Evocraft Space is an 83-page book which carries over some of the same systems from the Evocraft game. Evocraft is an extensive 400+ -page text principally concerned with world-creation and development of a society through any or all of five eras (Primitive, Medieval, Renaissance, Modern and Post-Apocalypse). It also has game rules so that characters generated (in any era) could be played using a dice-pool system. What it did not have was any provision for spacefaring outside the home world, so that's what the current book addresses.

Evocraft Space has a similar rules system. Players' characters have a small list of main skills, utility skills and derived stats which define their character. Characters also have a defined science-fiction Trade which allows them to do specific functions with specific Tools (only major pieces of equipment are defined, and each adds more dice to the pool depending on character level in the Trade). For any action, determine the pertinent skill of the character which will translate into a dice-pool of d6 dice. Having a set of 36 miniature d6's is recommended.

Then when all the bonus dice to the dice-pool are figured out, roll them all and count each "5" or "6" as a "success". The more successes are accumulated, the more the successful action has achieved. Sometimes there is an opposing roll from a passive object being acted upon, or an NPC, in which case you count only the number of successes you had more than the opposition's number ("passing successes"). An Epic Fail can occur if you have no successes, or rolled more 1's than successes.

The artwork is simple, with a cover in colored pencil or possibly pastel, and black-and-white art inside.

The game has two distinct phases: world creation and then character play. World creation uses charts and random rolls to fill Word-Fill blanks in descriptive phrases about a planet. Each blank refers to a chart where you pick a word or make a d100 roll to pick. Worksheets are in the back of the book which can be copied to fill in the results. Quick planet generation or full planet generation is offered, but there are large spaces on the sheets for Interpretation of the results. You are given some guiding questions to help you write up what the world is like based on the word-fills.

Overall, because of limited room, this is a much shorter system of charts than what was used to generate a setting in Evocraft. Evocraft had an extensive system to generate bands of latitude on the home setting and what the climate in each band would be like; an Earthlike world with breathable atmosphere was intended. Evocraft Space is more free-form to be able to generate airless or exotic environments.

Charts provided include word-lists for configuration of a planet (number of stars, number of moons, atmosphere, a word-fill paragraph about the people, about cities, current events, conflicts and mysteries and quests), one chart each. There is enough here to generate adventure seeds, but shorter than the multi-era world development in original Evocraft. There are also word-fills to create creatures (monsters and their abilities), plants (with details about any medicinal uses) and playable humanoids inhabiting the planet.

Character generation has a distribution of points to determine the main skills of Fight, Tech (each player must also pick from a list of SF Trades), Persuade (with a choice of persuasion methods such as Charm, Reason, Deceive or Seduce and more), and Mystic ("the force"). Players also distribute points for secondary utility skills: Strength, Agility, Breaking Barriers, Searching, Sense, Tracking, Foraging and People Observation. There are a few derived Stats based on Skill formulas. There are rules for Combat and rules for what each Trade can do. There are no extensive equipment lists, but instead a system to design Tools which are like major, critical pieces of equipment for a character (characters start with one primary and one secondary Tool). If a character is in the right trade, their Tool gives them a bonus number of dice into the dice-pool. If someone is unskilled, they might still use the Tool but very badly (Tech skill in dice but with no added dice). There is also a mention of Droids, a mature technology of robots defined very simply in terms of level of function.

Mystic powers are covered by combining a Power Base (type of mystic action) with an Element (a type of target or material the power acts on.) Using Mystic powers has consequences; the character accumulates positive or negative Fate Seals depending on whether they used their power for good or ill, and these may create an in-game consequence.

Finally, there is a 3-page section on spaceships (and by extension lesser vehicles). Ships can come in various sizes and this determines the number of rooms and hallways they have, from a single-cockpit fighter to a whole stellar city. Big ships are less maneuverable but may be able to move faster in hyperspace than smaller ships. Interstellar travel is VERY fast and measured as anywhere from 50-100 light-years per SECOND, so expect a Star-Wars-like environment of fast travel. No trip in the galaxy takes longer than a few hours!

