Rawr.

When you’re a kaiju, one of those giant monsters, you go on rampages, you smash cities, and
you fight other kaiju. But what then? Sooner or later the fighting ends, and you realize that there’s
just life, spreading out to the horizon.

Melancholy Kaiju is a game about kaiju in everyday life. It plays out as a series of vignettes about
the things these kaiju experience as they try to get by, about the things that make them happy
and sad. The world where it takes place is a bit surreal, a place where a giant radioactive lizard
can have an office job and let out a little sigh because he couldn’t get the kind of bento he
wanted for lunch because they were sold out.

Things You’ll Need

To play you will need a few friends, some time to play (an hour or so is enough, though you can
go longer), a little imagination, a deck of ordinary playing cards (take out the jokers), and either
printouts of the premade kaiju or paper and pencils for making your own. Either way, each player
will need a kaiju; there is no GM in this game.

Credits
Design Art Playtesters
Ewen Cluney (©2016) Thinh Pham Grant Chen, Jono Xia, Sushu Xia
www.yarukizerogames.com opusink@gmail.com

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Premade Kaiju
What follows is a set of six kaiju you can use when playing the game if you don’t have time to
make your own, or you just don’t feel like it. See the Kaiju Kreation (p. 10) section for details on
what each of the traits actually means.

3
Melancholy Kaiju ↓ Draw Something Here! ↓

Kaiju Name: The Amazing Colossal Office Lady

Kaiju Type: Giant Human
Monstrous Traits:
Tentacle Hair
Extra Eyes
Something You Can Do
Generate an EMP
Something You Can’t Do
Control my tentacle hair
Something That Makes You Happy
Drinking good coffee
Something That Makes You Sad
When kids make fun of me
Notes
For most of her life, Natsumi Ueno was a pre�y unremarkable person. She did reasonably well in school, and
got an office job where she went straight to the middle. Her life changed when a strange meteorite crashed
into her train on the way back from a company ou�ng. Over the course of a few days she grew to an enor-
mous size, and her hair took on the quali�es of the squid she’d eaten (a local specialty at the town where
she’d been staying), sprout-ing extra eyes and developing a mind of its own. She took the opportunity to use
the strength the experience had granted her to take out her frustra�ons on the city before having a big dumb
fight with Beatzilla and se�ling down again. Now it’s back to the daily grind, which is a lot harder to deal with
now that she’s so huge.

Play Summary
On your turn you can:
• Play a card of equal or greater value than the top card on the table. (Face cards count as 11 and aces
count as 12 for this purpose.) Narrate a detail about the scene.
• Play an ace. Bring the focus kaiju’s trait for that card’s suit into play, in a way that is joyful.
• Play a face card. Bring the focus kaiju’s trait for that card’s suit into play, in a way that is bittersweet.
• Pass. Set a card from your hand face down next to the discard pile, and narrate an incidental detail
into the scene.
Incidental details should be things that don’t directly affect characters. For other kinds of narration,
think in terms of narrating from a panel to a page worth of manga.
Regardless, the focus player can briefly give their kaiju’s reactions to what happens in other players’
narration, but can’t substantially affect the scene with their reactions.
The scene ends when there are as many cards from passing as there are players in the game. When that
happens, the focus kaiju expressing their trait for whatever suit is currently on top of the pile, in
whatever way the focus player thinks would be a fitting conclusion to the scene.
Melancholy Kaiju ↓ Draw Something Here! ↓

Kaiju Name: Beatzilla

Kaiju Type: Lizard
Monstrous Traits:
Switches and Dials
Mouth Speaker
Something You Can Do
Emit a potent sonic shockwave from my mouth
Something You Can’t Do
Keep from receiving Bluetooth signals
Something That Makes You Happy
Instant noodles
Something That Makes You Sad
Seeing the islanders looking for a new guardian
Notes
Beatzilla was once the savage guardian of an isolated island. The villagers would give him food and such as
sacrifices and he’d devour the unclean. Life was good. Then one day a boat came with sciensts, and they
captured him. They had intended to turn him into a cyborg weapon, but some kind of mistake with corrupt-ed
data files led to the automated system combining him with a Bluetooth speaker. The sciensts promptly
abandoned him in Tokyo, and started looking for another kaiju to experiment on. Now he’s a giant, living,
self-powered Bluetooth speaker, and he’s been working a succession of part-me jobs to make ends meet.
Every now and then he runs into the islanders, but they don’t want a guardian who’s part consumer elec-tron-
ics, so they keep looking for a new kaiju to protect them.

