The Sternest Good Night

A family in crisis has an extraordinary experience on the way to a family gathering.

The Sternest Good Night is a blackbox game about family drama and UFOs. The UFO encounter is, in fact, a meta technique for the things the family can’t discuss – and, like Roshomon, it happens again and again with different color – both emotional and physical.

Long Description

This game takes place on a car ride to Aunt Sharon’s house for a family gathering. The car ride has taken longer than it should have, and it is late at night on a small road in the country. Your family is having a talk about everything except the elephant in the room–the recent failure of the family restaurant. Eventually, someone will say, “So are we going to talk about it?”, which is your cue to discuss the family financial situation freely. However, you will experience a UFO sighting, which will be represented by a strong light. When the light is on, conversation stops, and the host will ask each one of you some questions about your experience. We will do this three times. Each car scene begins the same way—with low-stakes late night conversation about the purpose of the car ride, what they are dreading about Aunt Sharon’s, and so on. At a suitable point, the front seat passenger will say “So are we going to talk about it?” And as you discuss, the bright light appears. After the last version of the scene, you will have a few minutes to talk to each other as your family prepares to go on a live national newscast to discuss their experiences with a news anchor.