The round begins as everyone receives a face down card that will decide the course of the game. You flip yours over when no one can see and a three is revealed. You are suddenly aware that there are four killers among the group marked by their jacks. Your goal is now to survive and vote out the killers before they can kill you in the dark hallways of the theater building. The dark halls close in on you as you hear a distant scream of someone getting jump scared by a lurking friend. Beside you is your chosen companion as you walk together alone in the dark. Can you trust this person? They could be just as innocent as you or they could be the enemy. Your hallway friend scans the area, and you suddenly realize how alone the two of you are. Before you can register what has happened, they have tapped you on the shoulder and whispered, “you’re dead.” Now, you lay on the floor waiting for someone to find your body. You trusted the wrong person.
Alternately the setup is the same except you look at your card and see a jack. You are suddenly aware that anything you do that is out of place is a means to condemn you, leading you and your killer companions to lose the game. You try your best to act normally with the knowledge you have as you look around the group for an easy target. This is a game of opportunity and if someone sees you kill it is all over for you. You manage to end up walking alone with a freshman who hasn’t played before. You could kill them now if you have the right escape route. You could also try to gain an innocent’s trust by being alone with them the whole round and not killing them. The decision is yours alone.
This is a watered-down example of what the game Body-Body is like. Body-Body is the favorite game of many students on campus. Mainly, the game is played in the theater building at night, and it creates a space for fun shenanigans.
The rules vary according to the events in the theater. Sofia ‘Soph’ Gardner a leading regular or Reece Tyrrell a self-proclaimed moderator of the game will explain areas that are closed off for the game due to productions or student groups studying. When everyone playing knows what is allowed it diminishes the potential risk of damage or injury. Traditionally the group meets up in the theater on weekends. Recently they have extended playing over shorter breaks as well due to the high demand for more of the beloved game.
Some favorite memories of the group include when Thomas Vance was the killer and managed to kill 17 players before turning himself in before the voting began. He also tried to start a gameshow one evening in the blackbox for the “ghosts” people who had been voted out. Some sophomores have memories of body-body that go back to their experience at RED101. One woman said she does not play anymore because of her experience at RED101. Another explained that getting her RED101 experience hijacked by Body-Body was part of what lead her to choosing NW as her school.
