Take Over the World in ‘The Rogues Gallery’ (A NoPro Adventure)

by Kathryn Yu
Kathryn Yu
•
July 25, 2019
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6 min read

“I’m allowed one evil monologue, right?”

This was the question asked of me by my friend Michael, as we began to strategize our team’s plan. (After all, you can’t enter a gathering of villains without a plan. C’mon.)

I pondered his request. If our team were to triumph over the other baddies and seize power, thereby controlling the planet, what would be an appropriate reward?

“If your team wins, yes,” I said. “You can have an evil monologue.”

This prospect seemed to satisfy him. Delight him, even.

“It’s like the Purge, but it only lasts for 30 seconds…”

Excellent, I thought. The wheels were now in motion.

Broken Ghost Immersives, the creators of interactive theatrical experiences like The Wake and The Bunker, have revamped their villian experience The Rogues Gallery for 2019. No longer is the event a “convention” where each super villain is out for themselves, playing solo. In the new incarnation, teams of two or three participants work together to obtain and place resources on the map (through the acquisition of plastic gems representing armies), to attack enemy countries (using minions placed upon the map), and eventually take over the world by acquiring the most territory.

And why exactly are we fighting over the fate of the planet? The reason for this auspicious gathering of bad guys is the untimely death of the world’s premier superhero, Superbious; his unexpected passing has left a vacuum, giving us, the best and smartest super villains in the world, an opportunity to seize power once and for all. And we’ve all been invited to the party tonight by a “Mysterious Benefactor” to try our best at doing so.

And as it tends to go: the plot thickens.

Inspired by the golden age of comic books, the lovingly constructed world of The Rogues Gallery includes a large collection of newspaper front pages denoting key events in time, all painstakingly hung around the warren-like Wildrence space; characters like Miss Trust (Gwendolyn Kelly) and Dolph Mysterio (Venatrix Rey-Pop) who can grant access to additional resources or exchange tidbits of information; a giant Risk-like map on the wall to track each team’s progress manned by a surly intern, Cody (Arnab Chakravarty); a powerful super computer named STELLA managed by the alluring Dr. Divisive (Iya Megre); a Mysterious Benefactor (Austen Anderson) who appears periodically via remote video connection but refuses to show us his true face; a world populated with Moon-people, Mer-people, and Mole-people; and, last but not least, the utterly charming Ian McNeely, playing the night’s emcee/janitor, Randy. And, to get you in the right frame of mind, there are complimentary super villain capes, scarves, and face paints available at the costuming station and participants will also find a well-stocked fridge full of cold beer in the kitchen.

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Of course, you’ll also find at The Rogues Gallery a whole host of puzzles, side quests, group challenges, and more, culminating in a beautiful sort of chaos as each team sets off to conquer the planet. Fans of roleplaying, tabletop games, and social deduction games can choose any of these paths in this delightful quest for world domination. There is indeed something for nearly type of player, whether you’re into solving ciphers, trading secrets, or executing war strategies.

And who are we the audience cast as, us aspiring rulers of the world? A number of enticing evil personas are available at the door upon entry. The aforementioned Michael took on the persona of the devious Colonel Kangaroo, with the ability to attack non-adjacent countries on the map for the price of five precious gemstones. Our teammate, Lisa, transformed into the cunning Nova-Emerald, with the power to decimate half the armies of our enemies in one go. And me? I was the clever Burgermeister, who, for the price of a few minions, could restore vision or speech to any willing villain, which came in quite handy as I soon discovered. (And our team name? “We Came Here To Make Friends.”)

Thus armed with a costume and identity, you might find yourself like me, traveling through space and time with the smartly dressed Ambassador Apathy (Cheyenne Ligon, a NoPro NYC correspondent who in full disclosure has had no input into this review). We land deep within Superbious’ mansion with no easy way out, making decisions on the fly as the Ambassador narrates our adventure Dungeons & Dragons-style. And what treasures or booby traps might you find in Superbious’ basement? Only the bravest of the brave may find out.

Or you might end up texting back and forth via a tablet with a strange person known only as “E” who represents the voiceless god, a god who demands sacrifices. My task was clear: I needed to find two villains willing to sell their voices to Miss Trust in order for the voiceless god to “rise.” And what did it mean for the vocieless god to “rise”? “QUICKLY! I MUST RISE,” was the only explanation beyond this. I realized two advantages I had over the other players in the game: one, that I could sell my voice and then — for the price of a mere five minions — gain it back immediately using the Burgermeister’s super power; and two, that I could sell my ability to restore someone’s vision or speech in the game’s black market as I was the only character with this particular power. My senses? Oh, they were definitely tingling by this point.

What happened next was a bit of a blur as Miss Trust realized I had discovered a loophole and scoffingly offered me fewer and fewer gems as I sold and regained my voice three times. Mayhem erupted on the game map as Nova-Emerald attempted to place our armies on the board as quickly as she could, as I began shoving gem after gem into her open hands. Two players who had been blinded without realizing what was happening (cleverly executed in-game through the wearing of opaque goggles) stumbled over to me and begged for me to restore their vision; I agreed to do so, but only for a steep price. Colonel Kangaroo disappeared for several minutes and returned with what appeared to be blackmail material (!) on one of the facilitators.

Alliances were forged and then broken. Teams were subsumed into other teams. Team We Came Here To Make Friends dominated the map. And then: a twist! Secret identities were revealed. Shocking revelations were discovered. Characters were sacrificed.

What were we to do next? We had to decide as a group. With every playthrough, the ending of The Rogues Gallery is different, which is one of the defining features of a Broken Ghost Immersives experience; their other experience, The Bunker, boasts hundreds — if not thousands — of possible endings. The audience ends up working together to drive the culmination of the narrative to strange, unpredictable, often hilarious results. The performers and facilitators lean in to the audience’s agency, a risk that pays off to many dividends in the end.

I’m assuming that our particular version of events — where one individual called for a certain enemy’s body to be treated like a piñata “just in case” it was full of gemstones, and where someone else envisioned a new world order where it was legal to commit any crime you wanted within a pre-determined 30-second period — is unlikely to happen again. Which is part of the joy of playing not just this type of game, but best of any kind of interactive experience, really. And Broken Ghost Immersives especially thrives in the blurred zone between genres; they live right on that fuzzy line between theatre and games where anything can and does happen.

So, if you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to take over the world, and you love a good story, I suggest you get your best evil cackle on and head over to The Rogues Gallery before it’s too late.

World domination awaits you, my friend.