Tuesday, June 4, 2013

#gamechef2013 reviews 21-24 w/ 6 French Game

Progress! Progress!

Game Chef English 2013

21. Adapt by Paulo Rivas

Twitter Pitch: A funny game about living in an isolated colony in the middle of an evolutionary experiment, while trying to keep on with your life.

The Good: The fun fact in the character sheet made me snerk out loud. I like the whole "elevator to get to where you're going" and that's a problem in and of itself.

The Bad: But I've played this game, and it's called Paranoia. And it's not even something that's trying to take something and do it different ... this is Paranoia with a slightly different mechanic and goal.

The Other: I know I'm not one to talk, because I tend to not really review things for contests like this. But this game could have used another look through. Yes I know it says Alpha version but ... there's a lot of little things just a regular read through would catch.

Would I play it? I'm sorry citizen, but your happiness lies in another game. You wouldn't want to be a traitor to the computer.


22. The Wicked World by Brian Engard aka. Other Guy

Twitter Pitch: A noir detective game about angel PIs sent to Earth to thwart the plots of demons and their minions.

The Good: The theme, because I've always been  fan of this kind of game. I loved In Nomine, and this has that wonderful Angels/Demons Good/Evil kind of feel but takes it in a very streamlined way. I do also like how the mechanic is a very much all or nothing kind of thing, one person is going to get the narration rights and the rest of you can burn.

The Bad: My there is a metric fuckload of prep before the prep. It's all important, and all very useful but if you don't like cutting and pasting then this is not the game for you. I might have wanted a little bit more on the demons too, but that could very easily extend this beyond the scope of what Game Chef can do.

The Other: Would it be possible to get all good traits? Would you pick something negative if it comes through your scars? I would like to see more with the mystery map as well, I don't know quite what but I think it needs to have more of an impact that just tracking stuff (though tracking stuff is good).

Would I play it? We shall fight these creatures until the very bitter end, for the good of the host and for humanity.

23. Hollow Realm by Jacob Possin

Twitter Pitch: The Realm of Filth and the Bitter Realm fight over this world. You are a Lamplighter, and you seek to end this conflict. You are the defender of this Hollow Realm

The Good: While I do enjoy it, I'm glad that you've gone away from the Angels and Demons kind of angle that a lot of people have. Also, I like the idea that you've set out some Campaign Frames, and that there are two paths to losing yourself.  

The Bad: I know that there's a mechanic for spending points after the roll to keep narration rights, but there isn't anything really other than that to make people spend it. After reading it, I felt that I would rarely use that because I don't feel my character threatened by losing rights.

The Other: When being inspired by something, you don't always have to use elements of it in order to put it into the game. This is particularly true with this version of game chef, so calling them snowflakes felt a little ... well ... out of place.

Would I play it? I'm on the fence with this one, there needs to be more menace in the rules in order to make me feel like I'd want to.

24. Finding Haven by Manu Saxena

Twitter Pitch: A sci-fi rpg where V meets Logan's Run in space.

The Good: The fact that you're setting up what you want from the climax of the story ahead of time is interesting, it gives you something to keep striving for right at the beginning of the game.

The Bad: The relationship stuff seems not something that remotely important to the game. I get the idea behind the whole Relationship Quotient and the C&C but ... I just think it's one of those things that might have gotten the axe and an edition session.

The Other: Soylent Green is people man! People!

Would I play it? Not really, but note I'm feeling kind of ornery tonight so that might have something to do with it.


French Game Chef 2013

6. Sables par Olivier Morvan

Pitch: Paris, dans un futur proche. Une drogue révolutionnaire, Oniros, permet à ses usagers de pénétrer les songes d'une autre personne et de partager les siens. Le monde doit désormais composer avec une réalité virtuelle plus puissante que n'importe quelle simulation informatique. Mais la jolie médaille a son revers et certains on eu tôt fait de transformer le rêve en cauchemair. L'état is donc mis sur pied une nouvelle unité de Police, la Brigade de Répression Onirique surnommée la Brigade des Sables. Les Joueurs incarneront ces flics atypiques capables d'investiguer dans les univers intagibles du Rêve. [Paris in the near future. A revolutionary drug, Oniros, allows its users to enter the dreams of other people. The world now has to deal with a virtual reality more powerful than any computer simulation. It also doesn't take much to turn a dream, into a nightmare. Which caused there to be a new police force force, The Sandman Brigade, who are there to keep the dream peace and investigate the intangible dream universe.]

Le Bon [The Good]: L'Action du jeux est bien expliqué, avec beaucoup de détailles interessant. Le dessin du document et le plus meilleure dans la compétition à jour, même si il arrive a 30Mo. [The setting is wonderfully detailed, and the layout is the the best I've seen in the competition, even if it's 30MB]

Le Mauvais [The Bad]: A part de l'action, il n'y a pas d'autre chause qui m'intrigue. C'est un JdR typique. C'est pas une problème grave, et j'espère que je ne devient pas comme une de ces misers qui déteste tous le jeux << typique >>, mais avec tous les autre jeux c'est le seule chose qui m'arrête. [Besides the setting, there isn't a lot else here that's interesting. It's not a bad problem, and I hope it doesn't make me one of those curmedgeons that dislike anything 'typical," but with all the other games it's the one thing that stopped me about this one.]

L'Autre [The Other]: Ack! 201X? Si vous allez mettre une date, mettez une date. Le date avec X c'est frustrant parce-que c'est comme vous ne voulez pas être responsable pour votre choix. [Really? 201x? Look, if you're going to put a date in, put a date in. Using a date win an X is frustrating because it's like you don't want to be responsible for your choice.]

Jouons [Would I play it]? Oui!

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