Yelp is one of the most fascinating currently active websites. While it does still serve its original purpose of allowing users to find which local businesses are worth their time, it also acts as a fascinating time capsule of a community and a people at a moment in time, capturing small fragments of people’s lives as they embark on their day to day adventures.
Many people were introduced to this latter use when Twitter user @crulge posted a thread discussing a Yelp user who had posted 65 evocative reviews that doubled as a chronicle of her life. Yap, a TTRPG by frogqueengames, turns this idea into an emotional solo journaling game.
Recreating Yelp With Cards
Using a deck of cards and a D6, Yap puts players in the shoes of someone going through a series of massive life changes. After coming up with some basic details about your character, you start writing reviews, a process is broken down into four stages.
First, you draw a card, which decides what type of business you’re reviewing. Then, roll a D6 to decide on the rating your character gives the firm, and then roll the dice again to select your character’s life status as they’re writing the review. Finally, you write the review, weaving in all the elements you decided on earlier.
Once this review is done, the pattern repeats. This happens until the player draws a joker, as at this point, you rewrite your first review, and the character abandons their account, leaving their reviews to gather dust on the internet.
The Brilliance Of Yap
Yap is a fun experience that captures what makes accounts like Verna so fascinating, giving us tiny glimpses into someone else’s life and internal world filtered through the lens of familiar places and situations. Because of this, the game is both fun in its own right and a fantastic character-generation exercise, allowing you to dive into what makes someone tick.
So, if you want to make your next long-term TTRPG character feel deeper and more emotionally resonant, a session of Yap might be just what you need.
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Jonathon Greenall is a freelance writer, TTRPG designer, and visual artist. They love creating and exploring the often overlooked corners of indie media, spotlighting things that dare to be different.