Review - Violent Delights (Playtest)
By Alex White
- 10 minutes read - 2052 wordsI've just played in a playtest of Violent Delights by Asa Donald with Camilla Zamboni playing the Capulets and I played the Montagues.
The Basics
This is a two player game using a chessboard (either in person or using a free online chessboard which we did).
Each of the chess pieces represent someone attending the masquerade ball. The pawns are unnamed servants and entertainers, while the pieces all represent named characters. Juliet is the white king, Romeo is the black king. Some of the pieces are generic people who are named when used (the miser, the braggart, the potential lover). Everything moves according to the rules of chess, and when anything is moved the player narrates something about what is going on. When a piece captures another, you can choose to use one of the 'firebrand' style minigames to play out the process by which the captured piece leaves the board.
Playing the Game
We play according to the rules of chess (with a couple of exceptions for the king and the queen pieces, to limit their activity in the early part of the game).
It is important to remember that we are not actually playing chess! We are using a chessboard and related mechanics to tell a story! To that end, during our game we both made some moves which would not make sense at all in a proper game of chess but which worked really nicely to tell our story together. The players are not competing to win, they are collaborating to tell a compelling story inspired by Shakespear's tale!
The minigames include An Accusation, A Dance, An Exchange of Blows, Flirtatious Play, A Lecture, A Reminiscence, A Party Foul, A Private Audience, and An Unwelcome Departure. Each tells you how it starts, how it continues and how to end it, with lots of helpful and atmospheric prompts.
The game ends either when one side checkmates the other, or when the two kings end up adjacent and kiss (the only exception to the rule). In the latter case the story matches that which Shakespear told, in the former case Juliet or Romeo are kept apart and never meet their true destiny.
Why I like this game
I love the way that the rules of chess and the developing position on the board give opportunities and challenges as you navigate your characters around the ballroom. Sometimes you really want to move a particular piece to engage with a particular character, but you find you cannot because of other pieces on the board. This is especially true of Romeo and Juliet, who move slowly and have to be particularly circumspect.
Our game was over in two hours because we moved quickly and were happy to throw pieces away in order to move the story forward and try out lots of the minigames. I could imagine a game which was played much more cautiously (like a normal game of chess) drawing out much longer, with an ebb and flow of characters moving to and fro on the board. I enjoyed the pace at which we played though.
Each of the pieces is given three bullet points for their motivation, and it was great to be able to use these when we captured other pieces with our own, or when someone captures one of yours in line with that characters own motivation. The characterisation was also helpful as we thought about how we wanted our characters to interact.
It's worth mentioning that the bishops, knights, and rooks are distinct characters - my black knight on G8 was Mercutio, while by black knight on B8 was "a braggart" who I named when I used. In a longer online game it might be tricky to keep track of which is which!
Where can you find the game
The playtest document is available on itch here: https://backwards-tabletop.itch.io/violent-delights
Follow Asa Donald on Bluesky here: https://bsky.app/profile/backwardsttrpg.bsky.social
Would you like to see a story?
At the start of the game four pawns from each side are moved forward and we narrated the servants setting up tables, the entertainers starting to juggle and play music and so forth.
bC4: The black kings bishop, a miser, moves to C4 putting Juliet in check and pontificating about Juliet's appearance.
AxC4: A white pawn, a servant, captures the miser and escorting the ranting miser out of the ballroom!
ExD4: In the centre of the hall, a black pawn (entertainer) accuses a white pawn (servant) of stealing from him. We play "Accusation" and the servant hurries out of the ballroom.
rA3: Juliet's father moves more into the hall and asks for civility and merriment.
kA6: A braggart named Julio moves forward and declares himeself the best dancer and best lover in all Verona.
kH3: Rosa, a boastful Capulet strides forth and declares herself and equal dancer to any of the guests.
kxB4: Julio grabs up one of the dancing girls and swirls around dancing with her. He is a bit handsy and is also not very good at dancing either, and she slips over and injures herself and has to retire away from the ball.
rA4: Lord Capulet advances next to Julio, he has seen what was going on. He draws himself up to his impressive height, and without raising his voice looks at Julio and says "we don't want these delights to turn violent tonight"
kD3: Julio winks at Lord Capulet and moves across to a position which demands the attention of both Juliet and her nurse, letting his eye rove over both of them. (the knight has forked both the king and the bishop)
kD2: Juliet advances towards Julio to call his bluff. She is dressed impeccably but unlike most of the other ladies at the party her dress doesn't look suggestive. She looks like a picture of innocence. She looks at him with seemingly naive but witty eyes and says "you are surely a welcome guest at our house", taking him back.
kE7: Romeo is rather taken by the quiet drama of this exchange, and steps forward into the hall, his eyes on Juliet and thinking "Who is this masked girl?"
