Yesterday I had the chance to try this game I backed on Kickstarter so I can write an opinion and try to give you a more deep and structured review.
THE KICKSTARTER
Jordan, the author, creator of two other projects, one of them Arcana Academy (I wrote an article about the project), presented the project with humor and ease, promising for September 2019 an “about 70 pages full of original full-color art”. He got 1229 backers and raised 20634 dollars. I payed 8 dollars for the digital version and, after some quick readings, yesterday night I passed to the practice.
THE MANUAL
My sensation is that it should have been done more.
The manual is a 45,6 Mb PDF for 47 pages. Shouldn’t they be 70? Well yes, it seemed so, but this is the result. A heavy file (I got similar quality compressing it in a 4 Mb PDF) with no more than 20-25 lines for page, BIG font and large images. Hence, it was ralizable with less than 40 pages. For example I had insert a backer list to thank for the 20k dollars raised for a less than 50 pages manual. Even if we are talking of a light game that obviously doesn’t require a 200 hundred pages tome, my sensation is that it should have been done more. I can’t avoid the idea of the minimum work for minimum task. Without talking about the certain effort of the author, the result is a little poor. For example I feel mocked when I was promised a “guide to creating alternate settings other than fantasy” and I got 30 lines, few words per line of nearly nothing about alternative settings. Will it be at leat playable?
CONTENTS
If it seemed poor, I appreciate it can be read and prepared quickly.
The game is inspired by PbtA (Power by the Apocalypse) a game system developed by Meguey e Vincent Baker quite famous in the rpg world. It has a different approach from the standard rpg like, for example, D&D, but explaining it is beyond the purpose of this article. It’s very narrative, players can do what they want and describing their actions they trigger some moves that decide the result of narration itslelf, but leaving consequenques, combat order and other part of a game system in the hand of the narrator, that must direct the game with the pacing of a movie. Simple and fast. A rules section, 6 pages, a moves section, 7 pages, then character creation.
The character creation is completaly free. Like Freddie sang, you can be anything you want to be because everything is reduced (speaking about rules) to a talent, a tool and a motivation, each valued 1d6 in the system. So “disintegrate with my gaze” has the same value in dice of a “ooze cannon”, it will be the narrative result the different one. Some final touches to the character, then some pages for tips, mastering, some session rules and in a shot time the handbook is over and it’s time to play.
The idea is a funny quick, engaging game and it is successful. The Shiny are the coin of the game, that let you buy… everything you want, the effect is obvious and the bonus is? Exactly! 1d6, but you can have thousands of fantastic and funny items! My favourite rule is for critical failures. In the game you roll from 1 to 3 d6. If you don’t get 4,5 or 6 and you have at least a 1, you failed critically. The failing player will than tells the first word in mind and the narrator will invent a consequence based on that word. After that, if the character is still alive, the player will write a brief sentence about what the character learned, for example”Don’t touch pointy things” or “Monks have tough butt muscles” and everytime that sentences can be related to a roll, il will be 1d6 bonus, but with the risk that sooner or later it will be forgotten. Il it seemed poor, I appreciated I read and prepared it quickly.
PLAYTEST
One of my funniest one-shot ever.
Character creation is fast and funny. We created a poisonous naga, a fairy dragon trapped in the body of a little girl, a revenant dwarf sculptor with “a-stone-ishing” powers, and a werepig, but the possibilities are truly limitless.
Rules explanation took less than 10 minutes than my players were already defending the Crimson Tears Lake of their master, Dungeon the Great, from an assoult of boring and zelous adventurer. After an hour they were retaliating, attacking the Monastery of Light and after two others hours the session ended with some players avoiding the evocation of a demon perpetrated by the voodoo doll of the girl/fairy dragon while the naga and the werepig were happily eating corprese of clerics and paladins in the hall of the sacred tomes.
It has been on of my funniest one-shot ever (I never one-shot very much) and the game ran simply and smoothly among jokes and smiles, without problems of rules (so few) and with very little bug to think about while playing. It has kept the promis to make us the enjoy an evil minion funny game.
CONCLUSIONS
Light and funny, easily learned, quick to realize. More adapt to one shot or very short campaigns, it needs preparation to make it last longer without durability problems. It’s worth the value, but I found the contents under my aspectatives.
PROS
Simple and fast.
It’s funny to role the minions.
CONS
Poor of concents. With a little effort there was space for a lot of hooles, tips, lists, possibilities, examples and “stupidities” to make the game memorable.