After the Bomb (2001)

 

After the Bomb, the final form of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles role-playing game. A post-apocalyptic RPG with anthropomorphic animals, but not technically furry, for specific reasons.

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.

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.

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.

Troika

Join me in Checking out Troika! a game with some weird rules and even weirder content.

The Doctor Who Role Playing Game

Join me as I take a look at the first ever Doctor Who RPG, The Doctor Who Role Playing Game released by FASA in 1985. Bonus trivia: after the first printing, all images of Colin Baker (the Sixth Doctor) were removed, and many replaced with images of Tom Baker (the Fourth Doctor).

Albedo Second Edition

Something a little different, taking a look at the updates made in Albedo Second Edition. It’s animal people in space, with updated rules!

Albedo

Join me in checking out Albedo, as far as I can tell the first ever furry role-playing game. It’s got animal people, in space, and is based on Erma Felna: EDF from Albedo Anthropomorphics

Here Come The Monsters!

The Game of Gargantuans
Modern (giant monsters)
Deep7
1999
Complexity: 2

Here Come The Monsters! is another 1PG game from Deep7, like Shriek!—of which I have a generally positive opinion—and Exosuit A-OK—of which I have a generally negative opinion. It’s also a game about giant monsters, which just happen to be my favorite kind of monsters, so reasonably this should also be a thing that I like.

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.

Dallas: The Television Role-Playing Game

Howdy y'all, despite my better judgment I've done a review of the least necessary RPG of the 1980s.

Aliens Adventure Game

Join me as I check out Aliens Adventure Game, the first tabletop role-playing game based on the Alien franchise, released in 1991 by Leading Edge Games, and it is… definitely an RPG from the early ‘90s.

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.

The Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game and Resource Book

Join me as I review The Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game and Resource Book, which is exactly what it sounds like, a Sailor Moon reference book with an RPG in it.

Herzfuck

Modern (horror, occult)
Left Hand Publishing
2017
Complexity: unplayable as presented

Here’s the thing about edginess: a little bit is tolerable, a moderate amount brings back cringe-inducing memories of angsty teenage antics, a lot is just sad, and an extreme amount becomes comical—whether intentional or not. I find that things with “fuck” in their title tend to fall into the latter two categories.
Herzfuck is yet another one-page role-playing game, which puts the players in the role of… well just kinda regular folks trying to stop a cult from summoning the titular “ancient demon of sex and murder.”

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.

Blood!

The Role-playing Game of Modern Horror (second edition)
Modern (Horror)
Postmortem Studios
2006
Complexity: 4

It’s time to start the Spooktober festivities with a spooky horror game. Blood! Is a game that more-or-less seeks to emulate modern horror films—or since the original came out in 1990, horror films of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Both versions are also notably British, which I guess is only relevant if you know about the banning and censorship of horror films that was going on there in the 1980s. Anyway, video nasty history aside, Blood! is a game with a lot to offer, some might even say too much—I would be one of those people. Let’s just say there’s a reason I added a complexity rating to my review format.