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The Law
by Paul M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 06/17/2020 06:17:14

Nice speedy system, gives a lot of agency to the players. especially, the accumulating skill results mechanic is a good feature.

Easy to use and run as most complicated situations are handled in narrative, as if for a movie scene description. I like the difficulty scaling, too.

Some small examples associated with rules descriptions would have been useful, especially the benefits/problems section. Also, references to the character sheet and the final page would have made a few sections a lot clearer.

The typos generally didn't get in the way much. However, the repeated text box on page 12 was a bit jarring.

Overall: really good. A nice light fast treatment of a well-known setting.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
The Law
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Spider's Dance
by Ranjith E. M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 03/31/2015 11:06:26

This review is structured to start with the negative and end with the positive, so as to end with a hopeful sentiment.

First of all, the product has several problems with its content.

  • The number of sentences spiders after the first write is given incorrectly in the text - twice, once even before listing each individual sentence, thus proving the number wrong in the same paragraph. The table giving the numbers seems to be correct, though.
  • Mother Spider's Advice text blocks are sometimes partial repetitions with no new content; the block about sentence/paragraphs and tedium is presented completely early on, and then only the first part at the end of the text, likewise, the advice on maps for others is first presented only partially and completely on the next page.

Secondly, the product is relatively expensive, even at $2.95. The font is rather big and due to the nature of the game, there are a lot of illustrations to clarify concepts.

Third, there are no page numbers, which is a minor annoyance.

Fourth, there are some typos (like 'ands' instead of 'lands' in Mother Spider's Advice on maps for other players), but they are very few and do not hinder enjoyment of the text.

Fifth, the author seems to have never made good on his promise to publish variants/ideas at his homepage. His blog, at least, does have only one entry on the game, namely when it was published.

Sixth, the game has a lot of potential for various variants on the setting/tone; unfortunately, the text only touches lightly on it.

Seventh, while fulfilling the requirements of the rules, coming up with new situations is probably the bigger challenge, especially if you play the game several times. Varying the setting/tone is probably helpful there.

Eigth, while I don't have children to play the game with, I find the advice on how to add/change small elements to adapt to that situation a nice idea of the author, thumbs up.

Ninth, the sample actually gives you a clear impression of what the basic rules are like. So, you can make a well-informed decision whether you want to encourage the author by making the purchase.

Tenth, this game (I am not sure whether calling it an RPG is technically correct; it is more something of a story-telling game in my eyes) requires little material - just pen and paper, not even dice. This makes it very portable (especially since you can memorize all the rules easily.

Eleventh, although the ideas and mechanisms are extremely simple, this is a really interesting way to encourage creative writing/storytelling. Personally, I think this a splendid idea and really like the game and recommend it itself (had it not been for the aforementioned problems with the implementation, I would have rated this five stars). If you tend to have some time to yourself, maybe commuting to work, this is really a nice way to have some fun. And since it is basically a solitaire with everything noted down, you can play at your leisure, take breaks and resume however you like.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Spider's Dance
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Creator Reply:
Thanks for the review, this is one of those many projects of mine that I\'ve been planning to revise and revisit. I might do that revision sooner rather than later now, and it might be time to start the long-promised follow-up book.
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The Scavenger's Tale
by Larry B. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 02/27/2015 17:56:57

You might call this a comic book. It has the feel of one even if there aren't really a lot of dialog baloons. However, it server a purpose. It helps you get a feel for another world. A world somewhat in our future, where uncertain events caused civilization to take a nose dive.

This is the world of the Walkabout RPG (also by Vulpinoid Studios), or at least the world it could be.

The Scavenger's Tale tells the tale of what the youth of the wasted future might do with their time. How they go out exploring for artifacts from the "old times" and bring them back to have the elders tell them stories about what the objects were called and what they were used for. The elders may be it right, but sometimes it is about as accurate as a certain sea gull telling stories to a young mermaid.

The story is written as the journal of a young person going out and exploring this world. The twist in the story takes place after the protagonist encounters a more "civilized" person who grew up in what may be deemed an archology. He really has no clue about the outside world, but he is still out in it searching for something important to him (I won't get into what he is looking for).

