Right now, right this moment, right as you read these words, humanity is struck down by an alien force from beyond the limits of our understanding.
It is the first blow of a terrible war.
Seven years later, armed with a technology you cannot understand and can barely operate, you will strike back.
This is how.
Bliss Stage is a role-playing game about teenage pilots fighting back against alien invaders with giant robots made of weaponized love. It’s about love and war and the future of humanity. It has a lot of sex parts in it.
Bliss Stage drives right at the thematic core of giant robot stories: power, war, sacrifice, and most especially the human relationships that drive them. All mechanical interactions are focused on the relationships and social tensions of a small cell of isolated rebels. The game refuses, however, to tell you how to play your character. You are never forced by the mechanics to make a decision or take an action: you merely must own up the consequences of your character’s decisions.
The game requires 3-7 players and takes 20-50 hours of play over 5-15 engagements to complete. With more players, it takes longer.
Why you should play this game
I wrote Bliss Stage because I wanted to play a game where sex wasn’t a big taboo. I kept writing it because I wanted to play a game which matched the giant robot anime I liked (Gunbuster, VOTOMs, Evangelion), where the fighting wasn’t measured in heat sinks and ammo counts but in the toll on the participants and the people who care about them. I finished Bliss Stage because I wanted to play a game which was honest about the power of love: it might not conquer all, but it’s damn fine backup.
Since Bliss Stage debuted, I’ve had people who were fans of love stories, war stories, and giant robot stories come up to me and say “finally, someone got it right! It’s not about bits and pieces, it’s about the relationships.” If you watch giant robot stories for the character development, then you should play Bliss Stage.
Why you shouldn’t play this game
Bliss Stage has sex in it. If you’re skeeved out by the idea of sex in a role-playing game, don’t play Bliss Stage.
Bliss Stage has war in it. If you’re unsettled by the idea of playing child refugees in a post-apocalyptic future: well, you might like the game, or you might hate the game. Bliss Stage is not cavalier about the costs of war on young soldiers. But, at the same time, that’s what the game is about. You should probably approach it with caution.
Bliss Stage is not a tactical game. If you absolutely cannot live without tactical rules for your giant robots, you should not play Bliss Stage. You should wait until the tactical rules come out.
In Bliss Stage, the game will never tell you what to do with your character. If don’t like games where you can’t force someone to act in a particular way with the mechanics, you won’t like Bliss Stage.
Bliss Stage relies on the judgements of your friends. If you’re the sort of person where you get spiteful when you play Apples to Apples, you probably won’t Polaris like Bliss Stage.
Bliss Stage can have a happy ending or a sad ending. If you need to have a happy ending, you may not be comfortable with Bliss Stage.
Resources
Love is My Weapon, a bliss stage fansite and resource center.
Carl Rigney’s Fan Site
Purchase
Buy at Indie Press Revolution or:
Buy Now
If you have any questions about this or any of my other games please don’t hesitate to e-mail me.