One of the great shames about role-playing these days is a certain dearth of good, interesting comedy games. Yes, ‘Toon’ and ‘Paranoia’ still get coverage and are still played and enjoyed by may gamers worldwide. Yet, there’s always the desire for something new and different. Something that takes a genre not previously covered by RPGs. So, stepping onto a wobbling, shaky set, accompanied by a scarcely believable cast with dodgy accents comes ‘Soap: The Game Of Soap Opera Mayhem’. Soap operas? Mayhem? Are you quite sure? And more to the point, how does that work?
So, how to describe ‘Soap’? Well, in the great tradition of comedy RPGs, it has a tone all of its own, allowing you to act out plots from your own soap opera. Now, we’re not talking about flashy, big budget productions here. Oh no. ‘Soap’ is all those terrible British, Australian, US and South American soap operas you’ve ever had the misfortune to watch rolled in to one appealing gaming package. Be Eduardo, the half brother of the eccentric millionaires long lost Aunt who just happens to have had a terrible secret in her closet. Or the rugged, lantern jawed Trent: executive, entrepreneur and man with a desire to buy the Old Wiggins Place for a knockdown price and turn it into a mega mall. Character creation in ‘Soap’ is simple and amusing. There’s no numbers, just a series of descriptions of your character which serve to give that two-dimensional soap opera ambience. There’s no columns of figures here or hundred of dice to be rolled. Simplicity and fun are the order of the day and to be truthful, character creation can be just as much fun as actually playing the game.
First off you have to have a name. But who wants to be called Bob Smith in this game when you can be Trent Rockaway? You get the picture. Next is a brief pen portrait of the character, giving the broadest outline of what they’re like. From this description you underline five nouns which you feel represent the core of the character. These traits influence the game later on. Relationships come next, one friendly and one unfriendly. No one gets on with everyone in soaps, do they? These relationships must be chosen from other PCs in the game. Next up is choosing a goal. Using the example of Trent, he wants to buy the Old Wiggins Place to turn it into a mega mall. This is his goal. This is what your character really wants out of life (or, the plot in this case). Finally, you choose a secret and a home set. The home set is somewhere natural for the character, like Trent and his minimalist, glass fronted office.
So, now you’ve got the characters ready, what about game play? Well, at first the idea of constructing freeform soap opera plots can seem a bit daunting. However, the rules presented in ‘Soap’ are fairly light and once you’ve familiarised yourself with them, are fairly intuitive. Everything revolves around ‘sentences’, descriptions of where the character is, what they are doing and what they are saying. Players can do things like interfere with other characters sentences, foiling their goals or attempting to find out their secrets. Suffice to say, the rules are easy to use and quick to learn. To go into them too deeply here would just be a waste of your valuable time! Oh, did I mention games last for a maximum of 90 minutes? No? Well then, the game lasts for a maximum of 90 minutes.
Also included with the game is a good example of play, which serves to illustrate very well how the game is meant to run. There’s also a smattering of pre-generated characters and some hints and tips on how to run the game.
Overall, ‘Soap’ is funny, entertaining and an all round good laugh. It captures the essential ideal of role-playing: to have fun and enjoy the game. To briefly mention the art, it’s B&W cartoony line art, which suits the atmosphere of the game perfectly. If you’re looking for a game to fill in a spare session or for when you just want something light-hearted to play in between ‘DragonKiller Apocalypse Chaosdeath V’, then I’d heartily recommend getting your grubby little mitts on ‘Soap’. Now, where are my videotapes of ‘Neighbours’?
If you want to know more about 'Soap', visit http://www.crayne.nl/soap.shtml
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