Where else did They Come From?

[Dataweaver]

So we have They Came From…

…Beneath the Sea (1950s America vs. sea monsters)
…Beyond the Grave (1970s America vs. supernatural monsters)

What else do you think could be done with this set of games? Personally, I'd like to see a They Came From Outer Space, where the threats are aliens; but I'm not quite sure when it would be set. Not before the 50s; the Roswell incident was in 1947, and I wouldn't want “…Outer Space” to be set before that. 90s America, maybe? That puts it in the same timeframe as X-Files and would tap into the America that existed after the fall of the Soviet Union and before 9/11. On the other hand, that's getting a bit past the “classic B movies” timeframe that the other two games in this series lean on; so to keep the camp, maybe 60s America would be a better choice?

Either way, my inclination would be for this one to start leaning into more mind-bending territory: if it's the 60s, then you're in the era of the Twilight Zone and the Outer Limits; if it's the 90s, there's the aforementioned X-Files.

What other “They Came From…” gamelines would you like to see?

[wyrdhamster]

... Dark Neighborhood

80s-90s kids series about various 'local' mysteries and unnatural - basically Goonies (lighter) mixed with Stranger Things (more horror). Add a spice of Goosebumps and Eerie, Indiana.

[Dwight]

Beyond the moon! As an homage to the serial chapter films like Commando Cody, Flash Gordon and King of the Rocket men.

[Quatar]

I think Matthew Dawkins said in a recent interview that it should be fairly easy to change the aquatic origin from beneath the sea into a space origin for aliens. As such an alien game would be realtively similar, and thus unlikely.

... behind the Gym A take on the more cheesy 80s Teen movies

[No One of Consequence]

They Came From Beyond the Stars, the sci-fi alien invasion genre of the late 70s and 80s.
This has the potential to play in a number of veins.

• The heroic pulp adventure of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, The Last Starfighter, and Flash Gordon.
• Action-Horror like The Hidden, They Live, Critters, Night of the Creeps, Predator, and Aliens.
• Straight horror such as Alien, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Thing, and The Blob.
• The more kid-friendly adventure of Escape to Witch Mountain, ET, Explorers, Invaders from Mars, and Flight of the Navigator (and senior oriented fare such as Cocoon and *batteries not included).
• Straight sci-fi like The Andromeda Strain, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Starman.
• Social commentary along the lines of The Brother from Another Planet and Alien Nation.
• The insanity that is The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Liquid Sky, Earth Girls Are Easy, and Killer Klowns from Outer Space.

ADDED: Also the landmark TV miniseries V, which I am kicking myself for not including.

[Guest]

Dataweaver I would put it in the 90s with X Files.

[Florin]

They Came From The Center of the Earth! You could go full journey to the center of the Earth. Add in mole men and Lovecraftian terrors sleeping the Earth.

[No One of Consequence]

They Came From The Center of the Earth! You could go full journey to the center of the Earth. Add in mole men and Lovecraftian terrors sleeping the Earth.

That would actually be a pretty cool late Victorian to early Pulp setting.

[Florin]

That would actually be a pretty cool late Victorian to early Pulp setting.

Honestly, the podcast Old Gods of Appalachia was the inspiration, but I also like the Journey to the Center of the Earth. So I was trying to figure out how to combine them.

[No One of Consequence]

Honestly, the podcast Old Gods of Appalachia was the inspiration, but I also like the Journey to the Center of the Earth. So I was trying to figure out how to combine them.

There's a lot of deeply weird hollow earth/deep underground type fiction from the 19th century, including at least one (and maybe more) feminist utopia story written by a period feminist author. I could easily see a They Came From the Center of the Earth game including a civilization that's a mash up of classic mythological amazons, Wonder Woman's Paradise Island, H. Rider Haggard's She Who Must Be Obeyed, and those "alien space women need earth men" movies from way back when. Also underground Reptiloids/Snakemen, some sort of Drow-by-way-of-Call of Cthulhu set up, and the things from the 80s Inhumanoids cartoon/toy line.

[Florin]

A supplement to TCFBtS! could be They Came From Davey Jones' Locker! where being a Caribbean pirate is explored.

[AutoDefenestrate]

I misread that as Casey Jones' Locker, and expected sports equipment.

[No One of Consequence]

I misread that as Casey Jones' Locker, and expected sports equipment.

They Came From The Gym, in which you play 80s nerds having to protect yourselves from jock bullies.

[No One of Consequence]

They Came From Below the Underworld. The elevator pitch is "Gladiator & Spartacus vs zombies and mythological monsters in Ancient Rome." Probably in a tone somewhat similar to Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess.

[Maitrecorbo]

They Came from Earth.
Essentially John Carter of Mars and other displaced humans but from the point of view of the residents watching the earthling make a mess of their society.