Revenant World

Checking out Revenant World a game of dead gods, microcosms, magical lullabies, and somehow not the strangest game I've reviewed. Available via https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/259079/Revenant-World

Secret Science Sewer Siblings

Modern (anthro)

Cloven Pine Games

2019

Complexity: 2

Cowabunga dudes, dudettes, and dude-non-binaries! It’s time to check out another radical slice of not-quite-copyright-infringing gaming with Secret Science Sewer Siblings! A totally radical game about sewer-dwelling mutant siblings trying to rescue their kidnapped mentor. Okay, I’m going to stop talking like that now, being totally tubular isn’t as easy as it seems.

Ghostbusters International

Join me in checking out Ghostbusters International, the second edition of the award-winning Ghostbusters role-playing game, which isn’t winning any awards.

Just Quest

Medieval (fantasy)
Mini Zines
2020
Complexity: basically unplayable

I realized that it’s been 2020 for almost a whole month now and I haven't used a 202X tag yet. So I went to DrivethruRPG and searched for the newest free core rulebooks, and eventually found something that actually was a core rulebook—fun fact: most of the products in the “core rulebook” section are not core rulebooks, because unscrupulous publishes just tag all their products with it so they’ll show up in more searches, and there is no system in place to report publishers who are doing shady stuff like that. Anyway, so I should reasonably be able to review any product in that section as if it were in fact a core rulebook, and would be fair in doing so, which I will now proceed to do.

Horrorlogic

Modern (horror)
Self Published
2019
Complexity: 2

Horrorlogic is a game self published on Tumblr that I found via Reddit, and of course I am reviewing it as I can’t pass up a horror game and have literally no standards for what I will review on this blog. Basically, Horrorlogic is another one of those games that tries to adapt horror movies into a tabletop experience. A very specific category that includes the highest rated game I’ve reviewed, and one of the lowest. So let’s see where Horrorlogic falls in that range.

Santa vs. Santa

Modern (fantasy)
Mystic Ages Publishing
2015
Complexity: 2

Okay, so my last attempt at reviewing a holiday-themed RPG didn’t turn out incredibly well, but just because one thing goes poorly doesn’t mean something similar will go similar poorly right? Alright, yes, I’m being a little sarcastic but honestly in the lawless land of web-published RPGs you can’t know how good or bad something is until you dig into it. Which is precisely what I plan to do here.

Slasher Flick

Join me in checking out Slasher Flick from Spectrum games, possibly the first tabletop RPG to accurately emulate the slasher genre.

Final Girl

A Stereotypical RPG
Modern (horror)
Self Published
2019
Complexity: Unplayable

Okay, at this point you might be thinking, “wait a minute, didn’t you literally just review Final Girl?” and no, I reviewed The Final Girl. Final Girl is a game I happened to stumble upon when looking up information on The Final Girl, and decided to review it because… well let’s be honest here, I basically have no standards when it comes to what games I review. It is of course another “what if a horror movie… was an RPG?” game, a specific genre that is apparently very difficult.

Summer in Woodlake

Modern (horror)
Self Published
2019
Complexity: 2

Summer in Woodlake is a game about friendship and coming of age against the backdrop of a long-forgotten mystery in a small town. An extremely-specific genre that’s become weirdly popular in RPGs in the last few years for some reason.

Vice Squad

Eighties Police Adventures
Retro (crime)
Politically Incorrect Games
2003
Complexity: 3

Vice Squad is a game based on dumb exciting police movies and shows of the 1980s—think Beverly Hills Cop or Miami Vice… or Cop Rock if you like singing— intended for short low-prep games. It’s also another one of those fairly minimal reskins of a publisher’s house system, which we have recently seen can be a lazily-made half-assed mess. But maybe this time it’ll be different.

Exosuit A-OK

Near Future (anime, science fiction)
Deep7
2004
Complexity: 2

Exosuit A-OK is a game based on “real robot” anime, and if you understand what I’m talking about you’re probably a nerd. Well I guess since you’re already reading a blog specializing in obscure tabletop role-playing game reviews that was already a distinct possibility.

