Journal · Behind the Scenes
We Made a Game About Running a Show Night
Okay, this one's a little different from what we usually put in the journal, but I'm honestly really excited about it. We made a game!
It's called Showrunner, and you can play it free right here on our site. There's nothing to download and no account to make, and it works on your phone too.
What the game is
We made Showrunner with Really Bad Studio, and the idea was pretty simple: what if you could sit on our side of the desk for a night? An inquiry lands in your inbox with a budget, a venue and a client who has some opinions. You pick two crew members, and each one has their own skill and personality. You pack your gear into a van that's always a little too small. Then the camera pushes in from the room to the desk and the run of show starts scrolling.
When a cue comes up, you hit it. That might mean bringing up a mic, rolling a video or changing the lights. And then the problems start. A lav dies, or the laptop decides now is a good time for an update, or Mic 2 starts feeding back. You can send someone from your crew to fix it, or hold the button and fix it yourself. At the end of the night you strike, get paid and find out what the client thought.
A short season takes you through four really different nights: a hotel gala, a desert wedding, a four-camera tech keynote and a church Christmas service with live lyrics.
What's real about it
I think this was the most fun part to work on. None of the clients, venues or people in the game are real, but the situations are drawn from the kinds of things that actually happen at real events.
The client who wants to move the dance party up. Partway through the gala, the client walks over and asks if the dance party can start early. In the game you get to decide whether to roll with it and re-time everything or stick with the plan. That kind of request really does come up at events, and I like that the game puts the call in your hands.
The wind at outdoor weddings. Anyone who's been to an outdoor ceremony in Arizona knows the wind can be a lot. A gust hits an open mic and rumbles right through the speakers, sometimes right in the middle of the vows. In the game you keep an eye on the wind sock, ride the low cut filter when a gust comes through and take it back out once the air settles. If you leave it in too long the voice starts to sound thin, so you can't just set it and forget it.
The rest of it. There's the playback laptop that picks show night to update, and a "when in doubt, go to the logo" moment. There's a speaker who goes off script and wanders out of the camera shot, and a ten-hour day that turns into overtime because strike takes longer than anyone planned. It's all made up for the game, but I think anyone who works events will probably recognize some of it.
Why we put it on the SPRK site
Mostly because it's fun! But I also think it's a pretty good way to show what our side of an event looks like. Most guests never really see what's happening at the desk during the night, and this gives people a little taste of it.
It's free, it works on phones and computers, and we're going to keep updating it. If you play it and have an idea for something we should add, I'd really love to hear it.
Frequently asked questions
Is Showrunner free?
Yes. It's free to play in your browser at sprkproductions.com/play, with no download, account or ads. Your progress saves on your device.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. You can tap and drag everything on a phone, or use the keyboard on a computer. Each show night takes about three minutes.
Are the events in the game real?
The situations are drawn from the kinds of things that happen at real events, but every client, venue and person in the game is invented.
Who made Showrunner?
We made Showrunner with Really Bad Studio. It lives on our site because we think it's a fun way to show what show night looks like from our side of the desk.
Give Showrunner a try, and if you've got a real event coming up, we'd love to hear what you're planning.