My Way
A downloadable game
Just one more fight
And I’ll be history
Yes I will straight up
Leave your shit
And you’ll be the one who’s left
Missing me
-My Way, Limp Bizkit
___
You are a pro wrestler. One of the best there have ever been. You had a long lineage of wins and losses. Heartaches and achievements. All in all, you have a had a career worth looking back on.
But you have never reached the top of the mountain. You have never held the title that defined your promotions. And you want it so bad.
Still, it’s like they say. “The spirit’s willing. The body cannot.” You have been wrestling for so long and your body is telling you too long. Telling you it’s time to string up your boots and finally call it a day.
But not until you have won that title.
____
My Way is a game about obsession, burnout and the idea of work defining you. It’s about pushing yourself far beyond what you know you should be doing. It’s about the pain of reaching for the top.
My Way is heavily inspired by pro wrestling of all sorts. But most of all, it’s inspired by Independent Wrestling. It’s where I have seen the most sheer passion and love for wrestling anywhere. Even too much.
This game was created as part of the Wretched & Alone Jam, a game jam organised to coincide with the release of the SRD for the Wretched & Alone system, based on Chris Bissette’s game The Wretched.
The amazing layout was done by @ByFrancita
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Free RPG Day Copies
Free copies of My Way for anyone who cannot afford to purchase, in honor of Free RPG Day.
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I wish there was a community copy.
I opened My Way, having heard the premise, thinking that the title was a going to be a Sinatra reference. Then I saw the Limp Bizkit quote, and the game kept me off balance from there.
My Way is a 20 page The Wretched engine solo rpg about a pro wrestler heading towards retirement. You use cards, a digital dice roller (or 100 real d6s if you want to go that route,) and tokens to manage the game's mechanics. You also record a podcast or write a journal about the end of the wrestler's career.
It's really good.
The game's got excellent, evocative layout and art. It's easy to read. The dice system is also really interesting---you roll 100 d6s, discarding 1s permanently, and slowly whittle your pool down to nothing.
The game's deck of cards serves prompts to you, sometimes with a sour flavor, and randomizes a story of heavy moments on the way to the end of your career. Everything hits hard, even the hopeful beats, and there's a strong sense of understanding of what the business side of wrestling is like---both in the technical language that's used and in the way the information is presented. Everything is explained in a way that someone new to stage wrestling can understand, but journaling it might be easier if you've done a bit of background reading.
There's safety tools to help decompress after playing, and the game (like The Wretched) has a clear message that's partially hidden behind the rules until you get to the end. The writing is strong and flavorful, and has a consistent style throughout.
I would strongly recommend this to anyone, and especially to anyone who likes the fourth-wall-breaking soap opera / sport / long-form improv / hands-on acting / corporate-produced entertainment / anarchic culture of performers that is stage wrestling.
I'm going to try not to overstate this, but I really love this game. The storyline it has guided me through creating has really had some interesting ups and downs, as well as unexpected introspective moments for my character. I've sat down with this game roughly every other night, virtually rolling the dice and creating a blog entry. (I literally created a blog for my wrestler.) I actually reached a point the other night when I expected it to be over, but it turns out this guy still has legs on him. Where is this story going?
The 100d6 mechanic presents, essentially, a visual of the wrestler's sometimes slowly, sometimes, rapidly deteriorating health that can play a part in your stories. The prompts from each card, as mentioned above, create a fascinating path for your character as they make strides toward their goal. The two systems create an interesting dynamic as you try to leave things open for more things to come but also have to welcome the inevitable. 'Cause you never know - no you never know - when you're gonna go.
I still think about the fun time I had playing this game.
Went through it and it was a blast. The questions are really well thought, and using the 100d6 mechanics allow for some new things (adding dice).
I will go through this review in more depth (and in more french ^^) but it transpires a great love for the art of wrestling. Thanks. That was a story I wanted to experience ...
https://www.gulix.fr/blog/2020/06/15/wretched-my-way/
My french report of the game, with the full story.
This is a heartfelt love poem to pro wrestling - with all its darker aspects - and I think if I played it I would cry. Well done.
Oh thank you so much! That honestly is what I aimed for so I really appreciate it. Thank you
this was really cool and fun to play!
Thanks so much!