Mew-Tants! (2020)

Checking out Mew-Tants! a game about cats with superpowers, one of the games I backed from this year's Zine Quest.

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.

Pretty Fairy Princesses

Join me in checking out Pretty Fairy Princesses, a thing that is exactly what it sounds like, tabletop role-playing game about pretty fairy princesses.

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.

The Final Girl

Modern (horror)
Gas Mask Games
2012
Complexity: 1

If you’ve been following me at all, you may have realized that I like horror movies, and in particular, slasher films. So obviously I’m all about games that attempt to bring the slasher experience to the game table.
The Final Girl is such a game, although it is specified to not specifically be about slasher films—the genre from which the title originates—as much as any horror in which it is generally expected that the majority of characters will die. As such, the general concept of the game is one of everyone dying except one person.
It’s also something of an odd game, specifically in the fact that characters and the role of game master move around between players throughout the course of the game. Also in other ways, but if I explained everything here in the introduction you’d have no reason to read the review.

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.

Support

Modern (social)
Glass-Free* Games
2016
Complexity: 1

Support is a game about boobs, or rather a game about people and their relationship with the boobs that they may or may not have. Now if you’re thinking that’s an oddly-specific focus for a role-playing game, and that’s only because it is. But “oddly-specific” is kinda like, one of the things I do here.
Also this is my 50th review, so that’s something.

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)

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.

Time Claw

Various (science fiction) [fan game, supplement]
Self Published
2001
Complexity: 2

Time Claw is something I came across while researching Ironcaw. It’s also a Doctor Who fan game that used the system from Ironclaw. This game comes from an interesting point in the Doctor Who fandom, the Internet was now making communication and sharing of information incredibly easy. But it was also a time twelve years since the end of the series, and five years since the movie, and still two years away from Scream of the Shalka—or four years away from the series revival if you want to pretend Shalka didn’t exist.

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.

Hogwarts

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

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]

Deadly Simple Role Playing System

Universal

Self Published
2011
Complexity: unplayable without significant user-generated content

Deadly Simple Role Playing System is an independently-developed universal system with a twist, it’s name isn’t a stupid acronym. This game is promoted as a “very easy to die in game, that is fun and flexible enough to fit into ANY world with a little bit of work,” and obviously if I’m specifically mentioning something in the introduction that means it’s going to come up later.

However, before I begin I should probably mention that I am on record on multiple occasions as saying that when a first-time designer decides to make a “universal system” it’s because they want to feel like they’re a game designer, but don’t want to have to do all the work associated with a fully fleshed-out game. Or they’re so conceded that they think their system is so amazing that they’re going to revolutionize the very concept of tabletop gaming. Although I will say that the creator of this system is probably not the latter.

The House Always Wins

Modern (comedic, horror)
Self Published
2018
Complexity: 1

The House Always Wins is a game about characters in a house, trying not be be killed by said house, and failing. It seems that this game was made as a student project, as there is reference to material being added “post-in-class-presentation,” but that doesn’t mean I’m going to go easy on it. The fact that is is a non-commercially-distributed product means I’m going to go easy on it.

Fleshscape

Post-Apocalyptic (weird)
Rooster Games
2017
Complexity: 2

The post-apocalyptic wasteland is usually depicted as a barren desert, although sometimes depicted as an overgrown forest or vast ocean. In Fleshscape, it’s made of meat.
If there’s one thing that gets my attention, it’s something I haven't seen before--hence the underrepresentation of traditional fantasy games in these reviews--and adventures in a post-apocalyptic meat word is definitely something I haven't seen before. Of course, now that I have seen it, any future meat world games will seem normal and uninteresting to me.

Clown Helsing

Modern (comedic, horror, vampires)
Self Published
2015
Complexity: 2

Let’s try something different, shall we? How about a game about vampire-hunting clowns? No, that’s too different? Well too bad, you’ve already started reading the vampire-hunting clown game review so you might as well buckle up and enjoy the ride.
Clown Helsing is--as previously stated--a game about clowns who hunt vampires. Why clowns, why vampires, why anything? You’ll just have to read on to find out. Or I guess you could just read the book, but then you’d be missing out on my whimsically meandering commentary.