Alice Is Missing vs Kids on Bikes
Compare Alice Is Missing and Kids on Bikes side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Alice Is Missing | Kids on Bikes | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Modern | Horror, Modern |
| Play Style | GM-Less, Diceless, Narrative, Rules-Light, One-Shot Friendly, Collaborative, Mystery, Investigation, Atmospheric, Drama, Character-Driven, Experimental | Beginner-Friendly, Cinematic, Collaborative, Worldbuilding, Mystery, Atmospheric, One-Shot Friendly, Theater of the Mind, Narrative, Roleplay-Heavy, Drama, GM-Friendly |
| Core Mechanic | No dice, no GM. One player facilitates setup, then all communication happens via text messages on players' phones for 90 minutes. A timed playlist sets pacing — when the timer hits the number on the back of a face-down Clue Card, that player flips it and follows the prompt, drawing a Suspect or Location Card and weaving the new information into the group text conversation. Characters exchange messages in a group chat and in private, building the story of what happened to Alice Briarwood. The 10-minute card determines the ending. | Six stats (Brains, Brawn, Fight, Flight, Charm, Grit) each get a single die from d4 (terrible) to d20 (superb), with the assignment determined by a chosen Trope (Brilliant Mathlete, Loner Weirdo, Popular Kid, etc.). Roll the relevant stat die against a GM-set difficulty; rolling the die's maximum 'explodes' and the die is rerolled, adding the values together. Failed rolls grant Adversity Tokens, each spendable for +1 on a future roll. Combat is fully narrative — there are no hit points; the margin between attacker and defender rolls determines injury severity and who narrates the outcome. Age (child, teen, or adult) grants +1 to two relevant stats and unlocks a free Strength. Each campaign also features a Powered Character co-controlled by all players through shared Aspect notecards and a pool of Psychic Energy tokens. |
| Dice | Diceless | d4–d20 |
| Complexity | Very Low | Low |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Runnability | High | Medium |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Cost | $ | $$ |
| Publisher | Hunters Entertainment / Renegade Game Studios | Hunters Entertainment / Renegade Game Studios |
| Year | 2020 | 2018 |
| Best For | Groups looking for a unique, emotionally intense one-shot experience played in complete silence through real text messages on their phones. | Groups who want collaborative small-town supernatural mystery in the vein of Stranger Things or Stand By Me, where character relationships and tropes matter more than mechanical complexity. Especially well suited to one-shots, short campaigns, and tables that include players new to TTRPGs. |
| Highlights | Played entirely in silence through real phone text messages — no speaking after the game begins, timed playlist structures 90 minutes of play with Clue Cards triggered at specific intervals, voicemails recorded during setup are played at the end as a group debrief, won three Gold ENnie Awards in 2021 including Product of the Year | Pre-built Tropes turn character creation into a five-minute step, Setting Boundaries safety tools are integrated as the very first step before play, collaborative world-building constructs the town and seeds rumors before the first session, the Powered Character mechanic distributes shared narrative control of the supernatural element across the table via Aspect notecards |
| Considerations | Requires all players to have phones and each other's numbers, designed as a single-session experience with no continuation — replaying with the same group revisits familiar territory, emotionally heavy content including themes of loss and violence requires safety tools and player buy-in, facilitator must thoroughly understand the rules beforehand even though the role is lighter than a traditional GM | Combat is fully narrative with no hit points or initiative, which can frustrate groups who want tactical structure, difficulty setting is entirely GM judgment with example anchors but no formulas, the shared-control Powered Character can confuse players new to collaborative narration, long-campaign play requires the GM to invent advancement and pacing because the rules are tuned for one-shots and short arcs |