So much talent concentrated. Vicent is one of the most influential creators of this hobby/genre/artform. Some of the most prominent landmarks of the field are workings of his mind. The Bakers deserve the best.

Played with my partner and enjoyed it a lot! Had fun switching between unsettling, silly, or grossing her out. Straight forward page turning with broad prompts to inspire you to imagine any number of horrors.

Although I find this game to be AMAZING in the conceptualization of moves and how personal histories between PCs affect aiding each other, and many great innovations in a single game, I find it a hard game to run. I really enjoy playing it but as the MC you it's sometimes hard to mitigate uncomfortable territory between players. Certain optional and standard playbooks (aka classes) work off each other to further the uncomfortable territory (like the Brainer and the Child-thing). It's a brilliant game though if you want a world full of Mad Max types, this is THE game. 2nd edition is also famous for adding in rules specifically for Mad Max Fury Road style play and doom clocks replacing threat fronts. One last point: The rules boil down to a few dozen pages. I would have like to have seen the blowhard bits and the lengthy explanations reduced and examples increased.

If you don't like in your face, expletive laced explanations but want to try this game, get Apocalypse World: Burned Over edition. I've heard that's a much more straight forward rulebook.

I dropped a star for the bloated text and the reluctance I feel towards running this game and yet being unable to find many groups willing to try it.

The book, the legend. This game (actually the 1rst Ed) started a movement in the RPG. There are so many roleplaying&impro techniques build in that you will end up using them in other tables. Read it, learn from it, play it and hack it.

I would not recommend it (I'd actually even like a refund...). In summary, I'd say either the game system has to be improved to fit the free storytelling of the MC, either the MC (/Player ?) storytelling's guidance has to be improved to fit the game system.

The idea is great and I really wanted to have a great time playing it, but it just didn't happened. The disapointment comes from the game system part that conflicts with the story telling part : Our first playthrough was going allright until the player was forced by her terrible card draw to do not one but three things that were just weird and incoherent with the situation... in a nutshell : "you draw the attention of the murderous ghost, he is creepy as hell, really menacing and clearly willing to hurt you badly, what do you do ?" ; "well I have to try to talk to him, step towards him AND try to reach to him... sooo I guess what I do is dying from natural selection ?". At that point as you don't feel like roleplaying anymore, you lose interest in your character's... well, "anything" really. Then it just got worst and worst, like when the game system wanted me to have my ghost "do what he would if no one was there" as he was supposed to be in pursuit of the player, or when in the end it had me murder my player for good even though my ghost was supposed to be simply creeping from far away, and there was other such disapointing incoherences. I'm quite sad really, I thought we would have a great time. I read only one other review from a french guy somewhere who had the exact same experience as me. It would seem that we both played the game the (same) wrong way, since every other review I read said it was awsome, hence my summary "either/either" form.

this might be the game I enjoy running the most, of all time.

It's a really nice adition to your Apocalypse World toolset. It's everything the description says it will be, no more no less, but totally worth it

Apocalypse World is a good read, a great read, an almost mandatory read

This is an absolutely fantastic game! Using a standard deck of playing cards and the two booklets (one for the GM, one for the players), the game tells the tale of an urban explorer who encounters far more than they bargained for. The default set-up in the book is an abandoned hotel, but the GM and player can decide that any location could work. The game is designed as a duet game (one player, one GM), but can be easily adapted for multiple players and the GM, with the players all sharing the player book and a common hand of cards. This is such a good game, I can't understand why it doesn't have a higher profile. I always bring a copy of the two booklets and a deck of cards when I attend in-person conventions: A full game only takes about two hours to play out, and this is a perfect one-shot to fill out some down-time.

Highly recommended!

The King Is Dead is a party roleplaying game for 3-5 players which can be enjoyed in a single evening, requiring up to a few hours of game time (depending upon the number of players). No GM or Referee is needed, since each player has their own copy of the rules which explains everything and tells them exactly what to do. Replay value is pretty high, since the specific story details of each session are provided by the players themselves during gameplay.

