Set up the block tower as you would for a game of that nature. 

Roll 1d6 and remove that many blocks from the tower. 

The tower represents the time left until Xenga has completely shut down. If the tower falls, the website is unreachable and the blog has completely vanished from the internet. 

Shuffle the playing deck and place them face down in front of you. 

Throughout the game you will encounter the King cards. Keep these cards in front of you at all times. If you pull all four kings from the deck, the game is over. The Blogger has succumbed to embarrassment and doesn't believe that their blog is worth the emotional distress it takes to save it. They have chosen to give up on saving the rest of the posts. 

  Interpreting the Prompts  

The player will take on the role of “The Blogger,” the individual attempting to save all of their blog posts before the closure of the site Xenga. 

This game will have the player write both in the third person, eg she/they/xe, describing what The Blogger is currently doing in the present to preserve the posts, and in first person, eg. I, me, we, writing out the blog posts or comments, other people’s blog posts, or other media. The game will indicate when the player should be writing in first or third person. 

When a prompt asks the player to write about a piece of media, feel free to either use a real piece of media circa 1999-2010 or make something up entirely. 

:Red Suits Represent the Present:

What The Blogger is currently doing or feeling. 

These prompts will be written  in third person, addressing the character as “The Blogger.” This is an indicator that the player should write the section in third person. 

 

For Example: 

7♦: What entry are they looking for in particular? Why is it important that they find it? 

She found the exact post she had been looking for: the summer vacation to the beach. She wanted to remember exactly what she had written about that damned seagull.  

 :Black Suits Represent the Past: 

Actual blog posts, comments left on posts, web advertisements etc. Spades will always be blog posts while Clubs are up to interpretation by the player.  

When a prompt is written in second person, addressing the character as “you”, this is an indication that the player should either write in the first person, or write an excerpt from an online source.

Also feel free to have The Blogger make notes or comments about blog posts or other media, but be sure to write these comments in third person. 

Example 1:

4♠: Write a post about a hobby you no longer do. 

User: xxRaxorRawrxx

Post # 1: Date: 10/29/06

ZOMG guess who is back! You would not believe what I ahd to do in art today! I had to draw my favorite anime boi! OWO Lol , well the teacher said to draw “cartoon” but like w/e. I got to draw sasuke in class and not get in trouble AHAHAHAAHAHAHAH  I cannot stop drawing him he is so smexy ><;;;;

Sarah covered her face with her hands and put her head on her desk. She had completely forgotten about the notebooks upon notebooks she had drawn of Sasuke that were probably sitting in her closet this very minute. 

Example 2: 

7♣: You had one person who would always comment on your posts. When did they first appear? Did they know you in real life?

User: Artsy_Nekochan666

Comment Section: date: 10/29/06

O.O; Omg Sarah! Hiiiiiii!!!1 It’s Jill from art! Remember!!! I didn’t know you had a Xenga! XDDDDD LEts be xenga friends!!!! 

User: xxRaxorRawrxx

Comment Section: date: 10/29/06

Omg Jill you have a xenga???? XD thats so random! Rofl

  Preserving the Blog Posts  

At the start of each day, roll 1d6. This is the amount of cards you will draw for the day. 

Answer the corresponding prompts for each card by writing what The Blogger is doing, or writing out the individual blog posts. 

You do not need to write a post for each prompt. Feel free to combine prompts as seen fit. 

Combination Example:

3♣. Write a post about a friend you no longer keep in contact with. 

6♠. Your blog was never very popular. What sort of posts did you make to attempt to gain popularity?

User: xxRaxorRawrxx

Post Date: 6/30/06

Zomg simone(my bff! I talked about her before! You would know this if you had read my posts!!!) gave me some good tips on how to get more peeps on this blog. :)))) I’m just worried about all you freakks that will show up and be creepy!  *looks nervously around* Jk Jk! I lov eyou all! She said I wasn’t kawaii enough and taht I need to post more cute things. I am cute! right? TT_TT; HOepfully this new layout will make people more interested int his blog? It is Teh Cutest. Simone recced it to me and I just coluldn’t not. Anways I’m tired now and I have to go teh bed. Se ya later lovelies!! 

• A tumbling block tower (or alternative)
• One six-sided die (1d6)
• 10 tokens, or a way to keep a tally
• A way to record the blog entries and the thoughts of The Blogger

If you wish to increase your chance of removing all the tokens, you may start the game with the Ace of Hearts as the top card.

For a dice alternativ, Nicholas Ronvel’s The Wretched Dice tool on Itch.io is recommended.

Or

Be honest with yourself and your feelings. If at any point in the game, you genuinely make yourself cringe or feel embarrassed, mark down a tally. If you reach a tally of 10, then the game is over and Xenga is unreachable. 

Feel free to write as much or as little for each prompt. Not every prompt needs to be the same length. For some prompts, you might wish to write several paragraphs, for others, maybe only a few sentences.

You also don't need to answer every prompt explicitly. You can also answer them implicitly or with subtext.

Using Emoticons such as ><; XD TT_TT; and many, many semicolons were very common.

It was also common to use the * to indicate actions or roleplay such as *looks around* or *laughs*.

Some other common words were: Teh, zomg, smexy, fugly, pwned, n00b, rawr. All of these were used unironically.

Start: *start date*
Layout Title: Set Fire To Rain
Version: *version #*
Owner: you of course!
Designer: Shanelle @OV
Credits: X X X X X The Candy Coating Moonlight-Pendent13 CutieChoco Sh1ve King Lulu Deer Nyanfuw Origamiis LiticaHarmony Tevros Virus-Xenon Mwins