Thought experiment: What’s the ugliest game book you’d still pick off a shelf if you came across it again for the first time? Indie snobs will of course claim it’s a whole long list, but the reality is that we really do judge a book by its cover. That’s why they have covers. Fair warning:… Continue reading Ugly Beautiful Books
Category: Critique
Deep dives backed by actual play.
Masks: A Late, Deepish Dive
Let me say up front that I love everything Magpie Games has ever put out. I go out of my way to play their stuff, and I’ve run nearly everything they’ve ever put out. Starting with Epyllion way back in the day, through Urban Shadows, Bluebeard’s Bride, Cartel, Zombie World, Pasión de las Pasiones, all… Continue reading Masks: A Late, Deepish Dive
A Short Deep Dive into The Facility
Broke a 3-week-long RPG fast with The Facility last night. Felt good to touch dice again! The Facility is a zine-sized game by Galen Pejeau built on Breathless, a game framework I've been digging into since starting through a solo game called Substratum Protocol. It's a very basic push-your-luck kind of game, where each time… Continue reading A Short Deep Dive into The Facility
Deathmatch Island: The Deep Dive
If you could win unlimited wealth and freedom and all you had to do was murder some strangers, would you? What if you grew close to those strangers through days of adversity and teamwork? Would you fight against the injustice of this sadistic game, or stab your new friends in the back? What if their… Continue reading Deathmatch Island: The Deep Dive
Review and AP: God’s Gonna Cut You Down
I've been slowly working through a big stack of really great looking little zine-sized games that all arrived at once. Finally got to play my buddy Keith Stetson’s God’s Gonna Cut You Down, a solo journaling game about the inevitability of misery in the old west. I’ve come to really enjoy solo games like this,… Continue reading Review and AP: God’s Gonna Cut You Down