Play Summary
On your turn you can:
• Play a card of equal or greater value than the top card on the table. (Face cards count as 11 and aces
count as 12 for this purpose.) Narrate a detail about the scene.
• Play an ace. Bring the focus kaiju’s trait for that card’s suit into play, in a way that is joyful.
• Play a face card. Bring the focus kaiju’s trait for that card’s suit into play, in a way that is bittersweet.
• Pass. Set a card from your hand face down next to the discard pile, and narrate an incidental detail
into the scene.
Incidental details should be things that don’t directly affect characters. For other kinds of narration,
think in terms of narrating from a panel to a page worth of manga.
Regardless, the focus player can briefly give their kaiju’s reactions to what happens in other players’
narration, but can’t substantially affect the scene with their reactions.
The scene ends when there are as many cards from passing as there are players in the game. When that
happens, the focus kaiju expressing their trait for whatever suit is currently on top of the pile, in
whatever way the focus player thinks would be a fitting conclusion to the scene.
Melancholy Kaiju ↓ Draw Something Here! ↓

Kaiju Name: Hole Punch Man

Kaiju Type: Giant Superhero
Monstrous Traits:
Holes in Body
Spandex Suit
Something You Can Do
Punch holes in literally anything
Something You Can’t Do
Find any excitement in life
Something That Makes You Happy
Reading manga
Something That Makes You Sad
Phone calls from mom
Notes
No one remembers his original name anymore (not that a lot of people cared at the �me), but Hole Punch Man
reached his current state through a regimen of intensive physical training and filing work that inexpli-cably made
him grow to an enormous size and granted him the power to punch holes in literally anything. This is a remarkably
effec�ve skill for defea�ng threats to Planet Earth, but difficult to apply to anything that actually pays well.
Despite all of this, his mom s�ll finds �me to call him up and harangue him for being a crazy dreamer and not
ge�ng a proper job. He’s so powerful that no enemy can ever really be a challenge for him, and nothing’s ever
exci�ng. Recently he’s become a voracious reader of manga (on a giant tablet he salvaged from a mad scien�st’s
robot), though reading about epic heroes having exci�ng ba�les only does so much for him.

Play Summary
On your turn you can:
• Play a card of equal or greater value than the top card on the table. (Face cards count as 11 and aces
count as 12 for this purpose.) Narrate a detail about the scene.
• Play an ace. Bring the focus kaiju’s trait for that card’s suit into play, in a way that is joyful.
• Play a face card. Bring the focus kaiju’s trait for that card’s suit into play, in a way that is bittersweet.
• Pass. Set a card from your hand face down next to the discard pile, and narrate an incidental detail
into the scene.
Incidental details should be things that don’t directly affect characters. For other kinds of narration,
think in terms of narrating from a panel to a page worth of manga.
Regardless, the focus player can briefly give their kaiju’s reactions to what happens in other players’
narration, but can’t substantially affect the scene with their reactions.
The scene ends when there are as many cards from passing as there are players in the game. When that
happens, the focus kaiju expressing their trait for whatever suit is currently on top of the pile, in
whatever way the focus player thinks would be a fitting conclusion to the scene.
Melancholy Kaiju g Here! ↓
↓ Draw Something

Kaiju Name: King Emo

Kaiju Type: Robot
Monstrous Traits:
Glowing Broken Heart
Tritanium Outer Shell
Something You Can Do
Shoot Lasers
Something You Can’t Do
Get out of bed before noon
Something That Makes You Happy
Listening to mildly depressing music
Something That Makes You Sad
Texts from Pardan
Notes
An alien warrior from Planet Deimos named Pardan assembled a massive robot in order to conquer
Earth. Unfortunately, Pardan decided that his robot should learn about Earth culture in order to beer
formulate strategies to defeat the Earthlings. That’s how the robot became fixated on emo music, and
went as far as to alter his appearance and change his designaon to King Emo. When Pardan unleashed
his creaon on the world, to his horror he found that King Emo just wanted to haunt the local record
stores looking for vin-tage Minor Threat and Weezer albums. Pardan sll somemes pesters King Emo
to give conquering the Earth a go, but it mostly just makes things awkward for both of them.

