Atmosphere

A few tips on how to get the most out of your Zone experience. (If you do something cool, I'd love to see it! Drop me a line at raph@laughingkaiju.com)

Lighting

The Zone is best played in the dark—but not completely. Flashlights and glowsticks are a great way to theme the game.

For glowsticks, my favorite options are:

  • LifeGear LED Glowstick+Flashlight (Green)
    These are the best resuable LED glowsticks I could find. The batteries last ages, and they come in a variety of colors.
  • 10" Cyalume Snaplights
    These glowsticks are oversized, incredibly bright and last a very long time. They are not cheap, but I found that regular party glowsticks tended to not give quite enough light, and there is a wow factor to these oversized ones.

The Zone has been played with all kinds of light sources, from candles (real and electric) to LED light strips encircling the main spiral of cards.

Tip: vary the color of the light. I've found that the color of the session changes the feel quite a bit, and it can create a sense of real occasion to change the type and color of lighting as you move deeper into The Zone.

And as a reminder, you can amp up the moment that players enter The Zone by making that also the moment where you transition from full lighting to whatever atmospheric lighting you've chosen. This mirrors the way the expedition starts out in safety, and then chooses to enter the dangers of The Zone.

It may not make much sense, but I like to think that expeditions into The Zone always begin at night—perhaps (if you need a reason) because it is less active, less aware of those who try to enter. But the real reason is that it's just kinda cool

TIP: Think about the walls & ceiling

I haven't had a chance to try one of these myself, but these atmospheric little projectors can create a wonderfully spooky ambiance. (If you find a favorite—let me know!)

 

Props

A rather astounding example of using props is this game run by Alex Teplitz in a bonafide studio space. My goodness!

But you don't need a whole studio. A few well placed items—especially plants—can do a lot to change the feel of the table.

Music 

There are a couple of playlists that I've used in playing, and which The Zone community has contributed track to in the Discord.

 

More ideas for music

Thank you @olliedevoid in the Discord for sharing two playlists: one for before you start, and then one for when you're actually in The Zone. What a cool idea!

YouTube is full of long ambient mixes like this one. You can find more with search terms like "spooky ambiance". (Just make sure you have a way to block ads, they can be... surprising, while playing.)