So I Heard

A game about media, fake news, rumors, and straining for attention. A “Peerful Project” game (similar to JackBox): there’s a single central screen, but everyone connects and plays with their own phone.

What’s the Idea?

All players are playing a media outlet (newspaper, online news website, whatever).

Each round, a new event will happen. The computer (or a deck of cards) will give you some random words, and it’s up to you to determine the causality or event.

One player is the reporter. Everyone secretly reports their stories to them, and they write it down on pieces of paper.

(Why? So that everything has the same handwriting, and you don’t know who made up what story.)

They also add the real story themselves.

The problem? Media outlets will receive different information, only parts of it, mixed up, tampered with.

Another problem? Some people are good, some people are bad. The good ones will never change anything; the bad ones will? Or make it more of a gray area: people change stuff to match their own goals?

To be honest, this feels more like a JackBox game.

People should just receive all sorts of information on their phone. Then they type their own news stories (or tweets, or whatever). That’s automatically anonymous (only the computer knows who wrote it).

During a round, they can make inquiries to get more information from other players, or the system (in the form of “dossiers” or “witnesses”).

This could actually be a mix between a party and detective game! The computer makes up some sort of event. It’s up to players to find the breadcrumbs and then write reports/articles/tweets about it.

GOLDEN IDEA: On the screen, there are some streams of information. (Like, a Twitter stream, something more akin to Facebook, actual news website.)

Anyone can add anything to these streams! They can do so under false names. You don’t know who is who at the start. (And for a certain price, you can even switch during the game?)
HOWEVER, people can only click one article “per round” to open it on their phone and personally read it! (So, naturally, they might want to try the most clickbaity one).
(Maybe each message has an ID => enter that to get the full message. Also means you need to pay attention and keep remembering possible interesting IDs.)

But information can lead people down the wrong path, and some people (due to personal goals) might alter stuff a bit.

(Maybe because they want to hide something? Or, the computer also “sends people” to the articles, and you can actually influence stuff with your writing? Seems hard to do well …)

More ideas

You must convince sources to talk to you (via bribery, status/reputation, the number of likes/followers you have, show evidence, etc.)

You can (or must) earn money with ads and clickbait, so you want to be viewed as much as possible.

Make it about (randomly generated, but funny/convincing) conspiracy theories.

How do I add convincing “fake news” entries by the computer?

I, at least, need to allow multiple writing styles by the computer. Sometimes it’s all caps, or all lowercase, or dots in between, or many ?!?!?!, or spelling errors on purpose.
Maybe, the fake entries can come from players themselves? They must answer questions, write stuff, and communicate all the time. Parts of those messages end up on the screen! (But often modified to suit the needs of whatever party posted it)

A game about media, fake news, rumors, and straining for attention. A "Peerful Project" game (similar to JackBox): there's a single central screen, but everyone connects and plays with their own phone. ## What's the Idea? All players are playing a media outlet (newspaper, online news website, whatever). Each round, a new event will happen. The computer (or a deck of cards) will give you some random words, and it's up to you to determine the causality or event. One player is the reporter. Everyone secretly reports their stories to them, and they write it down on pieces of paper. (Why? So that everything has the same handwriting, and you don't know who made up what story.) They also add the real story themselves. **The problem?** Media outlets will receive different information, only parts of it, mixed up, tampered with. **Another problem?** Some people are good, some people are bad. The good ones will never change anything; the bad ones will? Or make it more of a gray area: people change stuff to match their own goals? **To be honest,** this feels more like a JackBox game. People should just receive all sorts of information on their phone. Then they type their own news stories (or tweets, or whatever). That's automatically anonymous (only the computer knows who wrote it). During a round, they can make inquiries to get more information from other players, or the system (in the form of "dossiers" or "witnesses"). **This could actually be a mix between a party and detective game!** The computer makes up some sort of event. It's up to players to find the breadcrumbs and then write reports/articles/tweets about it. **GOLDEN IDEA: On the screen, there are some streams of information.** (Like, a Twitter stream, something more akin to Facebook, actual news website.) > **Anyone can add *anything* to these streams!** They can do so under false names. You don't know who is who at the start. (And for a certain price, you can even switch during the game?) > > **HOWEVER, people can only click *one* article "per round" to open it on their phone and personally read it! (So, naturally, they might want to try the most clickbaity one).** > > **(Maybe each message has an ID => enter that to get the full message. Also means you need to pay attention and keep remembering possible interesting IDs.)** But information can lead people down the wrong path, and some people (due to personal goals) might alter stuff a bit. (Maybe because they want to *hide* something? Or, the computer also "sends people" to the articles, and you can actually influence stuff with your writing? Seems hard to do well ...) ## More ideas You must **convince** sources to talk to you (via bribery, status/reputation, the number of likes/followers you have, show evidence, etc.) You can (or must) earn money with **ads** and **clickbait**, so you *want* to be viewed as much as possible. Make it about (randomly generated, but funny/convincing) *conspiracy theories.* How do I add convincing "fake news" entries by the computer? - I, at least, need to allow multiple writing styles by the computer. Sometimes it's all caps, or all lowercase, or dots in between, or many ?!?!?!, or spelling errors on purpose. - **Maybe, the fake entries can come from players themselves?** They must answer questions, write stuff, and communicate all the time. Parts of those messages end up on the screen! (But often modified to suit the needs of whatever party posted it)