In this era of cameras being attached to even the most basic smartphones, I think it gets overlooked how magical cameras are. The ability to get a perfect image of any object is something that people in the past would have dismissed as a magical fantasy. Medley’s Photomatic Adventure is a memorable circus-themed photography TTRPG that reminds you just how wonderful modern cameras are, and uses them to help you see the world around you in a new light.
The game’s storyline is pretty simple. Players are at the circus run by the titular Medley. After a quick tarot reading, Medley sets the players a challenge: to complete her photographic seek-and-find challenge by finding and taking a picture of the things she wants.
A TTRPG Built Around Photography
Before the game starts, the players should decide what structure they want the game to have. Players must choose how many prompts they want to complete, whether to assign prompts randomly or select them, whether to work solo or in groups, whether to use optional challenge modifiers, and whether the game has a time limit.
After this, each player should choose which Carnie is accompanying them on their adventure (if the players have opted to use Carnies at all). In classic TTRPG fashion, each Carnie has a unique ability (that can help the player on their photography adventure), as well as two challenges that make the player’s quest more difficult.
After this, the players get their challenges, each of which is linked to one of the Major Arcana tarot cards (meaning you can either choose which ones to do, or draw from a deck to get them at random).
Then the game can begin. During the game, each player can only take 15 pictures, meaning that if you are trying to complete the standard 10 prompts, they’ll only have five spare pictures to work with. Thankfully, to aid them in this quest, each player also has three deletes, which allow them to remove a photo from their camera.
A Photo Is Worth A Thousand Words
Medley’s Photomatic Adventure is a really well-done photography TTRPG. I’m very impressed by the game’s prompts, as they are expertly written. A common issue that many scavenger hunt-style TTRPGs encounter is that designers accidentally presume that things they encounter frequently are universal constants, leading to situations where some players are unable to find certain objects or situations in their surrounding area, making certain prompts unworkable, leading to frustrating games or forcing players to come up with new prompts on the fly.
However, the vast majority of the prompts in Medley’s Photomatic Adventure feature at least two options. One of these options tends to be an object, and the other is a general vibe or feeling (e.g., reclamation or a book, an indulgence, fear, or currency). Plus, the specific objects selected for the prompts are general enough that they likely appear in many forms, meaning players who are unable to find the actual thing will likely be able to find a representation or image of it somewhere in their vicinity, meaning that every prompt is doable, regardless of whether you’re playing in a single apartment or across a major city.
In a similar vein, I’m a big fan of the challenges and the bonus rules as they encourage creativity and out-of-the-box thinking rather than simply restricting the player. For example, one of Quibble the Carne’s challenges asks the player to always take pictures of “the second most obvious interpretation of the prompt,” while one of Mary’s challenges forbids you from taking “staged or posed photos,” forcing players to approach every challenge from different angles.
But, while this flexibility is nice (especially for a game that requires movement and space), I do wish the game presented one setup as the default or designer-intended way to play. When introducing this game to players, I noticed that several people became overwhelmed by the vast number of options. Plus, making decisions about which rules or modifiers to use can be tricky if no one in your group has played the game before and knows how the game sessions pan out in practice. Thus, a Quick Start option or a basic ruleset presented before the modifiers and extra rules would go a long way to making this game easier to pick up and play.
The game book has excellent graphic design. The book nails the circus aesthetic in a way that’s evocative and instantly recognizable, without ever being cluttered or hard to read. I’m also a massive fan of the ticket-inspired tracking sheets, as they strike the perfect balance between aesthetic and ease of use, much like the main book. This means they act as a constant reminder of the game’s theme while still allowing you to track your photographs at a glance.
Medley’s Photomatic Adventure is a really fun TTRPG (even if it lacks the TT part of acronym) that makes full use of its photography premise. Trying to find photos that match the prompts but don’t fall foul of your challenges is actually trickier than it first seems and makes you look at the world around you in a different light. Plus, sharing your photographs at the end of a session is a blast and leads to some very funny conversations as you try to justify your choices to the other players or show off the weirdest photographs you’ve taken.
