Let the Metagames Begin

This is the first essay in my series about “metagames.” I wrote it in preparation for publishing Mousetrap: An absurd game-within-a-game about getting trapped inside an RPG and Violent Delights: my chess-based RPG about Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.I want to talk about metagames — in the broadest sense, games that are about games, games that examine what it means to be a game, and games that draw attention to the fact that they are a game. Although there are already popular metagames in the tabletop RPG mainstream, such as Kieron Gillen’s DIE RPG, and metagames by well-regarded designers, like Dungeon by Jay Dragon and the live-action Game Night by Jason Morningstar, I consider this topic underexplored in tabletop RPGs, both in design and in discussion. I think it’s a shame. When you play, read, and design these sort of games, they expand your awareness of the art form and the shapes it can take, what makes it unique, and the culture that surrounds it. Also, I’m just a sicko for weird…