122nd ♫ | phosphor burned a silent mayday, my hand slipped with a dirty splash

[phaiinein]

The Murder Game Meme



You know the script. You wake up in a place you've never seen before, with a whole bunch of complete strangers and there's a mysterious voice or a mascot or what have you ready to let you know how things are going to work around here.

The rules are simple: You're trapped here, with no hope of release or rescue. You've been provided with all the basic necessities you need to live comfortably, and all you have to do is settle down and live out the rest of your days here in peace. But if you can't do that -- if you're really so desperate to escape that you'll do anything -- then there's one teeny tiny thing you have to do first.

All you have to do is kill somebody.

But it's not quite that simple. Every death will be followed by a period of investigation, followed by a trial in which the survivors will attempt to solve the mystery and out the culprit. If the survivors guess correctly and out the culprit, the killer is executed and life goes on. But if the survivors guess wrong, then the culprit is free as a bird and everyone else is executed.

Even with the promise of freedom, can you really bring yourself to kill so many other people?

tl;dr: it's a murdergame meme. TIME TO HAVE A BIG OL' MURDERGAME BLAST.


Settings

1. High School A classic! Doesn't matter if you're too old or too young to be in high school -- you've been enrolled and the only way for you to graduate is to kill a fellow student. But hey, the faculties are nice!
2. Tropical Island Weren't you just hankering for a nice tropical vacation? No? Too bad! You're going to have a nice sunny vacation at the beach and if you don't like it, just kill someone and go home. Simple!
3. Prison It doesn't matter if you don't remember committing any crime; you've been tried and found guilty of something or other and now you can go ahead and rot away in jail. If you ever want to see the sunlight again, better put that criminal mind to good use and get rid of your inmates.
4. Mall A huge mall stuffed full of stores, places to eat and all the regular amenities like deadbolted doors and the threat of death. It's like Black Friday but even worse because you can't leave and all the rest of the shoppers might actually kill you for real this time.
5. City Holy shit, you've got the run of a whole city this time around! Maybe with all this room to keep out of each other's way, you'll be able to make sure no one starts killing people. But probably not.
6. Cruise Boat YOU'RE ON A BOAT, MOTHERFUCKER. The accommodation is all five star, even if there's no one around to act as wait staff. The only snag is that you still have this whole murder thing hanging over your head – but on the plus side, they have those little drinks with the umbrellas in, so...
7. Space Station THE FINAL FRONTIER... Maybe you're familiar with space stations like this or maybe all this future tech is fascinating to you. Not like it matters either way, of course, because you won't be getting out of here unless you lay down a murder on someone.
8. Wildcard! None of the above scratch your murder itch? Go wild and come up with your own setting!



Downtime

1. Excuse Me, Who Are You? You've just woken up in this weird place and you have no idea what's going on. But hey -- maybe this stranger's more informed than you. Or maybe you can put your heads together and investigate what's going on.
2. Social Link Go! Well, if you're going to be stuck in here for however long, you might as well get to know the people stuck in here with you. You've got plenty of rooms to explore together and there's enough to do to keep you occupied. How do you plan on passing time without killing each other?
3. Vending Machine Woes Somewhere in this place there's a mysterious vending machine that spits out all manner of bizarre items and occasionally dispenses items that belong to you and the other people trapped here. You've got a fat stack of tokens and nothing to lose.
4. The Corners of My Mind So as it turns out, your lovely hosts have been fiddling with your memories. Maybe you're just discovering this now or maybe you've had a particularly upsetting memory regain you're dealing with.
4. Wildcard! GO WILD AND BE FREE (or as free as you can be here, anyways)



PUTTING THE MURDER IN MURDER GAME

1. Motive Your mysterious overseer has decided there's not nearly enough murder going on and so they've ~helpfully~ given you a little push to do the deed. Maybe one of your loved ones is in danger, maybe they're offering more money than you could ever dream of or they're threatening to reveal your deepest darkest secrets. Whatever is it, would you kill for it?
2. Murder WELL APPARENTLY, YES. Are you a killer or are you being killed? Either way, someone's not walking away from this alive.
3. Body Discovery Rise and shine, murdergame! It's a brand new day and someone's dead. Better get investigating!
4. Trial You know how this one goes. Line up all your evidence and sniff out the killer -- or sit there and sweat and hope no one works out you're the murderer. Will they go down with a confession or put up a fight?
5. Afterparty You've survived another trial, but more of your friends have died. Even without the executions, trials are a stressful enough affair. It's time to destress and lick your wounds and support each other.
6. Mastermind It's the end. It's time to uncover all the mysteries behind this murder game -- and find out just who trapped you here. Are they really an unconnected party, or is the mastermind someone among you...?
7. Freedom Just as it says -- you're finally free, but at what cost? Have those you love been returned to you, or are you still reduced to just those who made it to the end? Are you on your own, or is anyone here to help you? And more importantly, how the hell are you going to get home?
8. Wildcard YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO


OPTIONAL FUN

Lots of murdergames have in-universe public profiles for other characters to get the skinny on yours. If you'd like to fill one out to post with your toplevel, peep at the code below!