Play Summary
On your turn you can:
• Play a card of equal or greater value than the top card on the table. (Face cards count as 11 and aces
count as 12 for this purpose.) Narrate a detail about the scene.
• Play an ace. Bring the focus kaiju’s trait for that card’s suit into play, in a way that is joyful.
• Play a face card. Bring the focus kaiju’s trait for that card’s suit into play, in a way that is bittersweet.
• Pass. Set a card from your hand face down next to the discard pile, and narrate an incidental detail
into the scene.
Incidental details should be things that don’t directly affect characters. For other kinds of narration,
think in terms of narrating from a panel to a page worth of manga.
Regardless, the focus player can briefly give their kaiju’s reactions to what happens in other players’
narration, but can’t substantially affect the scene with their reactions.
The scene ends when there are as many cards from passing as there are players in the game. When that
happens, the focus kaiju expressing their trait for whatever suit is currently on top of the pile, in
whatever way the focus player thinks would be a fitting conclusion to the scene.
Melancholy Kaiju a
↓ Draw So et g Here!
Something e e ↓

Kaiju Name: MUKO

Kaiju Type: Bat
Monstrous Traits:
Huge Batwings
Bat Ears
Something You Can Do
Fly while creang supersonic shockwaves
Something You Can’t Do
Handle being in wide open spaces well
Something That Makes You Happy
Buying news clothes
Something That Makes You Sad
Running out of snacks
Notes
MUKO isn’t the name she chose for herself, but rather a designaon the JSDF gave her. (It’s short for
Mas-sive Unidenfied Kawaii Organism). She’s a throwback to a prehistoric species of giant bats, origi-
nally in-habitants of a massive system of caves, unl a major earthquake made them collapse. MUKO had
a mate (MUBO, or Massive Unidenfied Bishounen Organism), but in the aermath of the earthquake
they had an awkward breakup and went their separate ways. Since the JSDF let her out of their custody
she’s mostly just been trying to get on with her life, despite having crippling agoraphobia. She finds some
solace in how this new era has cute clothes, but misses the old cave system.

Play Summary
On your turn you can:
• Play a card of equal or greater value than the top card on the table. (Face cards count as 11 and aces
count as 12 for this purpose.) Narrate a detail about the scene.
• Play an ace. Bring the focus kaiju’s trait for that card’s suit into play, in a way that is joyful.
• Play a face card. Bring the focus kaiju’s trait for that card’s suit into play, in a way that is bittersweet.
• Pass. Set a card from your hand face down next to the discard pile, and narrate an incidental detail
into the scene.
Incidental details should be things that don’t directly affect characters. For other kinds of narration,
think in terms of narrating from a panel to a page worth of manga.
Regardless, the focus player can briefly give their kaiju’s reactions to what happens in other players’
narration, but can’t substantially affect the scene with their reactions.
The scene ends when there are as many cards from passing as there are players in the game. When that
happens, the focus kaiju expressing their trait for whatever suit is currently on top of the pile, in
whatever way the focus player thinks would be a fitting conclusion to the scene.
Melancholy Kaiju g Here! ↓
↓ Draw Something

