Answering Machine

Answering Machine is a short form game designed to build a story through a series of voicemail messages left by colorful characters.

Purpose

Answering Machine is a storytelling and character dynamics game. The goal is for players to create a vivid picture of a person’s life without ever portraying them directly. By layering the messages left by different characters, the group builds character choices, relationships, and connections between seemingly unrelated details. It also could work as an Opening

How to Play

Players form a semicircle.

Players take on the roles of individuals leaving messages for someone who never checks their voicemail.

Each player selects a character, such as a spouse, a boss, a UPS driver, a doctor, or any person that would realistically or unrealistically call the voicemail owner.

Characters should each have a unique relationship to the person they’re calling and distinct motivations for leaving their messages.

One stepping forward at a time to leave their message. Each message is short, typically one or two sentences, and should reveal a detail about the caller’s life, their relationship to the voicemail owner, or the larger story. For example, a UPS driver might be frustrated about repeated failed delivery attempts wastning their time, while a boss might demand answers about an unreasonable project deadline.

Each player's new message can build on what others have established. Messages can refer back to previous ones, revealing how the characters’ lives intersect or how their concerns might tie together. For example, the doctor’s message could address something mentioned by the spouse or the drug dealer might reference an event hinted at by the boss.

The voicemail owner is never shown or heard, so their personality and actions are inferred solely through the content of the messages.

The game concludes when each player has left two or three messages, or when the story naturally reaches a satisfying end.

Example

Player 1 steps forward, holding a broom and sweeping:

“Hey, Alex, it’s me. The landlord’s coming by tomorrow, and you still haven’t fixed the hole in the wall. You better come up with a good excuse!” They return to the semicircle

Player 2 steps forward, pacing while holding an imaginary phone: “Alex, it’s your ex. I got your text about the cat. I don’t have it anymore. Check with your new roommate. And stop texting me at 2 a.m.” They step back to the circle.

Player 3 steps forward grabbing a chair, sitting at an imaginary desk and flipping through papers: “Hello, Alex, Dr. Patel here. We’ve rescheduled your root canal three times now. If you miss this appointment, I’ll have to refer you out. Also, it looks like you have some parking tickets in my lot? You might want to take care of those.”

Player 4 steps forward, sitting cross-legged on the ground as if in a yoga class: “Alex, it’s Marcy from yoga. I saw you sneak out before Shavasana again. You can’t just avoid the hard part of life, you know. Also, I stepped in something sticky in the studio—was that from your cat?”

Player 5 steps forward, object work showing them going through files while on speaker phone: “Alex, it’s your lawyer. I don’t know what you’re involved in, but you’ve got two parking tickets and a subpoena for ‘disturbing the peace.’ Call me before the hearing—or at least before Dr. Patel presses charges about his parking lot!”

As the game continues, the characters begin to connect with each other’s details. This could be in the original order or a random, up to you:

Player 1 “Alex, I just got a call from Marcy. She says your cat is wreaking havoc in the yoga studio again. Please tell me this isn’t the same cat that clawed the hole in our wall!”

Player 2 “Alex, your lawyer left me a message by mistake. Something about a subpoena? This is why we broke up—you never handle your stuff! Oh, and Marcy texted me about the cat. It’s not mine anymore!”

Player 3 “Alex, Dr. Patel again. I just got a subpoena because of your parking tickets."

Player 4 “Alex, it’s Marcy. Your cat scratched me in the studio today—right in the middle of Shavasana! I called your lawyer, and he said I should sue the landlord because it’s not your wall. What is happening?”

Player 5 steps forward, shuffling papers: “Alex, your lawyer here again. Dr. Patel called, and he’s dropping you as a client unless you pay your bills. Also, the landlord says the cat can’t stay, and Marcy is threatening a lawsuit. You’d better call me ASAP!” They snap their briefcase shut and rejoin the group.