The art work is fairly well done. The "civilized" young man seems to be a different style from the rest of the art work. I took it as artistic license to mark him as almost from another world, but some might find it distracting.

I had to expand the view of the PDF in order to try to make out the text in a few of the side boxes (limit to the technology, but the embedded graphics suffered no ill effects to zooming in, so they are of sufficient quality).

I did have to chuckle a couple of times while reading the story, though. I don't think it is supposed to be this way, but it reads as if rabbits carry around some of the old relics. I'm pretty sure the intent was that it was coincidence that the protagonist happened to capture a rabbit for dinner as well as happening upon a couple of relics. Some of the stories behind artifacts, though, were very well done.

Overall, this is a great introduction to Walkabout. Hopefully it is something that the author will stick with and expand in the future.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
The Scavenger's Tale
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Town Geomorphs
by Scott H. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 07/02/2013 06:23:26

Now that the print option is working I really like this product. You get 12 six sided tiles which can be placed together to form large cities or city blocks. The company has said that they will be releasing more tiles at a later date. The only thing I'm not liking is that the edges are whited out, but then again the tiles are designed for a different purpose than what I'm using them for, which is city building maps.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Town Geomorphs
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Hold Em Scene Generator: Medieval Edition
by Kevin M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 01/12/2013 15:50:38

I've been using this for the last few months in order to generate random events to insert into my campaign, and it works wonderfully! I'm hoping the author continues to publish these for different genres. Great job!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Hold Em Scene Generator: Medieval Edition
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Ghost City Raiders
by John K. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 01/03/2013 23:40:47

Ok - because I'm interested in RPGs, I bought the core rules, a scenario, and a character just to see what this actually is. Essentially it's a simple RPG (with standard-style attributes) that uses cards both instead of dice and to abstractly represent different locations. You compare a drawn card to an attribute when you want to move between locations (or defeat a barrier between two locations), search, attack, etc. That's all the core rules provide.

What gives it "color" are the individual scenarios and characters that you can buy (all centered around a post-apocalyptic world). The idea is that it's portable and quick to play.

The real guts lie in the character booklets - these have nice presentation and all the rules for that character's skills and abilities.

I think that's a great idea in general. However, there are a few things I don't like.

You get pocketmod formatted and standard formatted versions of the rules. However, both have grey backgrounds that are just going to use more ink and don't add anything to the presentation. I have no need for a pocket mod version - but the regular version would work on a smartphone.

I don't want to have to bring along a deck of cards - and as the image of a game in progress shows, standard cards certainly take away from the aesthetics.

Also I would market it differently. Instead of selling everything separately, sell packs consisting of the core rules, a scenario and two matched characters for $3. Sell a deluxe version of the scenario with printable tiles and characters for another $2.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Ghost City Raiders
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Tooth and Claw
by Joe S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/27/2012 01:09:26

It’s not every day a SMALL rule systems comes along that absolutely NAILS a genre. I think Tooth and Claw is such a game. While the rules are just 8 pages, this is not a beer and pretzels game… it has some real depth. It’s about social interaction. It’s about heroics and secrets. And the rules reflect this very well indeed. So, what on earth is this game all about? Put simply, it’s about what pets, in this case, ferrets, get up to when humans are not looking. I think ferrets are a great animal for this sort of game, because they are natural little fighters… and cute as well. I once went ferreting for rabbits on my farm, and I can assure you, these little critters are hunters, explorers, adventurers and killers in equal measure. So, yeah, perfect for an RPG about brave pets.
What most impressed me about this game was the “business sheet” concept, where social interactions are developed at the start of the game. Shades of Fiasco, but quicker and simpler (much like ferrets). This game is no Bunnies and Burrows (which I love), which harkens back to games such as Tunnels and Trolls. It has a slick, modern ‘narrative’ game feel.
Now the drawbacks: the production value is not top-shelf, but is certainly far from the worst I have encountered. You can see the love shining through in the design, and the rules are all where you expect them to me, so I can forgive a few quirks here and there. I can certainly see myself running this game with my young niece and nephew, or at the Children’s hospital as part of Ward Wizards. It’s a great game for socializing, and for having players generate quirky and creative solutions to any situations the GM can dream up… I’m thinking ferrets save the house from Alien invaders! At $1, you can’t go wrong. It’s a great little game to keep around. And the money goes to a good cause too!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Tooth and Claw
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Tooth and Claw
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 12/25/2012 06:42:14

My grandfather's ferret was a beast of little merit.... quite unlike this game which has captured the delight of these beasties beautifully within a few short pages.