Kaiju Name: Parfaitrah

Kaiju Type: Dessert
Monstrous Traits:
Glowing Eyes
Slimy Body
Something You Can Do
Unleash a wave of so� serve ice cream
Something You Can’t Do
Talk to girls
Something That Makes You Happy
My favorite TV show
Something That Makes You Sad
Reminders that I’m single
Notes
The creature now known as Parfaitrah came about because a famous parfait shop in Shinjuku (the Kagegami Fruit
Parlor) a�empted to set a world record for the largest parfait ever made. The ice cream came in a small fleet of cooled
tanker trucks, and a helicopter lowered a spoon down from above. The problem was the fruit. In order to secure a suffi-
cient quan�ty of fruit, they bought some giant mutant fruit from a mysterious alien. The extraterrestrial fruit caused the
massive parfait to come to life, but to the alien’s disappointment, the resul�ng kaiju mostly just wanted to go on dates
with cute girls. This is probably something to do with par-fait shops a�rac�ng so many lovelorn customers, but despite
their (Parfaitrah is genderless) enthusiasm for cute girls, Parfaitrah has a lot of trouble even talking to them. Parfaitrah
also really likes the long-running TV drama Karin-san, about a young woman trying to find love in the big city, and
watches it whenever possible.
Play Summary
On your turn you can:
• Play a card of equal or greater value than the top card on the table. (Face cards count as 11 and aces
count as 12 for this purpose.) Narrate a detail about the scene.
• Play an ace. Bring the focus kaiju’s trait for that card’s suit into play, in a way that is joyful.
• Play a face card. Bring the focus kaiju’s trait for that card’s suit into play, in a way that is bittersweet.
• Pass. Set a card from your hand face down next to the discard pile, and narrate an incidental detail
into the scene.
Incidental details should be things that don’t directly affect characters. For other kinds of narration,
think in terms of narrating from a panel to a page worth of manga.
Regardless, the focus player can briefly give their kaiju’s reactions to what happens in other players’
narration, but can’t substantially affect the scene with their reactions.
The scene ends when there are as many cards from passing as there are players in the game. When that
happens, the focus kaiju expressing their trait for whatever suit is currently on top of the pile, in
whatever way the focus player thinks would be a fitting conclusion to the scene.
Kaiju Kreation
If you want to make your own kaiju, these simple rules will guide you through the process. In this
game we define kaiju through a set of traits. For each of them there is a table that lets you
randomly select one of 26 pre-made options by drawing a card, but you can always make up
your own. Four of the traits have card suits associated with them, because at certain times they’ll
come into play if someone plays a card of that suit during the game.

Kaiju Type
This is the general type of creature your kaiju is, though it’ll be a particularly large and monstrous
version of that. It could be based on a normal animal, or it could be something already unnatural.
You can of course combine multiple types if you want.

Card Kaiju Type Card Kaiju Type

A♥♦ Alien A♠♣ Lizard
2♥♦ Blob 2♠♣ Mineral
3♥♦ Building 3♠♣ Plant
4♥♦ Cat 4♠♣ Primate
5♥♦ Crustacean 5♠♣ Rabbit
6♥♦ Dinosaur 6♠♣ Robot
7♥♦ Fish 7♠♣ Shark
8♥♦ Food 8♠♣ Spider
9♥♦ Frankenstein 9♠♣ Squid/Octopus
10♥♦ Fruit 10♠♣ Turtle
J♥♦ Fungus J♠♣ Undead
Q♥♦ Giant Hero Q♠♣ Yeti
K♥♦ Insect K♠♣ Combination of 2 Types
Monstrous Traits
Next give your kaiju two monstrous traits, things that make it clearly a dangerous and unnatural
creature.

Card Monstrous Trait Card Monstrous Trait

A♥♦ Antennas A♠♣ Giant Eye
2♥♦ Armor Plating 2♠♣ Glowing Crystals
3♥♦ Beak 3♠♣ Horn(s)
4♥♦ Blades 4♠♣ Knifehead
5♥♦ Bright Colors 5♠♣ Lamprey Mouth
6♥♦ Claws 6♠♣ Mask
7♥♦ Cosmic Coloration 7♠♣ Metallic Skin
8♥♦ Cyborg 8♠♣ Pincers
9♥♦ Extra Arms 9♠♣ Spikes
10♥♦ Extra Eye(s) 10♠♣ Stretchy
J♥♦ Extra Head(s) J♠♣ Tentacles
Q♥♦ Eye Stalks Q♠♣ Translucent
K♥♦ Fangs/Tusks K♠♣ Wings

Something You Can Do ♣

Write down something your kaiju can do that normal people and most creatures can’t.

Card Something You Can Do Card Something You Can Do

A♥♦ Absorb energy from others A♠♣ Generate an EMP
2♥♦ Camouflage myself 2♠♣ Generate heat of 3 million degrees
3♥♦ Climb vertical surfaces 3♠♣ Hear the voices of sea creatures
4♥♦ Contort into different shapes 4♠♣ Leap vast distances
5♥♦ Detect radiation within 1,000 miles 5♠♣ Lift whole buildings
6♥♦ Eat 9,000 tons of fish 6♠♣ Perform 6 million calculations/sec.
7♥♦ Emit a hypersonic wail 7♠♣ Psychically control jellyfish
8♥♦ Emit a psychic shockwave 8♠♣ Quickly tunnel underground
9♥♦ Emit radioactive flame from mouth 9♠♣ Regrow lost body parts
10♥♦ Expel sticky webbing 10♠♣ See into the depths of space
J♥♦ Float in the air J♠♣ Shoot beams from my eyes
Q♥♦ Fly at incredible speeds Q♠♣ Shoot lasers
K♥♦ Generate 60,000 volts of electricity K♠♣ Withstand any temperature

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Something You Can’t Do ♦
Write down something that most people can do that your kaiju just can’t seem to manage.

