Boot Hill (1975)

Checking out Boot Hill, the first western role-playing game, from one of the creators of Dungeons & Dragons. So it's kinda like Gungeons & Dragons... Which is a thing I should probably make.

Dead Halt

Join me in checking out Dead Halt, a weird retro cyberpunk tabletop role-playing game set in the 1996 of the early 80s.

Apocalypse World

Second Edition
Post-Apocalyptic
Lumpley Games
2016
Complexity: 2 for players, 4 for GM

Now you may be thinking “Apocalypse World, that’s not very obscure,” and you’re right, but I have my reasons. I’ve been encountering a lot of games that are “powered by the apocalypse” and for the most part I’ve been avoiding reviewing due to a complete lack of familiarity with Apocalypse World. So to be a well-informed game reviewer I decided that I had to read it, and let’s be honest here, I’m not going to read a 300-page RPG that I have no intention to play and not even get any content out of it.
Also, this gon’ be a long one.

Best Friends

A Role-Playing Game About Girlfriends and All Their Petty Hatreds
(First Edition)
Modern (social)
Self Published
2005
Complexity: 1

Best Friends is a game about friendships between women, or rather the type of catty jealousy-riddled friendships between women that you may see in Archie comics or other pop-culture references of which I am unaware. But can you really base an entire game around the concept of petty jealousy? I guess you’ll have to read on to find out.
(yes, excellent teaser, 5/5)

Hogwarts

Hey look another fan-made Harry Potter RPG. Since the official one continues to not exist.

Cosmic Pilgrims

Far Future (space)
Mutant Chiron Games
2018
Complexity: 2

Hey there, do you like high-concept games? How about a game of space-trotting philosophers? Well that’s what you’ll get with Cosmic Pilgrims. It’s definitely odd, but odd in a different way from a lot of the other games I’ve reviewed.

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]

The Veggie Patch

Medieval (comedic, fantasy)
Polgarus Games
2006

Introduction
If there’s one thing that grabs my attention when it comes to a role-playing game, it’s putting players into non-traditional roles—as evidenced by my glowing review of Creeks and Crawdads. Sure playing a musclebound barbarian or a suave space pirate is fun, but it doesn’t really pose much of a challenge to one’s creativity. But you know what does pose such a challenge? Playing as sentient vegetables, and as you may have already figured out, that is exactly what The Veggie Patch offers.

Xtraor

Post-Apocalyptic
New Realms Publishing
2016
Complexity: 4

Introduction
Here at SWotIRORG I review obscure role-playing games. That is technically what Xtraor is, and as such, I am reviewing it. Admittedly, I went into this with some pretty low expectations—I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but seriously, look at that cover. And for the most part my expectations were about right, but there is still something worth looking at here, otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered writing up this review.