The last quarter of the book has most of the various word-tables (a few were in-text) and sheets to photocopy for characters, ships and planet-generation worksheets, as well as hexagon map paper (arranged in 8x10 grids reminiscent of Traveller except it is 8 down and 10 across.)

Overall, the book is fairly short and simple and has a relatively abbreviated world generation compared to original Evocraft. Some of the details about producing a Tool are a little off: some combinations of Tool Bases and Tool Types didn't seem to make sense. One Tool Type: "Turf" (operating on ground, walls, barricades, and natural features) was not actually assigned to any of the Tool Bases as a possible thing for the Tool to work on.

But the game overall is a simple, low-crunch game encouraging a collaborative effort to design a set of worlds and put simple characters with a short-list of key Tools inside adventure SF situations. For those who want more, there may be supplements sent down the pipe later.

Evocraft is an rpg for those who love stories and imagination, but delivers that in the form of creating your own world while also playing as player characters to interact and explore said world. Also, it is highly useful for any kind of world building, whether part of or independent from the Evocraft game. I recommend anyone who wants a sandbox-type of experience in a game, or who enjoys creating and storytelling, to try it. Evocraft provides the tools to truely unlock the imagination.

Evocraft is a game with a comprehensive framework for world creation, with explanations to construct a world in detail. You can create a world map and distribute temperatures and rainfalls to create different geographical climes. Then tables are given to generate plants and animals, each with features both mundane and exotic. Cultures can be developed on the roll tables in five Eras: from primitive through medieval and Renaissance, modern and then post-apocalytic. There are extensive notes on blending aspects of an old Era into your new Era. A few layers of spirit-worlds are detailed as well with Nature Spirits, Farlanders, and even more powerful Great Ones on the furthest plane, resembling gods. The "illustrations" are charcoal or ink drawings and patterns evocative of initial, simple cultures, sometimes of a playful nature.

There is a rules system but it is on the simple side involving a dice-pool system. The more six-sided dice, the more chances to be successful (count 5 or 6 as one success), and varying factors and modifiers give you more or fewer dice (roll up to 36 d6's, they say!). This is a little better compared to world-creation games like MICROSCOPE: the fun is derived not only in world and history creation but in actually playing out something in the world setting with fully numerically defined characters. Microscope will play short scenes with described characters but returns to large-scale world creation as soon as the scene's "question" is resolved. Evocraft has fully-rendered characters with skills and numbers for continuous RPG play.

The main book is over 200 pages, and there are 3 Era books 50, 100 and 100 pages each, with a sheet collection for character sheets (3 kinds for different eras) and worksheets. This is extensive material which is heavy on the world-building aspects. The StoryTeller (GM) may opt to use discretion in all the random tables and make judicious choices rather than totally random rolls, to ensure the world makes sense. The StoryTeller may even "subcontract" the design of the world and involve players in the designs.

Evocraft is not as detailed in the rules aspects. If your style of play involves a lot of "crunch" and preoccupation with attack-styles, armor and hit locations, this may not be for you. However, if you want a lighter, story-based rules treatment with your characters confidently placed in a detailed setting with geography, flora, fauna, history, culture and even gradual mutation to a whole different era, Evocraft will satisfy groups who want to collectively create.

I have to say that I agree with another buyer that Evocraft is epic! The rulebooks are a really great resource for worldbuilding and worth buying even if you use it for another RPG. The worldbuilding part is detailed, but not overly complicated. You can go into details or do it with "a broad stroke". In worldbuilding, I am a fan of great details and plausability and Evocraft delivers it. While it could be even more " in depth", Evo would loose appeal for the light touch crowd, so it is a very good compromise between scientific accuracy and usability. The artwork is great in conveying a more primal age.