We thank usducktape (a medical student that instead of studying I’m making ttrpgs… His words!), for sending us a copy of Cuticorium in order to write this review. Cuticorium is described from the author as a microspopic game of bugs and intrigue. It was fully financed on Kickstarter thanks to about 400 backers who donate nearly $10.000. In this RPG players take on the roles of insects who, through alliances, betrayals and connections, fight for supremacy in the insect city of Cuticorium or explore the outside world. Cuticorium is available on tue itch.io page of usducktape or on indiepressrevolution, with a cost ranging from $15 (about € 12.5) to $30 (about €25), depending on the type of format, digital or with soft cover hard copy, and the presence of maps.
A Little Manual for Little Creatures
Let’s start our Cuticorium review by talking about the product appearance. It is a small book, in A6 format, which therefore measures c. 6in x 4in (10cm x 15cm. It consists of 130 color pages. The lefthand pages are mostly occupied by images of various insects in human poses and activities, or by text boxes that help immersion in the setting. These images, accompanied by a quote below, are quite varied, the work of several artists. The styles are different but the result as a whole is pleasant. There is certainly a difference in the result between them but each has its own interesting peculiarity.
The righthand pages contain the actual text of the manual. The text runs in a single column, with an informal font and ‘ragged right’ margin format. There are only scant variations of the type to help orient you in the text. Reading is not difficult, but it isn’t one of the most relaxing reads either. Good lighting and concentration are needed. It is not a game that requires a continuous reading of the manual so, once you have learned the main notions, there is (fortunately) little need to return to the book. A couple of summary tables would not have been a bad idea, however.
Less-Bug and More-Human Bugs
The backdrop forthe game is the domain of Cuticorium, a tree that houses a magical crystal. This crystal prohibits physical violence between insects and increases their intellect. A simple fairytale excuse to allow a social game with insects as protagonists, but it works! The area of Cuticorium is yet to be fully discovered and is full of mysteries. There is no presence of man or other creatures to threaten the insects.
The insects are divided into three types: Predators feeding on other insects; they are strong, cunning creatures who must leave the Cuticorium area to feed. Plant-eating insects, the largest population in Cuticorium. Decomposers, who feed on dead things.
The game does not have a class scheme and defines the characters based on some parameters. Desire and Shame are interpretative tags. The first is the biggest dream of the insect that, having evolved thanks to the crystal, no longer thinks only of eating and reproducing. The second is a secret, a painful memory that hinders the personal growth of these strange intelligent insects. After that, the insects have two features to be chosen from a large, entomologically very interesting list. It doesn’t matter if the two features together sound far-fetched, there are insects of all kinds!
Cuticorium System Review
The game is first divided into scenes. The opening and closing, as well as some key and aggregating scenes of the story, are managed by the narrator and are interspersed with scenes where each character in turn sets a scene and then invites PCs and NPCs to join in.Cuticorium uses the Web System.
Web tokens represent understanding and control over everything. They can represent the knowledge of other insects and their secrets, thus also indicating the ability to maneuver them. They can represent knowledge of places in or around Cuticorium. Or they can represent introspection, self-knowledge. Web tokens represent both the cost of character actions and a kind of Hit Points. They can be spent on automatic success. When an insect runs out of Web Tokens, it panics and risks having to leave Cuticorium, never to return. Finally, the Web Collectors can also be used as a currency, because where there is no money, you can always pay in interesting acquaintances.
Review of Cuticorium Mechanics
The Web System provides for a series of codified actions. There are 8 moves to other insects and 3 to places. Generally an action require a d4 roll, where 4 or more is a success, a result of 2 or 3 is a partial success and 1 a failure.
Actions generate a system of gain / loss / movement of the Web Tokens. In addition, the features of the various characters further vary the possibilities. There are 21 features presented, but it is possible to invent others. There is only one physical action, to Scar, all the others are social interactions, including Comforting, Sharing and Embracing.
The actions aimed at the places allow you to make them your habitat, or add a particularity, or even discover new ones, all at the price of Web Tokens that you have on places. These accumulate by finishing the scenes in a certain place. It is a fast system, with a strong component of randomness based only on a 4-sided die, but with good consistency and interesting combinations.
It’s All a Great Metaphor
After reading Cuticorium I got an impression. The game was born from the correlation between webs and bonds. Knowing a person or a place is a way to have power or influence over them. But to do this it is also necessary to risk exposing oneself and showing something of oneself. This something becomes leverage by which others can move us.
This token system with links that form thick webs inspired the creatures and location of Cuticorium – or maybe I’m wrong and the author just wanted to play a game about bugs and it turned out like that!
The Negative Aspects
Cuticorium is not without flaws. The setting is nice, the idea is nice, the system has some interesting elements and the learning curve is fast. Despite being a light game, however, the manual lacks some important information in my opinion. After having explained the basic concepts and having listed the actions and peculiarities of insects, the last pages are dedicated to describing the main places of the tree and its surroundings. Then in a couple of pages of other small optional rules, the manual ends with a set of tables for the random generation of a whole series of elements. The places described are nice, but sketchy, too nebulous, and not particularly original.
However, important accompaniments for the game are missing. With only the list of possibilities not everyone is able to build a session or situations, much less a campaign. There is no introductory adventure, there are no game examples, the manual is an aseptic list of rules, descriptors and places. Considering that nearly half of the manual pages are made up of images, I think there is some wasted space. Or I would have chosen at least to use the space differently and make the manual more complete.
Final Consideration of the Review of Cuticorium
To use an entomological metaphor, Cuticorium itself seemed to me an insect. It is small, colorful and generates curiosity. But also something more made to please a small group of enthusiasts and which may alienate many due to its strangeness – and some flaws.
But Cuticorium also has a lot of value! Most important: it has its own ‘why’. As I have said before, you should ask yourself why a game exists before writing or playing it. This role-playing game, with its Web System, has a metaphorical but well-defined setting and above all it knows what it wants to talk about and how.
Perhaps, as I said earlier, it doesn’t help the reader much in getting into the game, or maybe it’s just me who couldn’t get in tune. It is certainly a great tool, used in the right way, to explore and play the world of social interactions.