Essentially, the king is dead, leaving no clear adult successor. Players name themselves, choose from among the five great Houses which rule the land-- you can have more than one player from the same House-- and then they take turns initiating a series of 'games' which will determine who will ascend to the nation's throne.

'Games' which can be played include having a simple dinner with other players; pursuing another player, either on foot or on horseback; crossing blades for a little bloody violence; taking troops into the field for a full-fledged battle; and finally, an endgame which tallies things up and determines the game's outcome. There are something like 10 or 12 distinct games in the rulebook, including the endgame, and since each player chooses which game they want to initiate on their turn, the number and variety of stories which can be told in each session of The King Is Dead is nearly infinite. No two games will ever be alike!

The game mechanics of The King Is Dead are pretty simple. The outcome of each mini-game is determined by drawing a card from a standard deck, following a few prompts in the game book which might bring additional cards into play, and then comparing the value of cards drawn. The results of each mini-game determine which new cards wind up in the player's hand for scoring purposes, and then the score of the player's hand during the endgame phase determines the game's outcome. Essentially, from a purely mechanical point of view, The King Is Dead is a hand-building game.

Mechanics aside, though, the real joy of this game comes from the creative story details which players provide while following the prompts found in their copy of the rules during each mini-game. Everyone taking part in each mini-game contributes to the game's narrative, helping to define "what happened" when Lord Baffrey matched wits with Lady Slawana during a rather salty dish of roast pheasant. This is the part of the game that story details emerge from.

We've had a few amusing sessions with this game. I'd describe The King Is Dead as one of those games that comes in really handy when you have friends to entertain. Its nerd factor is low enough that you can spring it on creative friends who aren't necessariy gamers, but still high enough that your friends who are gamers can get that roleplaying itch scratched through gameplay.

$15 for a 17 page pdf with almost no content. I expected an rpg game with miminal rules and setting details. All it is s setup of 8 situations that you need to resolve which is done in a round robin which each player brings up a question and then in the end the players kind of vote to see if the situation is resolved. There are no play mechanics or detail (it even states if you don't know soemthing just make it up) This is for everyone players and if you want to say a GM which isn't even needed as their are no rules to adjucate.

All the rules (if you call them that) could have been handled in less than page (maybe a paragraph) and the rest of the stuff is just sample questions with a few ideas of how your faction sees a particular situation.

Character creation is choose a faction choose three attractive qualities (such as charming or dashing) which have no game effect just helps you rp your conversation on play and that is it.

This means for the price you pay, you would be better off getting another rules mimimum game and appying it to the setting which you can get for free. It is a complete rip-off for what you get for what you get is what most games I have bought on this site give away for free.

A really fun game that strikes a great balance between competitive game and RPG/storytelling experience. I've played this through three times now, and each time gave us a unique and engaging story, with scope to explore the characters we were taking on. Great for quick and engaging play.

A classic primer on building an adventure and using mechanics to focus in on what really matters. This game shows its age a bit but there are still concepts in here that are well worth reading for a new GM. It's also a perfect examination of the Lawful Good Paladin "problem" in a context that's unique among RPGs.

Dogs in the Vineyard is phenomenal at what it does. It makes players feel like outsiders, and then gives them responsibility that they don't quite have the tools to bear. The game screams at them to escalate: to shove someone, to punch them, to pull out a gun. The rules reward players that throw caution to-the-wind and overcomplicate every encounter. And it does it all without a modicom of judgement.

Dogs is not for someone who wants to hack a system, or blend mechanics. It does what it does and it does it INCREDIBLY thematically, and very very well. What I will be taking from this game into future RPGs is how to set up towns, how to drive toward conflict, and how to actively reveal the story to players.

This game is grand, but you qall know that. It's a creative system that stresses imagination and freedom, with enough rules to guide players on how to go about it. It's a good grand time. For the price, it's absolutely worth it.