Games That Are About Choosing the Pope (To Me)

Me preparing to write this post

As a regular (read: lapsed, queer, nonbeliever) Catholic, I of course felt the Catholicism reenter my body upon hearing of Pope Francis' death, and there is no better way to commemorate the ongoing Papal Conclave (from the Latin cum clave because they are freaks) than to discuss games that are about choosing the Pope (to me).

The Criteria

We doing a three-way factorial analysis babeyyyyy (aka an alignment chart). The are two axes we'll be using are:

The Narrative Axis: the degree to which the game is about choosing a Pope

1. The game is about choosing a new Pope
2. The game is about making a decision of religious importance
3. The game is about making any decision of importance

The Mechanics Axis: the degree to which the game resembles the functioning of the Papal Conclave

1. The decision is made through secret ballot
2. The decision is made democratically
3. The decision is made by any means necessary

Throughout this post, these will be abbreviated to N1/2/3 for the Narrative Axis, and M1/2/3 for the Mechanics Axis.

N1/M1: The Conclave of 1492: A Game of Faith and Power by Shawn Roske

Pretty straightforward: this is a Golden Cobra 2023 submission about the actual historical 1492 papal conclave. Secret ballots, real popes, the whole nine yards. Fun fact: this was the first conclave to be held in the Sistine Chapel!

Would that all of our game rooms looked this good

N1/M2: Behold My Grand & Glorious Hat And Weep by Kay Marlow Allen

We're already in questionable territory given that there is no explicit voting in this game, but there is a Pope present and you are given the opportunity to produce an Antipope if you can get enough players to agree with you so it counts. Plus who doesn't like making silly glorious hats?

N1/M3: The (Orc) Pope is Dead by Grant Howitt

In this silly little one-pager, there's no voting to be seen anywhere! A bunch of orc cardinals fight amongst themselves to replace the Orc Pope - hilarity ensues.

N2/M1: ???

Once again in trouble: I could not find a single game about general religious decision-making that was governed by secret ballot. If you know about one, hit me up.

N2/M2: Papatouille by bujold

This game can be best summed up by a potential alternate title that I'm making up: Everyone is (Pope) John. Inspired by the original game by Michael Sullivan, this game sees an older rat (the Father), a younger rat (the Son), and a pigeon (the Holy Spirit/Ghost) take control of a tourist named John who was somehow named Pope. Is this actually democratic? Only in the sense that three people make all the decisions and will eventually need to agree amongst themselves to some extent.

N2/M3: Benediction by Laura op de Beke

Another Golden Cobra 2023 submission, this LARP sees you play as a bunch of nuns awaiting the arrival of a traveling miracle worker. You're not making a decision so much as figuring out how you feel about this strange man coming to see you, but sometimes important decisions can be internal as well as external.

N3/M1: Death Game by Laurie O'Connel

This whole post will have been worth it if only because it made me finally read this game after I backed it last year. Everyone (players and GM alike) submit a possible gimmick for the arena the death game is happening in, and then everyone votes by writing down their pick and giving it to the GM (just like the papal conclave!). On top of that, the GM position rotates whenever a player character dies, with the old GM fleshing out an NPC to enter the game with (just like the pope!).

N3/M2: The Hench Union LARP by Sam Dunnewold

The third and final Golden Cobra submission on the list, but this time from 2021. Here, a bunch of henchfolk and their supervillain boss must come to an agreement about their contract negotiation. What's keeping everyone at the table? Mutually assured destruction via doomsday devices on each side. The henches can vote to set theirs off, while the supervillain can unilaterally detonate theirs at any time (just like the pope!).

N3/M3: Picket Line Tango by Emily Weiss

IDK what to tell you. A murder mystery in space against the backdrop of a union strike? Seems like a game about picking the pope to me!