I picked this game up out of curiosity, mostly. In some ways, it seemed similar to what I like writing about, and I was curious how another designer tackled similar issues. I'm not a huge fan of cooperative storytelling games, but Misspent Youth is kick-ass example of the genre.

I give Misspent Youth points for clarity of the layout, and rules. Exactly how the game wants you to tell a shared story is clearly laid out, and somewhat logical. The shared worldbuilding aspect of creating your campaign's distopian future is well thought out, and seems like it can really rock with a group of like-minded sci-fi fan gamers. Task resolution, by the way, is basically a game of craps between players and storyteller, which should make students of probability smile.

The best thing about this game, though is the layout. The design of the game looks like old punk album covers- it's grimy and low-fi, and attractively ugly. However, for all the style laid into the design, the game never loses clarity. I've also rarely seen public domain artwork used as well, and as evocatively, as this low-budget sci-fi game does. Great work on the design front. CHRIS