Card Something You Can’t Do Card Something You Can’t Do

A♥♦ Admit when I like someone A♠♣ Handle stress well
2♥♦ Be comfortable in an office chair 2♠♣ Hold my liquor
3♥♦ Control my tail 3♠♣ Keep from losing my cell phone
4♥♦ Deal with kids 4♠♣ Program the DVR
5♥♦ Fit through doors 5♠♣ Remember birthdays
6♥♦ Get a date with someone decent 6♠♣ Reproduce
7♥♦ Get a full-time job 7♠♣ Speak in any human language
8♥♦ Get a good night’s sleep 8♠♣ Speak more quietly than a jet engine
9♥♦ Get respect from my manager 9♠♣ Spell
10♥♦ Get scientists to leave me alone 10♠♣ Stop checking my phone
J♥♦ Get the flavor of donut I like J♠♣ Use a computer
Q♥♦ Get islanders to stop following me Q♠♣ Watch scary movies
K♥♦ Get to work in time K♠♣ Win at chess

Something That Makes You Happy ♥

Write down something that makes your kaiju happy, a simple, everyday pleasure.

Card Something That Makes You Happy Card Something That Makes You Happy
A♥♦ A nice pot of tea A♠♣ My aquarium
2♥♦ Afternoon naps 2♠♣ My favorite anime
3♥♦ Arguing about food 3♠♣ My favorite TV show
4♥♦ Being the only one in the office 4♠♣ Payday
5♥♦ Cheap hamburgers 5♠♣ Petting cats
6♥♦ Cheesy old movies 6♠♣ Playing Puzzle Smash on my phone
7♥♦ Cute shoes 7♠♣ Rainbows
8♥♦ Drinking good coffee 8♠♣ Rainy days
9♥♦ Eating a convenience store bento 9♠♣ Reading manga
10♥♦ Eating sweets 10♠♣ Swimming
J♥♦ Going for walks J♠♣ The girl at the café
Q♥♦ Instant noodles Q♠♣ Walking the dog
K♥♦ Listening to podcasts K♠♣ Yard work

12
Something That Makes You Sad ♠
Write down something that makes your kaiju a little sad, an everyday thing that makes them sigh.

Card Something That Makes You Sad Card Something That Makes You Sad
A♥♦ Being scolded at work A♠♣ Phone calls from mom
2♥♦ Dreams of the old days 2♠♣ Reminders that I’m single
3♥♦ Feeling jealous of Kaizerah’s success 3♠♣ Running out of snacks
4♥♦ Forgetting to take out the trash 4♠♣ Seafood
5♥♦ Growing old 5♠♣ That one song they play all the time
6♥♦ Long train rides 6♠♣ The endless paperwork
7♥♦ Meeting fans from the old days 7♠♣ The news
8♥♦ Migraines 8♠♣ The wreckage of Shinjuku
9♥♦ My empty apartment 9♠♣ Tokyo Tower
10♥♦ My ex’s Facebook updates 10♠♣ When kids make fun of me
J♥♦ My father’s bones J♠♣ When my allergies act up
Q♥♦ Needing so many meds Q♠♣ When my knee bothers me
K♥♦ People littering K♠♣ Yet another crush

Kaiju Name
Give your kaiju a suitable name. Kaiju frequently have names that draw on words for normal
creatures, often with “rah” added on the end, and it’s not unusual for them to have titles like
“King” too.

Jot down anything else you’d like to develop your kaiju more under Notes, and maybe doodle
a picture of them while you’re at it. If you want to get really artistic you can go to town with some
crayons, but don’t take too much time.

13
Scenes
The game is a series of scenes, during which you decide what your character thinks and feels,
and you narrate what they do and what happens around them, within the limits imposed by the
rules of the game. You play cards kind of like in a trick-taking game, which determines the kinds
of things you can narrate.

