Japan is home to an array of gaming-to-live-theater adaptations of beloved video games that transform their virtual worlds into original stories (or that find ways to cram 40 hours of narrative into a single evening). Now a live theatrical adaptation of Gnosia, a 2019 sci-fi social deduction game, is doing things differently, seeking to transform its social deduction gameplay into an entirely improvised live performance, and you can watch the results of this experiment for free on YouTube for a limited time.

Unlike franchises such as Ace Attorney or Castlevania, both adapted to the stage by Japan’s all-female Takarazuka Revue theater troupe and telling structured stories that can be adapted into live theater in a fairly straightforward, traditional way, Gnosia‘s unique gameplay makes such a simple adaptation to the stage quite difficult. Initially an indie game developed by Petit Depotto and first released on the PlayStation Vita, its appeal lies primarily in gameplay that merges traditional visual novels with what is essentially a randomized game of Werewolf.

Trapped on a spaceship, a mix of humanoids, aliens, and talking dolphins must deduce and cryogenically freeze the so-called “Gnosia,” a parasitic being that has climbed aboard and is seeking to kill the other passengers. While there is an overarching narrative to the original game, the appeal of this sci-fi adventure lies in seeking out clues to the Gnosia’s identity in character dialogue, with RNG meaning that the identity of the Gnosia isn’t fixed by the game’s story. How do you recreate this interactivity on stage?

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