From the Courtroom to Pitch Night: The Editions of Curtain Call
Each Curtain Call edition tells its own story in its own setting. What connects them is the game idea: a public role, a secret goal, and an outcome that only reveals itself at the end of the evening. Here's a look at the editions so far and what you can expect in each of them.
On the Stand: The Algorithm Heist
The first edition places you in a courtroom. A former employee is accused of stealing his former employer's core algorithm after his termination and using it for his own startup. Forty-one days later, the competing product was on the market. He denies everything.
You take on roles such as judge, prosecutor, defense attorney, or witnesses, each with their own evidence, their own strategy, and a personal reason why the verdict matters to you. Three different sets of evidence ensure that each playthrough is different, even with the same group.
At the end, a verdict is delivered by the judge alone, followed by the revelation of all secret goals. Who truly convinced often only becomes clear in this final moment.
Startup Pitch: The Recipe for Success
The second edition swaps the courtroom for a Pitch Night. Two investors with capped capital and their own unspoken preferences meet founders who compete for investment in three pitch phases: one minute for the initial idea, then product and financials, then the outlook.
From a pool of ten startups, each draws their own combination, supplemented by separately drawn founder characters. This results in far more possible constellations than there are startups or characters alone. Some founders deliberately exaggerate, others downplay their figures, while still others hide the one detail that could scupper the deal.
In the end, it's not just about who invested, but how: Who used their capital wisely, and who got the best deal for themselves? Both are evaluated separately, because investors and founders do not pursue the same goal that evening.
This first installment of the Startup Pitch series focuses on the food and beverage industry. Other industries are planned for future editions.
What's Next
Both previous editions demonstrate the flexibility of the Curtain Call principle: whether courtroom or pitch night, the key is always the tension between what a person says publicly and what they truly want. More settings are in the works, each with its own stage and rules, but the same promise: for one evening, you will be someone you never were.
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