Aki

A cute little role-playing game
Modern (anime, social)
Rävsvans Förlag
2004
Complexity: 1

Aki is a game inspired by slice-of-life shoujo manga… alright, well if anyone’s still here it’s a gave about ordinary life and social interactions--they are very clear on the point that there is nothing extraordinary and/or exciting, just relationships and stuff like that. It’s also apparently a “Triple Dogma award winner 2004” for best rules, most creative, and best graphic design. I can’t really find any information of the Dogma awards, but I assume it’s just a Swedish thing. Oh yeah, this game is Swedish, probably should have mentioned that. However I will be reviewing the English version, since as far as I know I do not speak Swedish--I do like Donald Duck though.

Awaiting the End

Universal
Future Proof Games
2014
Complexity: 1

Awaiting the End is a game about “a group of people awaiting a doom in an unpleasant place,” which makes it only slightly more uplifting than Camwhores. It’s also a GM-less game focused almost entirely on storytelling, which is the sort of thing that usually end up being a bit too role playing and not enough game for my tastes.

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.

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.

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.

EPICS

Deserve to Survive
Universal (superheroes)
Dragonslayer Games
2003
Complexity: 2

EPICS--The Easy, Player-Initiated Character System--is a superhero game that didn’t want to be a superhero game so it became a “universal” system. It’s also a game that talks pretty big of itself, being described as “one of the most original game systems in years” and “a new type of roleplaying system” by its publisher. Which is convenient for me because that tells me exactly what I should be expecting, and to what standard I should be holding it--obviously very very high.