Final Stand

Eastern (martial arts)

Self Published

2002

Complexity: 3

Final Stand is a game about martial arts action fighting, and also a game that was recommended to me by a reader, which is convenient for me because I didn’t have to find it myself.

The Intoxicated Sorcerer

Generic (fantasy) [one page]

Self Published

2020

Complexity: 1

The Intoxicated Sorcerer is a game where you play as a broom that has been accidentally given life by the eponymous intoxicated sorcerer due to a magical accident. Which may not be the strangest premise for a game that I’ve reviewed, but it is certainly up there.

Wizard Cops

Generic (crime, fantasy)
Newstand Press
2015
Complexity: 2

Wizard Cops is a very short game about cops that police wizards, and may also be wizards. It is basically an example of a game, and I’m just going to quote its intention. “ It's only a paragraph long, but it is used as an example how a very small number of rules can create very specific conflicts with controlled resolutions.”
So that’s what we’re working with here, and let’s see if this game can break the curse of games titled Wizard _ _ _ _.

Princess Pillowfighter

Medieval (fantasy)
Self Published
2015
Complexity: 2

Well, I’m still in a princess mood, so let’s look at another princess-themed game. Princess Pillowfighter is… pretty much exactly what it sounds like, a game in which princesses resolve issues with one another, often by pillow fighting. Is it more than that? Maybe, but it is most certainly that thing.

Send in the Clowns

Retro (horror)
Fat Goblin Games
2017
Complexity: 2

Send in the Clowns is a bit of an odd thing, it’s a special edition of vs. Stranger Stuff focused on clowns. It’s also, I believe, the third game I’ve reviewed from the deluge of Stranger Things/It-inspired games that have appeared in the last few years. So let’s check out Send in the Clowns, a game of creepy clowns, and creepier plagiarism.

Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier

Join me as I check out the first officially-licensed Star Trek role-playing game, 1978’s Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier from Heritage Models. So let’s set phasers to “review” and plot a course for adventure!

Clown Cops

Modern (comedic, crime)
Memento Mori Theatricks
2001
Complexity: 2

That’s right, I’m reviewing another clown-themed game. In fact, I will not rest until I’ve reviewed every clown-themed role-playing game I can find.
On a related note, I will be resting after this because Clown Cops is the only other  clown-themed role-playing game I could find. It’s also one of the most eccentric I’ve encountered. And if you stop and consider the games I’ve reviewed, you may realize that “most eccentric” is a pretty bold claim for me to be making here. Also, it is very important to keep in mind while reading this review that this is a very real game, I am not just making this up. So get some milk and animal crackers and enjoy—no, seriously, those are required to play.

Electric Schemes

Modern
Just Crunch Games
2018
Complexity: 1

Electric Schemes is a “micro-RPG of pre-teen mysteries and bikes” and is in fact a game, of sorts. It definitely presents itself as a game, that is one thing I am fairly sure of.

Lost in the Fantasy World

Medieval (fantasy)
Old Skull Publishing
2019
Complexity: 1

Lost in the Fantasy World is a role-playing game loosely based on a cartoon, loosely based on a role-playing game. And if that sounds weird, remember that there is a role-playing game unofficially based on an anime, based on a series of novels, based on transcripts of a role-playing game.

Stone Age

Prehistoric (fantasy)
Self Published
2010
Complexity: 4

Stone Age is—unsurprisingly—a prehistoric role-playing game, which is a setting that seems like it would be interesting, but is extremely underutilized. It’s also another 24-hour RPG, which as previously stated I like reviewing because they tend to be short and interesting. For a 24-hour RPG it’s also a bit… let’s just say “ambitious,” and you should keep the time restraint in mind while reading this review because me doing so while writing it would be unfair to other games.

Above the Earth

Modern (superheroes)

Innocence Games
2004
Complexity: 1

Above the Earth is another 24-hour RPG, which I tend to review a lot of because they’re generally A: Free, B: Short, and C: Based on more experimental ideas. It’s also a superhero RPG, which just happens to be the most broken and unbalanced genre of role-playing game since, let’s be honest here, there is no way Batman and Superman are anywhere near the same power level, but in comics they are. This seems to be the problem that Above the Earth tries to solve.

Frogger

Modern [fan game]
Self Published
2006
Complexity: 1

So I decided to cover another video game-based game, one that seems to be from the same 24-hour RPG challenge as the DDR one. Now you may assume that this is a game based on the 1981 arcade game Frogger, and that’s a pretty fair assumption to make. It is called Frogger, and uses themes from the game Frogger--plus I already reviewed a game based on Dance Dance Revolution, so it’s not like that would be outside the realm of things that exist--but it is actually a game which uses Frogger as a metaphor.