ExD3: One of the servants comes forward and leads away the stunned Julio, escorting him out of the hall.
bxH3: Benvolio dashes across to Rosa and starts lecturing here about her medical condition which he is sure exists by looking at the way she is standing. She eventually limps off, beaten down by his monologue (we played the Lecture minigame)
rxH3: Antonio, an eligible lover, surges forward to Benvolio with a furious face. incensed at his behaviour. Benvolio throws the first punch as Antonio approaches, a ferocious punch with all his weight behind it. Antonio gives ground readily, but returns with a fierce blow which clips Benvolio's cheek. Benvolio feels a chill. Antonio follows it up with another blow that knocks Benvolio's mask off, revealing his identity. Antonio cries out "Let it be known that anyone who dares to belittle or shame one of the ladies of this house will be swiftly dealt with" and Benvolio, full of shame and with blood trickling from his nose, scurries out. (This was An Exchange of Blows)
kE6: Romeo, undistracted by that furore, advances a step further into the hall. His eyes on Juliet's face.
KE2: Juliet steps to the side putting herself directly across the hall from the intriguing young man who seems dashing and somehow not horrifyingly rude. She notices that while most of the men here wear lion or eagle masks, he is wearing a butterfly. She thinks idly how apposite that she chose a mask which represents a beautiful sunny flower. She puts her head to one side as she gazes at him, and is there a little smile there?
kH6: Mercutio moves boldly onto the floor,
bE3: The Nurse can see Juliet advancing across the floor with her eyes locked on a young man and thinks enough is enough and scoots across and plants herself in front of Juliet, facing her, and saying "Everything OK my lady? Do you need a moment to freshen up?"
Dxe3: One of the entertainers is going to take the nurse out! It is an elderly lady who used to know Nurse and spent much time with her in younger days... "Are you surprised to see me?" she asks. "Oh Maria, how strange to see you here" Nurse replies. They smile, and talk about the moon and what might have been once long ago. Then nurse puts a gentle hand on Maria's shoulder, letting her know that they should meet and reaquaint each other. With a look over her shoulder, Nurse leaves the ballroom.
kxE3: Juliet moves forwards and gently ushers Maria after Nurse. Eyes still fixed on Romeo.
kG4: Mecurio moves forwards, eyes on Juliet himself and calls out to her.
kD2: Juliet retreats towards the safety of her cousin Tybalt.
kF2: Mercutio advances again, looking at both Tybalt and Antonio, threatening both of them and asking who thinks they are hard enough to take him.
QE2: Tybalt moves forwards, placing himself between Mercutio and Juliet, and staring down the hall towards Romeo who he divines might be a true threat.
kF5: Romeo moves forwards and hides behind one of the Capulet servants, taking himself away from Tybalt's baleful gaze.
QxF2: Tybalt moves towards Mercutio and mocks him, dropping his shoulders and suggesting that he should be the submissive partner to the Lord Capulet. Furious Mercutio bites his finger at him and they both respond with increasing aggression - pushing, shoving, and then drawing daggers, during which Tybalt fatally wounds Mercutio who staggers out bleeding! (This was A Party Foul)
rE8: Prince Escalus moves across to Paris (the black queen) and suggests to him that he might want to be careful pressing his suit with Juliet, as Tybalt is a bit out of control.
QD4: Tybalt advances towards Romeo, grabbing some juicy meat off a table and chomps into it while staring at Romeo.
DxC4: An entertainer who doesn't like being just in front of Tybalt who has drawn blood just now moves quickly out of the way and knocks some food onto another one of the servants, who has to leave to get themselves sorted out. This leaves Tybalt and Paris staring at one another (Is there going to be a queen swap!?!)
QxD8: Paris sees Tybalt advancing towards him with a choleric face and thunder in his eyes. We know he's got a temper, but Mercutio really riled him up. Paris throws a defensive punch but overreaches and Tybalt gives him a dirty jab. Tybalt then smacks him on the chin and their circle one another. Paris wants to know what his family are going to think about this brawl, but Tybalt claims that it is his family, his rules as he steps in for a knockout blow... then lets Paris retreat. Paris takes the opportunity and backs out. He's not here for this! (An Exchange of Blows again)
rxD8: Prince Escalus accuses Tybalt of ungentlemanly behaviour, of violently assaulting two guests. Acting in a manner unbecoming of his station, his family, and the occasion. This is the behaviour of the gutters, not the ballroom. Recognising the prince, Tybalt is contrite and apologises with excuses. The prince wants to know what he thinks his future is in Verona right now, and Tybalt realises that he is on thin ice and excuses himself to catch a breath of fresh air and calm down, continuing to apologise. (this is An Accusation)
kE3: While all eyes are on the altercation, Juliet is curious and picks her way out from behind a maid to get a closer look at the beautiful stranger in the butterfly mask, the stranger who also seems uninterested in all the fighting, uninterested in ingratiating himself with the prince. This is new and refreshing. She cautiously steps forward.
KE4: Romeo sees Juliet approaching and also steps forward. They meet and hold hands. Pulses racing. Eyes gazing. (We play The Kiss)
We read Romeo and Juliet's parts from sonnet (RJ 1.5.94-107)
(This was a very emotional end to the story)
Final Thoughts
This game is a lot of fun, and can be played online as well as in person. Look out for the kickstarter! The prelaunch page can be found here https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/backwater/violent-delights