Adventure Gamers - Forums

Here’s an all new theme, inspired by something that Vegetable Party said in a recent post. I think this could make a great game.

Thrift Store Quest
Think about it.

1.
A) Many people who are in thrift stores are there on the hunt for specific items, or things that fall into a specific category of items. Some of these things can be quite unique, unusual, or idiosyncratic.
B) Sometimes you see people in thrift stores holding something you really really want, but they got there before you, so what can you do about it?
C) This makes a very natural set up for some very interesting and potentially humorous fetch quests.

2.
Many of the people one sees in thrift stores, yours truly perhaps included, tend to be a little interesting. At the very least, we could call them diverse. There are wealthy people looking for antique decor and furniture for their posh-rustic ‘new’ country house. There are art collectors looking to find overlooked treasures. There are people looking for funky groovy vintage clothing. There are people shopping to expand their VHS collection. There are Beanie Baby collectors. There’s this one guy who is looking for an obscure old cd-rom game based on the Griffin and Sabine books. So on and so forth—if I wasn’t so dehydrated at the moment I’m sure I could come up with more and better examples. The point is, you’ve got a whole cast of potentially memorable characters, in a Pearl and Duane Henderson (Broken Sword)  sort of way (at least, that is but one of the ‘ways’).

3.
Your character might be looking for a specific pretty mundane item for its own value, ie just something to complete a collection, or a coffee mug or a vacuum cleaner…or he could be looking to collect many things to accomplish a greater goal.

4.
In real life, you could visit multiple thrift stores, and they could all be quite different. Some are in barns, some are in shopping malls, some are in church basements, etc. In the game, it would be fun to embellish these distinct types of thrift or antique stores and put them into all kinds of places, almost Sam and Max style. Visit deserts, jungles, outer space, floating cities (or underwater cities, if we really want to go crazy) and find these place’s versions of ‘The Thrift Store’. It would be staffed by the locals, but have goods from everywhere. It would be interesting to hear the locals guesses or opinions on what the things they have in their store actually are, or what their value is/isn’t, according to their cultural biases. Likewise, since these stores would be frequented by fellow thrift store explorers like yourself, you’d be able to hear their thoughts on the thrift-store culture of the place you are visiting. Again, very Pearl and Duane or Sam & Max-ish.

5.
Since part of the whole idea of the thrift store is to sift through merchandise, this might actually be a justifiable instance for some hidden object puzzles. Hope I didn’t lose you there.

6. If I didn’t lose you with #5, then following on from there, you could follow the trails of different objects you are seeking, or follow the tracks of fellow thrift store hunters who are looking for or have the objects you want, detective style. A Laura Bow-like element where you see traces left by a person in different places, and have to deduce what they are after and where you can head them off, or where they might have left certain objects you want to find.

7. That’s it for now. Thrift Store Quest. Coming never to a nothing near no one. I’d Kickstart this in a second. Probably the only game I’m keener to play is Yard Sale Quest.

I had this in the back of my mind today, did not expect this concept worked out by you to this extent, but I’m completely on board.