<center><b>Name:</b> NAME | <b>TITLE (Super High School Level, Ultimate, Champion, etc)</b> <b>Age:</b> AGE | <b>Species:</b> SPECIES | <b>Occupation:</b> OCCUPATION <b>Likes:</b> LIKES <b>Dislikes:</b> DISLIKES <b>Traits:</b> A HANDFUL OF NOTABLE TRAITS <b>Trivia:</b> A PIECE OF TRIVIA</ul></center>

Comments

[scourgingstars]

[The answer was a smile that was at once brighter than most Ardyn had given so far, and also somehow edged with something very sad about it.]

The younger by three years, yes.

[selfreliar]

Oh.

[Aqua had the grace to blink and look away.]

It's just, the way you said that just now... my little sister talks to me like that sometimes. [You know, like a brat.] I didn't think he was actually... Sorry.

[scourgingstars]

Oh, and here I thought that was just a very good guess.

[way to go, ardyn, you're fumbling it.]

It's--there's nothing to be sorry about. We don't speak often anymore due to...well, one could say our respective careers. That, and we tend to come into conflict often. But...well. Unfortunately, he's still my brother and I'm still his. Can't get rid of each other so easily.

[selfreliar]

[Again, Aqua lifted his hand from the sword, though this time it was to give it an awkward, half-hearted wave.]

No, it's... I didn't mean to pry. We all have our reasons for not talking about our pasts or our family lives. When a stranger just says something like that out of the blue, it's--well, it's jarring, right? Sorry for crossing the line.

[scourgingstars]

No--really, it's fine.

[He huffed out a breath to blow some loose hair from his eyes, rubbing the back of his neck in uncertainty.]

I-...I know I'm a terrible liar, and I know most of you can likely see straight through that much. So if any of you truly wanted to pry, you would be doing so--the fact that no one has is something I am incredibly grateful for. There are many things I can't speak about for as many reasons. But when it comes to my family, I have no problem speaking on what I can say, little as it is.

[selfreliar]

[For some time, he said nothing in response, just watched Ardyn fidget.]

...Mm. Well... same.

I mean that. There's a lot I have to keep quiet about, for various people's safety--and my own. That's the way it is for those in the public eye. [He lowered his gaze slightly.] But if there are things you want to know... I trust you not to push if I tell you I can't answer.

[scourgingstars]

...It's the same for me. [Ardyn sighed heavily, shoulders dropping as though Aqua's understanding had knocked a weight clean off of them.] Much about the kingdom depends on my secrecy, and that's the extent of what I can admit to. But at the same time, I would like to be honest about that which I can speak on. So I would say just the same as you; if I can answer anything, I will.

[selfreliar]

I appreciate that. And if it helps... I'm only curious about things that could help us get out of here alive.

[scourgingstars]

Are you? Hm...in all truth, I think I'd like to get to know the others. Just for the sake of it, really.

[selfreliar]

...As you clearly noticed, I'm not the most personable. Under these circumstances, I'd rather not spend a lot of time faking something I'm not good at.

[scourgingstars]

If my little brother taught me anything, it's that people complement one another's skills. You don't have to be personable, but you can do me a favor and keep those observant eyes open. Leave the social part to me.

[selfreliar]

Ah, so we'll keep each other informed of things we notice?

[Honestly, it would be a big relief not to feel he had to force himself to get close to people, particularly when it was now painfully clear that the killing game was for real. It was one thing to understand those around him as competitors who could do irreparable damage, or worse, in the pursuit of self-interest. Aqua was used to that.

But it was quite another thing to slowly start caring about them, knowing he could lose them so suddenly. So violently. That, he knew he couldn't take.

In his own life, Hoshino Aqua pulled the strings available to him to engineer the outcomes he wanted. He studied the people around him, found ways to match one's need with another's opportunity, and maneuvered them all towards mutual benefit--including his own. But if Ardyn genuinely wanted to play the role of social engineer, Aqua would gladly concede the stage.

It was something he'd been hoping for, anyway. Someone with a sense of responsibility he could work with. The fact that Ardyn had dropped everything to come help him confirmed Aqua's impression of him; this leaderlike offer was just icing on the cake.

Aqua didn't quite smile, but there was something of warmth in those attention-grabbing eyes all the same.]

Sure. I'll be counting on you, Ardyn.