This week is all about Life in the Fast Lane! Over the past seven days, we've made significant progress in refining the game’s narrative, expanding character options, and adding new mechanics that enhance the life-sim aspect of play.

Here’s a breakdown of everything that’s been added or updated:

Major Updates & Additions

Narrative Foundation

One of the biggest breakthroughs this week was solidifying the game’s core story hook:

• Players take on the roles of a group of friends who attended prom together in 1990.
• That night, they made a bet—whoever achieves their life goals first wins.
• This premise not only ties characters together but also creates a natural mix of competition and camaraderie as players navigate the ups and downs of becoming adults.

This new foundation helped reshape several game elements, including character creation and progression.

Revised Character Archetypes – Now Called Stereotypes

With the 1990 setting in mind, I completely rewrote the game’s Archetypes, now called Stereotypes. These represent social labels that were common at the time, helping define a character’s background, strengths, and weaknesses. These are, of course, based off the social stereotypes as depicted in movies and other medias of the time.

The current list includes:

• The Mall Rat
• The Slacker
• The Grunge
• The Jock
• The Nerd
• The Skater
• The Punk
• The Yuppie
• The Hacker
• The Valley Girl/Boy/Person
• The Conspiracy Theorist
• The Cynic
• The Goth
• The Weirdo

Some of these may be revised or merged as playtesting progresses, but this lineup emerged from extensive brainstorming plus some community suggestions. Special thanks to Emma Birch and  Markerslinger from Bluesky for some of these ideas! Each Stereotype will influence the way characters interact with the world, shape their life goals, and impact how they approach the game’s challenges.

New Location: DC Mall

A major new location has been added: Drake City Mall.

• The mall will serve as a social hub, housing several locations where characters can Shop, Work, or just Relax.
• A brand-new store, S-Mart, has been introduced.
  • This is where players can purchase Valuables to decorate and furnish their Home, an important aspect of achieving life goals.
• Some of the current shopping location will also be moved within DC Mall. From a mechanical point of view shopping in one or another of DC Mall's location will not cost Action to move between them.

New Character Resume Section: Upkeep

Life isn’t free! A new Upkeep mechanic has been introduced to the Character Resume, allowing players to track their weekly expenses.

• Upkeep covers bills, lifestyle, and now food (more on that below!).
• Managing finances wisely will be crucial—spend too much, and you might struggle to meet your life goals or even eat.

New Mechanic: Food

A person can’t hustle toward their life goals without eating, so this week also saw the addition of a Food system:

• Players must eat at least once a week to maintain their Happiness and Action Points
• Different foods have different effects—cheap fast food might keep you going but could have long-term consequences, while high-quality meals may provide bonuses to certain actions.
• Food expenses are now part of the Upkeep system, meaning players must budget wisely to balance their meals with other life costs.

This adds another layer of realism while keeping resource management engaging.

Next Steps & What’s Coming Next

• Stereotypes will be revised and I will make sure each one provide a unique and fun play experience.
• Determine what shop will move to DC Mall and expand on the catalog and offer of each shopping location.
• Balance the Food mechanics so it adds depth without unnecessary complexity.
• Planning a Travel mechanic (adding a travel agency, an airport and some travel location, perks/bonuses and, of course, new random event tables!
• Proceed with a new playtest before sending it to my playtesting groups.

That’s all for this week! Every update brings Life in the Fast Lane closer to being a dynamic, engaging TTRPG/Board Game that captures the chaotic, ambitious, and sometimes ridiculous journey of young adulthood in the 1990s.

See you next week for a new Big Bite Weekly!