Mise en Abyme: a Recursively Played Game

      Benoit B. Mandelbrot was born on the 20th of November in 1924. He is recognized for his work with fractals: never-ending, infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales. The concept of media exhibiting internal repetitions of itself goes back even further, referred to as "mise en abyme."

      Mise en Abyme [MEEZ en aBEEM] is an RPG (Recursively Played Game) that produces fractal stories — fractales, if you will. Invent a world with your friends, then have your characters within it play the same game you are to invent their OWN world and characters — who will then repeat the process in a constantly zooming-in loop of imagining how fiction treats its own fiction, as well as examining how games and players influence each other.

Included in this game:

• Clear steps on how to produce a complex and layered play experience
• Imaginative examples of produced elements for each step of play
• Flexible suggestions for how to create play elements for recursions
• An open recursion recorder sheet to help track and organize elements

      If you have any comments about this work, I'd love to hear them! Please leave a review and/or comment below.

[ Size: US letter (8.5"x11"), 5 pages, 2222 words ]