Tea, biscuits and the apocalypse: Announcing Aftermath, the second game from VLHG

What happens after the end of the world?

The end has come. Society has collapsed. Everyone is dead. Well, nearly everyone. Now that the worst of the event has passed, those who survived in bunkers and emergency shelters still have to eat. What happens after the apocalypse?

Aftermath - designed and written by Zane Gunton - is the megagame that seeks to answer that question. What does Britain look like when just one person in 1,000 survived?

In this game, you'll be playing as groups of survivors navigating what remains of the old world. Some vestiges of the authorities have survived, and it's up to the remnants of the police, the military, and local government to try and reimpose some sort of order onto a world torn apart. People need food, water, shelter, medicine - and a reason to live. It's up to you to provide that, while finding more groups of survivors and adding them to your camp. After all, having the biggest group means you get to call the shots, right?

This is a freeform game that can be run just as well with 40 players as it can with 160. The core gameplay loop is simple: you can play as Silver Command - a three player group representing the police, military and civilian authorities who are tasked with managing the survivor communities that hurriedly formed as things fell apart. Community members will need to be dispatched on scavenging runs, and their happiness, hunger, thirst and exhaustion must all be managed, while teams try to rebuild a more resilient society in the wreckage of the old world.

Silver Command reports to Gold Command, the last remnants of central governance. Gold Command will be playing at a strategic level, trying to rebuild the entire area. They’ll be responsible for agreeing the path forward, issuing orders to be completed by the Silver Commands and taking hard decisions on where best to utilise the limited resources available, including restoring power and prioritising which roads need to be cleared.

Added into this mix are the survivors. These players have varied objectives - which may not always align with each other or the government that is attempting to re-establish control. How will the preppers deal with the team from Tarrow’s Department Store? Will the druids from Blackwoods Grove get on with the Sheepdrove Farm vegans? The main goal for each survivor group is to rebuild the country in their own image, in the meantime getting enough food to eat, water to drink and medicines are critical to securing and growing their communities. restoring power and clearing the roads are also quite important…

Communication is key in the world of Aftermath. The teams come into contact every turn as they explore the world around them. If they feel especially trusting - or are desperate enough - they may meet to trade. Players will use Ordnance Survey maps which can be scribbled on as interesting encounters and interesting places to investigate are discovered (Fuel stations? Museum armouries? Poultry Farms?)

We'll be running Aftermath twice in 2023. Our first run will be on Saturday 3rd June at the UK Games Expo, where 44 players will organise the rebuilding effort across three English regions with nothing more than a few cans of food, bottles of clean water and a handful of maps. The second run is in September, and will accommodate more than 150 people scrabbling to survive the Aftermath. Sign up to our mailing list if you’d like to be among the first to know when tickets go on sale!

Do you have what it takes to survive? Whatever happens, you’ll have a fantastic experience, so grab the gang, stock up on tea and biscuits and join us at the UK Games Expo!

PS our friends at East Midlands Megagames will also be at UKGE running the iconic megagame about survival in space - Den of Wolves - on Friday 2nd June. You can grab your tickets for their game here.