This game was such a disappointment. I tried to run a Basic D&D adventure (Sword and Shield) converted to the Monsters & Magic rules according to the guidelines given in the M&M rulebook. The adventure was designed for a single 1st-level player character, but it was just too difficult for two ordinary 1st-level M&M characters and we had to quit the game because the players were not having fun. So if you are looking for a more modern ruleset to run old D&D adventures with, I don't advise picking up this game.

This scenario is basically a rip-off of a Star Trek episode with very little creative input on behalf of the person who wrote it up. It's also basically a railroad with character choices being not about the direction of the story, but how to accomplish what they are supposed to do.

The central theme in the first issue of Playground magazine is bleed between games and real life, addressing a wide variety of topics such as pick-up artistry as a form of role-playing, falling in love with video game characters, a Czech larp exploring the anatomy of a revolution and many others.

While I was actually excepting a bit more academic and analytic approach from the articles, they were nonetheless well-written and entertaining to read. In terms of its stated goal - covering the new wave in role-playing - Playground succeeds excellently, introducing many interesting subjects I wasn't previously aware of, even though this first issue was published already over a year and a half ago.

Graphically Playground has a nice and clear look to it and attains to near-professional levels, although photography in the magazine has a bit of an amateurish feel to it.