The Basics. In SiSSYFiGHT you create your own schoolgirl character and wage playground battles of social dominance in games of 3 to 6 players. Every player begins with 10 self-esteem points and when your self-esteem reaches zero, you are out of the game. When there are only 1 or 2 players left, they become the winners.
Actions. Each turn, you have 90 seconds to chat with other players and decide which action to take. Success in SiSSYFiGHT depends on clever gameplay tactics and on social skills! The possible actions are:
- SCRATCH another girl and reduce her self-esteem by 1 point.
- TEASE a girl for 2 self-esteem points. But teasing only works if two or more players both tease the same target.
- GRAB another player and keep her from doing something else that turn.
- TATTLE on everyone. All other players lose 3 self-esteem points. You can only tattle 2 times per game.
- COWER from the other girls and gain protection from attacks.
- LICK your lolly and regain 2 self-esteem points. You have 3 lolly licks per game.
After a game. Everybody gets 10 brownie points for playing, and the winners get 25 additional brownie points for every other girl that they beat. Brownie points become part of your SiSSYFiGHT ranking.
Creating a game room. Most of the time you'll be joining a game room that someone else has created. But you can always make your own room and name it whatever you want. The basic SiSSYFiGHT game includes all 6 actions and has 90-second turns. But when you are creating a new game room, you can make it a SPECIAL RULES ROOM and change which actions players can take. You can also shorten the time for each turn to make the game move faster.
Das boot. Before a game starts, you can BOOT other players by clicking on them. You might want to BOOT a player if their server has disconnected or if you're trying to make a space for a friend and a polite request hasn't worked. A BOOT only works if every other player in the room boots the player to be booted.
SiSSYFiGHT actions. Once everyone hits the START button, the game begins. Below is a blow-by-blow description of each of the 6 game actions:
- SCRATCH is your basic attack. Your target loses 1 self-esteem. If your target COWERS, the scratch doesn't work.
- TEASE is twice as effective - the target loses 2 points for each girl that teases her. But if you TEASE someone by yourself, nothing will happen. A COWER doesn't help against a TEASE - after all, it's easy to tease a coward!
- GRAB lets you interrupt what another girl was about to do. If you GRAB a girl, she won't be able to SCRATCH, GRAB, or TEASE anyone else on that turn. If someone is GRABBED and SCRATCHED on the same turn, the scratch is twice as effective. If more than one person GRABS the same girl, each GRAB after the first removes 1 point of self-esteem. If your target COWERS, the GRAB doesn't work.
- TATTLE is a powerful attack that makes every other girl in the game lose 3 self-esteem points. But be careful! If 2 or more girls all TATTLE in the same turn, then the tattlers get in trouble and lose 3 self-esteem points each. You can only attempt 2 TATTLES per game.
- COWER lets you dodge a single GRAB or SCRATCH - and it makes you look innocent, so TATTLES don't affect you. But be careful if you COWER and nobody tried to GRAB, SCRATCH, or TATTLE on you. The first time you COWER for no reason, you'll just look silly. But for each time you COWER for no reason after that, you will lose 1 self-esteem point.
- LICK YOUR LOLLY and get 2 self-esteem points back. LICKING YOUR LOLLY also protects you against a TATTLE - you look so innocent with your lollypop! But if someone GRABS or SCRATCHES you while you are LICKING YOUR LOLLY you will choke on it and suffer double self-esteem damage. You can only LICK YOUR LOLLY 3 times in a game.
- DO NOTHING and you lose 1 self-esteem point. Not a good idea.
Q. What's the difference between the SiSSYFiGHT schools?
A. Nothing. The schools have different music and art, but otherwise, they are all the same. If you're meeting your friends online, make sure to coordinate what school you want to visit.
Q. Can I change my SiSSYFiGHT name?
A. No. Once you create an account, you can't change the name.
Q. Why can't my SiSSYFiGHTer wear everything I want?
A. Some of the accessories overlap, so we need to limit what you can wear. For example, you can't put the hair bow and the hair bone in your hairdo at the same time.
Q. I saw some players wearing really amazing full-body outfits. Where do I get one?
A. Many of our Kickstarter supporters got access to special outfit options. A few paid more for custom outfits. Over time, if we get enough donations, we can hire illustrators to make more outfits for everyone.
Q. I licked my lolly, but someone scratched me and I lost two points. Then someone tattled, and even though I was licking my lolly I lost three more points. I lost five points that round and I was trying to get two back!
A. When someone tattles, everyone who was rough-housing gets punished -- even if you were just a victim. Them's the breaks! All the more reason to get revenge on that nasty tattle-tale, and the girl who scratched you. Don't forget, lolly licking is a risky maneuver. You can't get your self-esteem back without exposing yourself to a little danger.
Q. I had three self-esteem points left and I decided to lick my lollipop. Then three girls teased me and I lost four self-esteem points, which humiliated me right out of the game. But if I licked my lolly, should I have one self-esteem point left? 3-4+2=1, right?
A. Your math is impeccable. Sadly for you, however, teasing happens before lolly-licking, so you were humiliated and broke down sobbing before you had a chance to lick that lollipop. And everyone knows that salty, tear-soaked lollipops don't make you feel better at all.
Q. A bunch of girls all tried to grab each other at the same time. How does the game determine which action goes first?
A. When timing is important and multiple girls try the same thing, the game randomizes which action happens first. That's the way we roll on the playground!
Q. What rules have changed from the original game?
A. The current version of SiSSYFiGHT is almost identical to the old game. In addition to new outfit options, the only changes are: (1) Brownie points scoring is simpler - you get 10 points for playing a game, and 20 points for every girl you beat if you won. (2) Every time you cower for no reason - after the first time - you lose 1 self-esteem point. (3) You can create special game rooms that block out certain actions and lower the turn time.
Q. What happens if there are three girls left, and they're all low on self-esteem -- then they all tattle or something, and they all lose?
A. Hmmm... We're not telling. (But remember to turn up the volume...)