Squirrelfriends

A Game of Nuts & Squeaks
Modern (animal)
Dice Up Games
2019
Complexity: 1

After some of the somewhat negative reviews I’ve been doing lately I wanted to cover something that was light, fun, and happy--because my next review certainly isn’t going to be. So I will now be looking at Squirrelfriends, a one-page RPG about everyone’s favorite bushy-tailed rodents.

Cannibal Contagion

A Horrific Survival Comedy Role-Playing Game
Modern (comedic, horror, zombies)
Alliterated Games
2008
Complexity: 3

So it occurs to me that my ‘horror’ game reviews have been almost entirely focused on splatterpunk/slasher/gorefest type games and not suspenseful, psychological, ‘real horror’ games. I have no plans to change that.
Cannibal Contagion is a zombie survival game, although it specifies that it can be about other things than zombies—provided said things are effectively zombies, like the demons in Demons—but really, it’s clearly intended as a zombie game. It’s probably worth noting that while this is a digest-size book, it also weighs in at a meaty—pun intended—200+ pages.

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.

Ghost Stories

Horror Mystery Adventures
Modern (horror, occult)
Politically Incorrect Games
2003
Complexity: 3

Y’all ready for some spooky ghost story themed role-playing? Well then Ghost Stories, I guess technically does offer that, but it’s really more of a general occult horror game. That being said, it does have something to offer in terms of some casual spooky gaming.

Dungeon Reave

Medieval (fantasy)
New Realms Publishing
2016
Complexity: 4

I came across Dungeon Reave while browsing games and initially thought it didn’t warrant my interest. But then I caught a very important sentence in the description, “Dungeon Reave is closely compatible with Xtraor.” Yes, that Xtraor, the worst game I’ve reviewed and notably one that claims to be “revised” while looking like it hasn’t even been proofread. Well obviously at this point I knew I had to review Dungeon Reave—which also claims to be revised. What mysteries does Dungeon Reave hold, does it bring redemption or further condemnation for the mysterious “J?” Join me and find out. Or not.

Console: Handheld

Medieval (fantasy)
Self Published
2009

Console: Handheld is the third in a series of games intended to recreate the feeling of a CRPG, plus it’s a pocket game, and I’m on a bit of a micro game kick at the moment.
The interesting thing about Console: Handheld is that rather than just being a handheld game based on console RPGs, it a handheld game based on handheld console RPGs; seeming to take the bulk of its influence from the early SaGa—aka Final Fantasy Legend—series. Honestly the influence is so strong that I’m not sure if I should be considering this a SaGa fan game or not.

Barbarians of the Gothic Waste

Medieval (fantasy)
Micro RPG
2016
Complexity: 3

Yes, I am back again after a longer hiatus and ready to review more obscure role-playing games, which, as previously stated, is the general theme of this blog.
Today I will be reviewing Barbarians of the Gothic Waste, a rules-lite pulp barbarian themed sword and sorcery game; or alternatively, one of those random games that you find for free on DriveThruRPG and think “meh I guess I’ll check it out.”
It’s probably worth noting that this is one of only three games published by Micro RPG, all of which were released from March to May 2016. And since that time all traces of Micro RPG and it’s parent publisher WitchWorks Magazine Ltd. seem to have mysteriously disappeared from the internet.
It’s also worth noting that this review is extremely harsh. Like I actually feel a little bad about it. So please remember that these are just my opinions and I have very strong opinions on certain things. Objectively the game is not as bad as I may make it seem.

Broomstix

Modern (fantasy) [fan game]
Self Published
2002

Alright dumbledorks, buckle up because today I will be reviewing a fan-made Harry Potter RPG. Why? Because the official Harry Potter RPG has an annoying habit of continued non-existence—presumably because J. K. Rowling doesn’t like the idea of a bunch of nerds having sexy Hogwarts adventures in their basement.
Broomstix is the earliest noteworthy fan-made Harry Potter RPG—coming all the way from ye olde year 2002. A genre that actually has surprisingly few entries. There are a few others, which I may review at a later date.
If it seems like I’m being uncharacteristically kind in this review, it’s because this is a fan-made freely-distributed game. And I’m not going to hold it to the same standards as a commercial product.