Shab-al-Hiri Roach

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The Shab-al-Hiri Roach
Cover for 1st edition, with cards
Designer	Jason Morningstar
Publisher	Bully Pulpit Games
Publication date	2006
Genre(s)	Indie
System	custom

The Shab-al-Hiri Roach is a role-playing game by Jason Morningstar, independently published by Bully Pulpit Games. The game is GM-less and designed for single-session play at the end of which a winner is determined. Its tone is black comedy, lampooning academia.

The game is about the internal politics of a buttoned-down New England college campus in 1919. The titular roach is a a soul-eating telepathic insect bent on destroying human civilization. A major part of play is which characters are under the control of the roach and its offspring.

The goal of the game is to be the player with the most reputation at the end of the game. You cannot be the winner if you are currently under the control of the roach, but being under its control allows you to gain reputation much more easily.

The game was originally released in the 2005 Game Chef competition, where It placed in the "Inner Circle."