If you already know and love ferrets, you'll delight in this - and if you have never met one, come on and find out what they are like!

So - what do ferrets get up to when everyone else is asleep?

With simple yet effective game mechanics, this is a game that could be played with young children or as a quick evening's fun.

The ferret pictures are rather sweet, too. Enjoy!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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FUBAR (Director's Cut)
by Adam C. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 09/08/2012 02:18:38

I enjoyed playing this with my group very much; it was easily one of the most action-packed gaming nights we've ever had, and we will definitely be coming back for more. The game is very much about keeping an intense action pace by effectively penalizing distraction and down-time and prompting constant improv-style decision making. As long as you keep it in mind that the players are to be the protagonists of the next 'die-hard' movie, and that keeping things going is the name of the game, it will be a lot of fun. Our last session we played for 4 hours, but we all agreed that hadn't felt like more than 30 minutes.

The only complaint which I might make is that the 'Secrets' game mechanic is not explained clearly in the book, but carefully reading the examples cleared this up eventually, and it wound up proving to be a quite effective mechanic for keeping the ball rolling.

Also, some of the best design I've ever seen in a book like this.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
FUBAR (Director's Cut)
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Hold Em Scene Generator: Medieval Edition
by William W. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 03/02/2012 08:48:46

An ingenious method of using a standard deck of cards to play a variant of Texas Hold 'Em that helps to develop a story. Each suit represents different types of influences (Hearts are emotional, Clubs are physical, Diamonds are mystical, and Spades are intellectual), and each phase of the game represents different story elements (location, situation, intention, escalation, and resolution). A series of tables provides meanings for each individual card in each phase.

The game can not only develop a current story, it can be used to develop backstory as well, which could be a great way to spice up character generation.

This is a very clever tool for random story inspiration.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Hold Em Scene Generator: Medieval Edition
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Dungeon Cards Sneak Preview
by Michael H. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 07/08/2011 23:34:24

A very interesting idea, but not entirely accessable to the tired minded GM (oracle?) trying to grok the idea for the first time. Does not work just like your average tiles, as there is built into the idea a good amount of player input. I reckon this is not the nial version of the product (says preview right there, doesn't it) and given that I could see where this could be a lot of fun.

I'm intrigued to see where this is going. For two bucks, it is a fun product, but takes a goodish bit of work to make up to form.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Dungeon Cards Sneak Preview
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FUBAR (Director's Cut)
by Yukiko A. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 05/23/2011 03:09:07

I enjoyed playing the first version of this game with a few of my friends, and after reading through the revisions made in this version, I'm looking forward to playing with the updated version.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
FUBAR (Director's Cut)
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The Eighth Sea (First Edition)
by Gary W. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 02/03/2011 21:50:48

An odd and awkward amalgam of priate game and time travel game, TES is hampered by its two disparate concepts, its bad computer generated art, and its crunchy card-based mechanics. Also, the inclusion of multiple Narrators is likely to stall a game and lead to uneven GMing. Still, it is original in its way and a very interesting read, if only for the sheer audacity of what it attempts.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
The Eighth Sea (First Edition)
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Games for Goblins
by Yukiko A. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 11/07/2010 18:38:32

I'm sure I could use this for a game somehow.

It's got some really good images that give an impression of a strange culture, and it doesn't have specific words that make you use it in a particular way.

Now I've just got to find a good game to use it in.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Games for Goblins
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Games for Goblins
by Hamilton R. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 10/06/2010 12:26:28

Only one thing to say here -- Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
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