Before I begin, I would just like to offer my especial thanks to Megan, Jay, Caroline and Marc for playing Dog Eat Dog with me on Saturday. I'd been holding onto the book for almost a month and finally had the opportunity to facilitate it. It was great to play it for the first time with a fellow group of newbies who were so enthusiastic and willing to talk about it afterward.

Dog Eat Dog is unique among story games I've played so far in that the greatest emphasis is not on character or plot but in the theme as revealed through the mechanics. The game is meant to simulate the relationship between local people and an occupying force. Though everyone has a chance to narrate a scene, if any conflicts arise, the person playing the Occupiers has the ultimate ability to determine the result and can punish and reward Native players for respectively breaking and following rules, the most fundamental of which is "The Natives are inferior to the Occupiers."

I played the occupying Regians, a race of zealously monotheistic vegans who had recently arrived on the island of the Nightfolk, a people who had themselves conquered the island long ago and whose skin was so dark they were hard to see at night. Megan played Amzo, a literate member of the royal court who often acted as a translator, Jay's Princess Aza was stealthy in the jungle, Marc was the decorated military leader Commander Gur'thalak, and Caroline played Listener Ove, a priest who could discern the truth in body language.

After Commander Gur'thalak's early attempt to destroy a Regian supply point was repulsed by a small number of well-armed guards, the Nightfolk turned to attempts at diplomacy and negotiation. These failed time and again. The Regians sent a blowhard cook's assistant to represent them as everyone else had better things to do. When the Regians finally sent a real delegation of warriors to the king to demand assistance in clearing land for their new farms, the princess, running amok since being treated condescendingly by a woman farmer, launched a surprise attack when her father was prepared to give in to all of the Regian demands. The princess and commander were killed in the ensuing melee, but the Regian delegation was decimated, and the greater force abandoned the island after their cabbage and apple crops failed.

I honestly enjoyed the game and the opportunity to act with so much power and was very glad to hear that most of the group would be interested in playing again.

Thanks so much for facilitating Chris! I'd be interested in giving the system another go--with perhaps more emphasis on role-playing and exposition scenes rather than the action-oriented type.

Thanks for the write-up! :D