Prompt: Favourite new game of the last 12 months
This one is tricky, because I don't buy a lot of games, and I've already talked about Goblin Quest. Also, this could be read as specifically new releases, rather than just new to me, in which case... Well, again, it's really just a couple of Kickstarters.
Favourite game that is new to me is No Rest for the Wicked, a Warhammer 40K LARP run by friends with a commercial sensibility. It's interesting, because it's a system in flux. Pretty much every application brings up new issues and there's a lot of revision and rewriting, but without much fuss or complaining about how it's ruined now or how the changes are ruining player X's game; just reasonable critique and comment. It's refreshing to see.
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A little more on topic, and separate from yesterday's discussion of Kickstarters, I'm going to consider what prompts me to buy - or more often these days want to buy - a new game.
I'm a sucker for presentation, I won't lie. It's not just that I want a game to look pretty, I want to be able to find things. Layout and structure matter, and important rules shouldn't be hard to locate. I hated the Ascension LARP core book because it was so badly structured I could barely find anything and I have the same problem with Stars Without Number (although in fairness, that's the free edition, so I don't think it's had the editorial love the full release got.)
I'm interested in system, but not obsessed. Setting is more important to me, and it was - for example - the setting of 7th Sea that turned me off the game, the anachronism stew making for a less satisfying dish - to me - than the more nuanced intrigues and anti-establishment capers that I might hope for from a swashbuckling game. Similarly... but I'll talk about that tomorrow.
This one is tricky, because I don't buy a lot of games, and I've already talked about Goblin Quest. Also, this could be read as specifically new releases, rather than just new to me, in which case... Well, again, it's really just a couple of Kickstarters.
Favourite game that is new to me is No Rest for the Wicked, a Warhammer 40K LARP run by friends with a commercial sensibility. It's interesting, because it's a system in flux. Pretty much every application brings up new issues and there's a lot of revision and rewriting, but without much fuss or complaining about how it's ruined now or how the changes are ruining player X's game; just reasonable critique and comment. It's refreshing to see.
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| Gratuitous kit shot! |
A little more on topic, and separate from yesterday's discussion of Kickstarters, I'm going to consider what prompts me to buy - or more often these days want to buy - a new game.
I'm a sucker for presentation, I won't lie. It's not just that I want a game to look pretty, I want to be able to find things. Layout and structure matter, and important rules shouldn't be hard to locate. I hated the Ascension LARP core book because it was so badly structured I could barely find anything and I have the same problem with Stars Without Number (although in fairness, that's the free edition, so I don't think it's had the editorial love the full release got.)
I'm interested in system, but not obsessed. Setting is more important to me, and it was - for example - the setting of 7th Sea that turned me off the game, the anachronism stew making for a less satisfying dish - to me - than the more nuanced intrigues and anti-establishment capers that I might hope for from a swashbuckling game. Similarly... but I'll talk about that tomorrow.
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