When you’re ready to start playing, take the jokers out of the deck, shuffle the cards, and deal a
hand of 5 cards to each player. Pick one of your kaiju to be the focus of the first scene. The other
ones can potentially be a part of the scene, but the one you pick will be the main focus. The
focus player should put their kaiju sheet in the middle where everyone can see it as you play
cards, because they’ll often need to check the kaiju’s traits to decide what to narrate.

Setting the Scene

First, the focus player describes an everyday situation their kaiju is confronting. It should be
something quite mundane, but which will take some effort to deal with. If you’re not sure what
to make a scene about, there’s a table you can use on p. 16.

Narrating
The player to the focus player’s left plays a card from their hand. The card’s suit will bring one of
the focus kaiju’s traits into play at the start of the scene; describe what it does and how it affects
the everyday situation the kaiju is in. Future cards played during the scene will go in a pile on
top of this card.

♥ Something That Makes You Happy

♦ Something You Can’t Do

♠ Something That Makes You Sad

♣ Something You Can Do

14
From there, go clockwise around the table taking turns playing cards and narrating. On your turn
you can:

• Play a card of equal or greater value than the top card on the table. (Face cards count as
11 and aces count as 12 for this purpose.) Narrate a detail about the scene.
• Play an ace. Bring the focus kaiju’s trait for that card’s suit into play, in a way that is joyful.
• Play a face card. Bring the focus kaiju’s trait for that card’s suit into play, in a way that is
bittersweet.
• Pass. Set a card from your hand face down next to the discard pile, and narrate an inci-
dental detail into the scene.

Incidental details should be things that don’t directly affect characters. For other kinds of narra-
tion, think in terms of narrating from a panel to a page worth of manga.

Regardless, the focus player can briefly give their kaiju’s reactions to what happens in other play-
ers’ narration, but can’t substantially affect the scene with their reactions.

Ending the Scene

The scene ends after the players have set aside a total of 4 cards from passing. When that hap-
pens, the player of the focus kaiju expresses their trait for whatever suit is currently on top of the
pile, in whatever way the focus player thinks would be a fitting conclusion to the scene.

Once the scene is done, set the card pile aside, and if you’re going to do another scene, have
everyone draw up to a hand of 5 cards again. If the deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile into a
new deck.

Another player becomes the focus player for the next scene. Keep playing scenes for as long as
you feel like, but try to let each player be the focus player at least once.

Epilogue
Once you feel you’ve done enough scenes, it’s time to do an epilogue. This is a chance to give
your kaiju a little bit of happiness so that you don’t end the game feeling nothing but melancholy.
Anyone who ended the scene with less than 2 cards should draw up to 2, then begin the epilogue.

During the epilogue, you put one of your cards on the discard pile and narrate something nice
for your kaiju. Don’t worry about what the card actually says, just perform the physical act of
putting it down. When you do so, say, “This is [name],” and then say something they’re doing or
something that’s happening to them in the present tense. For example you might say, “This is
Usagon, smiling to himself as he digs into a convenience store bento after a day at his new job,”
or “This is Nekorah, curling up with a giant catnip toy as the sun sets.”

Take turns until everyone has put down all of their cards. After that the game is over, and it’s time
to clean up.

15
Scene Seeds
If you’re not sure what to have a scene be about, the table below provides you with 52 possible
ideas to help you along. If you flip a card for this, you should put it at the bottom of the deck to
avoid confusion later.

Card Scene Idea Card Scene Idea

A♥ A big dumb argument with a friend A♠ Cleaning out the storage unit
2♥ A crush on a coworker 2♠ Clothes shopping
3♥ A forgotten anniversary 3♠ Commuting to work in traffic
4♥ A kind of depressing birthday party 4♠ Computer trouble
5♥ A line out the door of the restaurant 5♠ Did everyone forget your birthday?
6♥ A short-lived podcast 6♠ Dinner is ruined
7♥ Accidentally broke the copier 7♠ Donut day at work
8♥ An awkward office party 8♠ Drunk salarymen bug you on the train
9♥ Apartment-hunting 9♠ Eating at Denny’s at midnight
10♥ At the kaiju support group 10♠ Encounter with annoying fan
J♥ Being asked to demolish a building J♠ Finding a lost dog
Q♥ Caught a cold Q♠ Finding an old mixtape
K♥ Caught out in the rain K♠ Getting through a boring meeting
Card Scene Idea Card Scene Idea
A♦ Going for a walk in the park A♣ Running into a less successful friend
2♦ Going to a baby shower 2♣ Running into an ex
3♦ Going to a midnight game release 3♣ Running into someone more successful
4♦ Going to a relative’s wedding 4♣ Seeing the doctor for a checkup
5♦ Having trouble getting powers to work 5♣ Seeing your psychiatrist
6♦ Helping a friend move 6♣ The toilet is clogged
7♦ Kaiju brunch get-together 7♣ The train broke down
8♦ Kaiju-related hashtag drama 8♣ Trying not to hear spoilers
9♦ Last-minute holiday plans 9♣ Trying to mail a letter
10♦ Locked out of your home 10♣ Waiting in line at the bank
J♦ Lunch interrupted by a call from mom J♣ Wasting time at work
Q♦ Playing fantasy football Q♣ Work outing to the aquarium
K♦ Poker night with the guys K♣ Your favorite food is on sale