Dance Dance Revolution

An Unofficial Roleplaying Game
Modern [fan game]
Self Published
2006
Complexity: 3

Hey y’all mind if a go off in an odd direction and review a Dance Dance Revolution fan game? Yeah, well too bad, it’s already been done, so you might as well read it.
Dance Dance Revolution, an Unofficial Roleplaying Game is a bit of an odd beast--I know, shocking--in that it is not a game that takes place in the DDR universe, but is rather a game about playing DDR. It’s also a 24-hour RPG, which is something I’ve done in the past and can tell you isn’t as fun as it sounds. Anyway, now it’s time for me to attempt to take this seriously.

Camwhores

A Game About Hot Chicks Making Poor Choices
Modern (adult)
Two Scooters Press
2011
Complexity: 1

So this is a game that I’m a bit… hesitant about reviewing. Not because I’m uncomfortable with sexual content, quite the contrary, I think sexual content is great. I do however have issues with anti-sexual content, and for some reason I feel like Camwhores: A Game About Hot Chicks Making Poor Choices might not be the most sex-positive game. But hey maybe I’m wrong, maybe the title and subtitle are just satirical jabs at society’s aggressively-negative views on sex and sex workers. Yeah, I’m sure that’s the case and this won’t be something I immediately regret getting myself into.
[This review deals with sexual topics, but does not use any sexually-explicit language]

Console

Various (fantasy)
Self Published
2003
Complexity: 4

Console is a game about console RPGs.. I mean, it’s a game intended to be similar to console RPGs, it’s not about the development and/or playing of console RPGs--although that does sound like something I’d be interested in. More or less it’s a Final Fantasy fan game with some extras, and is actually the first in the Console series, followed by Super Console and Console: Handheld--which I have previously reviewed. So let’s set our expectations on fan game and dive in.

Shriek

The Game of Teen Horror
Modern (horror)
Deep7
1999
Complexity: 2

When I first saw the cover art for Shriek I had really high hopes for it. At this point I’m assuming you’ve glanced back at the cover and have now returned expecting some sort of explanation that makes me not seem like a crazy person. Well, I can’t make myself not seem like a crazy person, but I can explain that making a game based on cheap horror films actually look like a cheap horror film is a great idea. But I won’t get too much into that right now.
Anyway, back to reviewing. Shriek is another ones of those one-page RPGs that I’ve taken to reviewing as of late—also I realized I haven't reviewed anything from the ‘90s. So this is going to be another short review.. Unless I go off on some weird tangent, which is always a possibility.

Evil Dead: Swallow This!

[d20 Modern supplement]
Various (comedic, horror) [fan game]
Self Published
2003

BAM! Surprise bonus review—well, actually I guess I don’t really have the audience for anyone to be surprised or not surprised by this bonus review, but I’ll just pretend like I do. Anyway, I came across this document while doing research for Evil Dead D6—yes, I actually do research on these things—and it seemed interesting, so I decided to review it. But since it’s so short, I decided not to count it as a regularly-scheduled review.

Evil Dead D6

Various (comedic, horror) [fan game]
Self Published
2002
Complexity: 2

Now you may be asking why I, some weirdo on the internet, would be reviewing a fan-made Evil dead D6 system conversion from 2002 and originally distributed via a—surprisingly still operational—Tripod site, when there’s a perfectly good Army of Darkness role-playing game from Eden Studios. And if you are, then you obviously don’t understand how I do things around here.
As stated, this is a fan game, which generally means I’m going to be uncharacteristically nice in my review because the creator never expected anyone to pay for the game.

Phones of Glory

Modern
Bully Pulpit Games
2018
Complexity: 1

So I wanted to mix up my random selection method, so I decided to just go to free rule books and review whatever the newest title was. And that title was Phones of Glory, a game about civic engagement. Now this isn’t really a role-playing game in the strictest sense, or any but the loosest sense—the same sense in which any social interaction is a role-playing game—but as I’ve often stated, this is my blog and I just kinda do whatever I feel like. This will however, be a super short review.
Wait a minute, did I just call life a LARPG?

PreHysteria

Prehistoric (comedic)
Fantasy Core Games
2012

So it turns out that I have a bunch of games I downloaded and either never read, or completely forgot about. This is one such game.
As one may guess, this is a caveman-themed game—which there really don’t seem to be too many of—and also seems to be intended by the creators to be played while drinking heavily. But I don’t drink heavily so I’ll be reviewing it totally sober, which in retrospect may have been a bad idea.