Canon 2: Masterpiece By Masterpiece (1995)
Canon 2: Masterpiece by Masterpiece (1995) is a 1-3 Player immersive storytelling sim developed by R.D.O. Games in late 1994 (officially released some time in late 1995) as an exclusive for Sony's PlayStation console. The game is set shortly after the destruction of every existing piece of human artistic expression (o/k/a Canon 1) in the year 2020 by The Machine. Players are responsible for crafting something worthy of a place in the next annal of history and avoiding a premature death leaving behind an unfinished posthumous work.
The game is known for its early mix of rogue-like with immersive simulation elements and its inscrutable scoring system.
Canon 2: Masterpiece by Masterpiece is an Actual-Play Podcast wherein Medley investigates Canon 2: Masterpiece By Masterpiece (1995) while sometimes accompanied by an extremely special, smart, beautiful and talented guest playing as Player 1.
This page serves as the Wiki for both the podcast and the game itself.
Recent Podcast Episodes
Recent episodes of the podcast can be found here.
Alternatively, it can be followed on most podcast platforms using this RSS Feed.
| # | Episode | Sacred Form | Masterpiece Title | Player 1 | Final Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Common Gameplay Elements
Player 1 begins the game with 50 HP (Health Points) and 15 AP (Avant Points) and is, on paper, the only player making pivotal decisions.
Players 2-3 step into the role of “The Subconscious,” whose core gameplay mechanics consist of aiding Player 1 in making wise decisions.
Players 2-3 do not have HP, but start each game with 5 AP. The experience of playing as "The Subconscious" has been described alternately as 'Diddy Kong-esque' and 'Being the Puppetmaster' [citations needed].
A proper run is split into 5 sequences:
Multiplayer
I - Prologue
- Player 1 is informed they have saved one piece of Canon 1 from one of The Sacred Five Forms and must decide what it is and explain why to Goddess Avanti.
- The Players decide on one of The Sacred Five Forms (TV Show, Movie, Literature, Video Game, Comic), as well as 2 of 10 Genre Elementals for their Masterpiece.
Machine Interrupt 1
II - Act 1
- The Players submit a Title for the Masterpiece.
- The Players work out an Overview of the Masterpiece.
Machine Interrupt 2
III - Act 2
- The Players flesh out The 'Tagonists (pro- and an-).
- The Players figure out the Central Conflict/Theme.
Machine Interrupt 3
IV - Act 3
- The Players highlight one of the best parts of the Masterpiece and try to render it as fully as possible.
V - Epilogue
- Player 1 decides whether to release the Masterpiece into the Public Domain, or retain ownership for a potential Sequel Run.
Between each sequence, Jacques The Robot (Member of The Machine) reveals it will rat you out to the Binary League unless the Players insert 3 Machine Ideas (or MI's) into their current Masterpiece. Players must choose at least 1 of the 3, but take 5 HP of damage for each MI not used.
Players may spend 10 AP to speak with the Wizard B. Eno, who in exchange will give you an Askew Technique which may aid your ideations.
Players regenerate 5 AP at the end of each Act by remembering one cool thing from the run's Canon 1 artifact.
Each completed run sets the internal game clock forward one month.
Development History & R.D.O. Games
Little is known about the history of the game's development and its developers. This section needs further research.
Canon 2 is known for utilizing the PlayStation SCPH-2000 keyboard and mouse adapter. Long thought to be prototype only, R.D.O. wrote all of the necessary code to communicate with the SCPH-2000 into the Canon 2 software, making it one of the only known games capable of using this highly sought after and almost impossible to acquire adapter.
Known Achievements
R.D.O. Games had developed a groundbreaking 'Achievement Storage System' by utilizing a peripheral which came with an edition sold exclusively at Toys"R"Us. The peripheral utilized both of the PlayStation Memory Card slots at once, allowing R.D.O. 2MB of additional storage with which to run/manage the Achievement System. R.D.O. claimed there were "hundreds" of Achievements to unlock as of 6 months before release [citation needed].
The following is a list of known achievements as of March 3 2025:
| Achievement Title | Descriptor Text | Discovered By |
|---|---|---|
The Remains of Canon 1
| Sacred Form | Title | Year |
|---|---|---|
Game Transcripts
[Opening Cutscene] Goddess Avanti: The year is 2020. Humankind’s greatest enemy known only as ‘The Machine’ has successfully destroyed all previously existing works of art in a terrible act known colloquially as ‘The Big Deletion.’ As one of the last remaining Sovereign Artists of high reknown, you have been asked to join ‘The Avant Guard:’ a secret society of artists questing to create the next artistic Canon, masterpiece by masterpiece. Welcome Sovereign, to The Avant Guard, and "Canon 2: Masterpiece By Masterpiece"!