Happy Ends

Play up the positive

Happy Ends wants to make you happy. It wants you to understand that there is power in the good stuff, not just in trying to be that one that’s worst off. Let’s explore the delicacy and intimacy of happiness together.
The game is designed around three interleaving themes. The first one is a story about a woman dealing with losing her mother to Alzheimer’s. The second theme is about exploring the circumstances surrounding photos in a photo album connected with the story of the first theme. The last theme revolves around family counseling and frames the game, somehow.

Happy Ends has both the good and the bad, the happy and sad streaks, but the key to the game is exploring the power – not of feel-good, but of focusing on what’s good and positive and explore the delicacy of not just shared fantasy, but shared happiness.

Some say that playing without tragedy is not believable. But I believe we simply lack the skills to do it, and the language. And there is only one way to fix that, and that’s by doing it. And here is the kicker: your brain is not going to be able to distinguish between this “synthesized happiness” and the real deal. Because there is no such thing. There is no fake happiness. There is just this. And there you are.

By: Tobias Wrigstad (swe)
Duration: 4 hours
Number of players: 4

Download the scenario here.