to be determined in Cost of Connection.

9 Game Mechanics
GameMechanics for Cost of Con-nections events.
Players: 3-6
Target Audience: Younger audiences but is suitable for all ages during social gatherings and family events.
GameDuration: 20-30 minutes

Core Mechanics

1. Role Assignment and Identity Concealment:

   • Players are split into two roles: Grandparents (1-2 players) and Callers (remaining players).

   • Callers are further divided into sub roles, Family Members and Scammers. 

     • Family members aim to gain the grandparents' trust and receive money, while scammers attempt to deceive the grandparents for financial gain.

   • Callers’ roles remain concealed throughout the game, with only grandparents revealing their identity.

   • The grandparents must then recite the intro narrative card to the rest of the players starting the games story. 

2. Calling and Conversing:

   • Each caller has 2 minutes per turn to convince the grandparents to provide funds. 

   • Grandparents wear noise-suppressing headphones to simulate difficulty in recognizing voices and hearing loss, adding a level of challenge in communication for both callers and grandparents.

3. Discussion and Decision-Making:

   • After the Call Phase, grandparents have a Discussion Phase where they choose whether to use a Helping Hand card (power-up) to aid in decision-making and decide who to give funds to. If no card is used, grandparents have 2 minutes to discuss who to give money to based on the call conversations they had.

4. Resource Management:

   • Grandparents have a limited number of coins that they must distribute at the end of the game. 

5. Scammer “Wiretapping” and Data Purchase:

   • Scammers can listen in on family members’ calls, to confirm what information that they have is accurate to help improve their deception tactics. The only rule being that they must stick to the information on their card when calling.

6. Endgame and Win Conditions:

   • The game concludes after three rounds, with grandparents revealing their final choices of the identities of the caller players and the total amount each team received.

   • Victory Conditions:

     • Grandparents: Win by correctly identifying family members or if family members end up with the most money.

     • Family Members: Win by ending the game with the most money.

     • Scammers: Win if they acquire the most money.

   • The end:

     • All players will get narrative cards that match their win state that completes the grandparents' stories.

Secondary Mechanics

1. Helping Hand Cards:

   • These cards offer special abilities or resources to the grandparents, such as allowing additional sticky notes or granting them extra call time with a selected player of their choice. 

2. Prompt Cards:

   • Prompt cards provide conversation topics for callers to use during their call, giving structure to the interactions. Callers can creatively adjust the prompt but must stay within the subject intent.

3. Tie-Breaker Round:

   • If both family members and scammers end with the same amount of money, a tie-breaker round occurs where each team recalls facts about the grandparents. Each correct fact earns additional points, determining the winning team.

 
Game Setup and Flow Overview

1. Game Setup:

   • Players assign roles and prepare initial resources (coins and cards).

   • Grandparents prepare with coins, headphones, sticky notes, and Helping Hand cards, while callers separate into family and scammer teams.

2. Gameplay Flow:

   • Each round consists of Call Phase (where callers try to convince grandparents) and Discussion Phase (where grandparents deliberate and callers may use coins for data).

3. Victory Conditions:

   • After three rounds, roles are revealed, coins are tallied, and the winning team is determined based on the money gained and potentially the tie-breaker round if needed.

   • After tallying up scores the Narrative Cards are distributed.