16
Design Notes
The idea for Melancholy Kaiju came from seeing cute, artsy vinyl toys of kaiju and such at the
Super 7 store in San Francisco. (Though there are some other companies like Kid Robot, Max
Toy Company and ESC-TOY that also make great vinyl stuff.) I wrote the title down and left it for
years before coming back to it just recently. It seemed irresistibly wonderful, but I had no idea
what it would even be about or how to make it work. I hit on the idea of it being about the kaiju
trying to deal with everyday situations despite being, you know, kaiju. In that respect it would
draw on works like Saint Young Men and Kill Me Baby, which put fantastical characters into a
world of dry, quiet everyday life.

The single biggest influence on the actual game design is Ben Lehman’s Hot Guys Making Out.
HGMO (or “Hugmo” as I keep calling it in my head for no good reason) uses a constrained card-
based narration mechanic. The way character traits work shows Maid RPG’s influence (as usual),
and the approach of having open-ended questions with optional tables that I started developing
in Magical Burst. I’m hoping that the final outcome is something that produces experiences that
are fun in a pleasantly subdued, melancholy kind of way. The epilogue rules are more or less
straight out of Fiasco, and I added them because they help keep the game from becoming a
little too melancholy.

Other influences include of course actual kaiju movies like the Godzilla and Gamera films (with
and without Mystery Science Theater 3000), the kaiju designs from Ultraman, Kaiju Big Battel
(which blends a cartoony kaiju aesthetic with pro-wrestling), the trend of local mascots in Japan
(which you can read about in the book Fuzz & Fur: Japan’s Costumed Characters) and the weird-
ness of the original Di Gi Charat anime series. For the sample kaiju I just let my artist friend Thinh
cut loose coming up with stuff (though I did lend him a book on Ultra Kaiju), and then did my
best to write up the zany stuff he came up with. He loves to make character designs densely
packed with motifs and references, which was perfect for this game.

Music That Kinda Fits or Something

Blockhead, The Cinematic Orchestra, Death Cab for Cutie, Fun., Gorillaz, Marconi Union,
Melodysheep, The Postal Service, Tokyo Police Club, Weezer, Wilco

17
Melancholy Kaiju ↓ Draw Something Here! ↓

Kaiju Name:
Kaiju Type:
Monstrous Traits:

Something You Can Do

Something You Can’t Do

Something That Makes You Happy

Something That Makes You Sad

Notes

Play Summary
On your turn you can:
• Play a card of equal or greater value than the top card on the table. (Face cards count as 11 and aces
count as 12 for this purpose.) Narrate a detail about the scene.
• Play an ace. Bring the focus kaiju’s trait for that card’s suit into play, in a way that is joyful.
• Play a face card. Bring the focus kaiju’s trait for that card’s suit into play, in a way that is bittersweet.
• Pass. Set a card from your hand face down next to the discard pile, and narrate an incidental detail
into the scene.
Incidental details should be things that don’t directly affect characters. For other kinds of narration,
think in terms of narrating from a panel to a page worth of manga.
Regardless, the focus player can briefly give their kaiju’s reactions to what happens in other players’
narration, but can’t substantially affect the scene with their reactions.
The scene ends when there are as many cards from passing as there are players in the game. When that
happens, the focus kaiju expressing their trait for whatever suit is currently on top of the pile, in
whatever way the focus player thinks would be a fitting conclusion to the scene.