Monday, June 28, 2021

Agramabug by Frederico Volpini

Federico Volpini recently shared his very cool bug-centric mini-setting for Troika! with me. The writing is great and the art reminds me of the Tenniel illustrations from Alice in Wonderland. The world is full of crazy, flavorful details: freon zombies, punk foodies, dust monks, a bug pope, a weird landscape of human refuse... great stuff. (You can pick it up at volpe80.itch.io.)



The following are a couple of very minor criticisms. The introductory paragraph is a bit of a cold start, throwing you right into the setting. It misses stating the "obvious:" Agramabug is an RPG setting compatible with Troika! in which communities of insects scrabble over the discarded wastes of humans hoping to attain power, security, and prosperity. The text is also a bit tightly-spaced, but then I think my 53-yo eyes are just always craving a little more white space these days. My 23-yo self probably would have loved the denseness of the design. 

Is there such a thing as too many poo jokes? I feel like the setting is scatalogical to a degree that would get a little old. What else matters to bugs -- water, pollen, seeds? It bears thinking about before you throw players into the setting.

Back to the good stuff. The lists – oh my gawds – the lists. I have a soft spot for lists because a designer can pack so much setting into them, and that's just what Fredrico did. The classes are great too, and if you know Troika!, you'll know that this is its other primary tool for communicating a setting.

The world is both comical and dreary at the same time. It could be played as grimdark or wildly comic, or both. My first addition would be some granola-hippy bugs who live on a sunny hill filled with dandelions, just to give a bit of contrast to the extensive landfill that Fredrico provides.

Perhaps the highest bit of praise I can give to Agramabug is that I want to play it. My default reading stance after a few paragraphs was "how I would run this" not "is this any good?" So clearly I made up my mind on the latter pretty fast.

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Zinequest 2021 progress report

This is just a quick progress post related to the Zinequest 3 projects I backed and am watching. Big thanks to the zines who have already delivered. I'll note that no project is, as yet, "late."

STILL OUT

  • Courier
  • Crawler
  • The Void of Thrantar
  • Before Fire
  • Fresh from the Forge
  • Wizard Funk 3
  • Desert Moon of Karth
  • The Lighthouse at the Edge of the Universe
  • Dethroners
  • Bloodheist
  • Realms of Peril
  • Colostle
  • Harrowings #03: Muspelhell
  • Dodeca RPG
  • Many Crypts of Lady Ingrade
  • The Vaults of Torment: Blood is Fuel
  • The Drain
  • Lowlife
  • Planar Compass Issue 2
  • Not a Place of Honor
RECEIVED

  • Siege: Pocket Warfare (print)
  • Pamphlet of Pantheons (digital)
  • In the Shadow of Tower Silveraxe (print)
  • A Bug's Guide to the Shimmer (digital)
REVIEWED

  • Kriegsmesser (print)
  • Microvania (print)
  • Menagerie of the Void (print)

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Menagerie of the Void by Eran Aviram

Menagerie of the Void is a solo, zine-sized, journaling game that I backed during Kickstarter's Zine Quest 2021. You are traveling onboard an early starship when an alien zoo abducts you to serve as its keeper. The game revolves around creating, housing, and caring for bizarre creatures. It uses index cards and playing cards, and is something that you could pretty easily play in short stretches. The game ends when you master all of the robotic systems of the zoo (unlikely) or when your character gives up hope.

The book is 28 pages (included the covers), designed beautifully, and well-written. The art, though a little inconsistent in feel, really gets across the alien nature of the game and the zoo's weird organisms. Illustrations of the cards (thank you!) help you figure out how the game works. A number of random generators and outcomes for various events assure lots of replayability.

Overall this is a really solid little game book. I can't wait to try it out for real, and will be sure to write about my experience when I do.