Jubensha

Today, I learned that an elaborate version of the classic "murder mystery" game (剧本杀) is played by millions in China and is a multi-billion dollar business. I knew that some people around me played this, but I had no idea it's so popular.

What's interesting to me is why this particular game type, out of all the different board games and social games, have caught on so strongly in China among the Gen Z "00后". Clue, the classic board game on which 剧本杀 is based, is a popular game but by no means the most popular (Monopoly probably holds that title) or the best-reviewed (eg. Gloomhaven). There's also the proliferation of original scripts (剧本), often with little to no quality control, that theoretically presents the risk of bad experiences.

Despite all this, why is 剧本杀 such a massive success in China? I find this question interesting because role-playing games is my favorite game genre, and so 剧本杀 may be something that I could potentially get into (despite the obvious challenges - I'm not in the target age group, and my Chinese might not be good enough for me to participate fully).

Today, I spoke to a few people who have played 剧本杀 before, and the preliminary conclusion I have is:

剧本杀 is popular because it presents attractive social opportunities to young people.

In essence, it's the ultimate ice-breaker. Compare it to the alternatives:

• A movie, which has few opportunities for interaction.
• A bar or club, which involves alcohol and is almost always too loud.
• A restaurant meal, which often forces participants to engage in conversation before they're comfortable.
• A group activity such as laser tag or karaoke, which tend to have a combination of the above problems.

Unlike the above, 剧本杀 offers ready-made content as an organic source of conversation, allowing acquaintances to get to know each other through low-stakes role play.

Perhaps the exact quality of the script itself isn't the priority, so long as it serves the critical function of facilitating conversation over a prolonged period (typically 3-4 hours). Indeed, the best indicator of enjoyment might not be the story itself, but the people whom you participated in that story with.

I can understand the social aspect and why it's important. I'm an avid fan of social deduction games such as Werewolf and Avalon, and such games have in fact been the source of fun memories - for example my time in Singapore during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic last year (when we were advised to stay at home and had little else to do besides Avalon marathons).

That said, I suppose I'm interested in 剧本杀 for the "wrong" reason - I like non-linear storytelling, and this game genre seems to be a good vehicle for creating and publishing such stories. It may not end up being popular, but wouldn't it be a good idea for a project after I complete my 100th post on this blog? Writing (perhaps the first ever) English 剧本 - sounds like a lot of fun to me!