Had a chance to play this game at a con a few months ago. It took me about an hour of gameplay to really get a good feel for the Token, which is a very intricate challenge coin used to control your PC’s actions by sliding or tossing it into special grids. I originally downloaded the book on their site and purchased my own Token and fancy board, but I wanted to give mad props to the maker.

When I first sat down to play, I was skeptical and using the Token felt a bit awkward as we are all used to playing RPG’s with dice, but I soon found myself completely addicted to Glyph’s unique gameplay. It seems to add more energy and fun into roleplaying. Once I got the hang of it, I loved the fact that my ability to maneuver the Token into the proper target affected the outcome of my rogue’s actions instead of crossing my fingers for my D20 set to generate favorable numbers. Everyone knows the dice are out to get you, but with Glyphs, I truly felt like I was in control over my character, and that a sense of competition was instilled with this method of gameplay. The game room got loud, and my fellow party members were focused on what the next player was going to do with the coin. What a blast!

I’ve spent some time getting to know this incredible system with my own gaming group. D&D night is now being alternated with Glyphs night. The book is loaded with tons of rules and charts which are intended to be construed in a way that best fits the game master’s setting, so it’s perfect for homebrew campaigns or those made from complete scratch. Since it is intended to be a generic universal system, where any character, ability, monster or world can easily be made, Glyphs is beautifully laid out in 26 Chapters that cover very specific topics that a GM should know.

It took me about a month to read and be familiar enough with the book’s contents to make my own content and run games of my own. A word of advice. Take it in one bite at a time. Absorbing about 1 chapter a day felt about right for me, as it looks like a lot to read and memorize. It’s much easier than it looks, so take your time. It will be worth it.

The most unique part about Glyphs besides the dexterity-driven resolution system and the universal rules has to be the Token’s symbols. As will become apparent throughout the book, Glyphs strongly embraces the idea of random content generation, so you have to understand the basic meanings behind the Glyphs symbols if you want to effectively run a game. It’s original, incredibly powerful and beautiful, but I don’t think a run of the mill GM will catch on. Glyphs is probably a better fit for someone who prefers to make their own content and customized characters as opposed to those who would rather have a canned RPG.

As someone who’s had some good hands on time with this game as a PC and GM here’s my 2 centavos:

THE PROS:

• Extremely flexible. You can literally make any character, monster, item or power you want. The mechanics in the book help you fill in the blanks, and the website provides some tools and freebies to make the process easier, and the character sheets are very user friendly.

• Very fun! I can’t say this enough. Playing Glyphs means you need to have a degree of skill in mastering the Token’s full potential. I spent more time actually playing than simply waiting for my turn or hoping for lucky dice roll. I foresee tournaments being played as this game.

• A lot of thought and passion went into creating this game. While not without flaws, the author’s attention to detail and top quality work shows. One person made the entire damn thing, including the artwork.

• New PC’s can very quickly learn to play. They simply need to make their characters, and the GM will show them the rest while the game is in session. Anyone who loves making really neat characters and who can get the hang of sliding a coin can play this game and really enjoy it.

• I really enjoyed the combat and damage system. It makes things a bit more challenging and consequences are generally brutal. Also, I love the fact that Glyphs does away with linear character leveling, which compels me to role-play certain aspects of my character if I want him to advance.

• It’s free! Yes, you obviously need the Token to play, but it’s very generous not having to buy the whole rulebook.

THE CONS:

• Glyphs requires time to learn the system (for a GM), about 1 month. It may appear very complicated, especially with the use of symbols, but is deceivingly simple once you put it to use. Sorry, there are no shortcuts. Stupid people need not apply.

• The damage system. Personally, I like the fact that there are consequences for every decision a player makes. However, it can come off as a bit unforgiving. Be sure to have good armor, get a little lucky with your defenses, and make good choices when fighting something.

• The Token System. Overall, I love the application of the Token and Glyph symbols and their potential that they offer. However, as a GM, you should understand what each symbol means and get comfortable using the Token as a randomizer. This takes a little commitment.

• Content. I get the fact that Glyphs is meant to be used to make your own stuff, and it does a really good job at it. I would however like to see more content, such as pregens and downloadable scenarios.

As a Comic Shop owner and all around geek, I have to say that this games has impressed me and my staff with it's open mechanics. The customers that participate or walk in and see a game running are intrigued and captivated by the familiarity to other RPGs but instantly recognize that this is very different from your everyday RPG. The added dexterity factor with the unique coin dice is an added bonus as most of these type games rely on on person controlling the dice. We have even started regular game nights just for the Glyphs players because it is such an amazing system. I highly recommend this game to any level of gamer.

This roleplaying system is becoming my favorite system as a GM and player. Once one has familiarized themselves with the mechanics and shortcuts provided in the rulebook, everything becomes as easy as the flick of a coin. The Token, and board system can be amalgamated into any other roleplaying game pretty seemlessly, and can provide unburdenning boons to the GM in the realm of random generation. This system can also be used by an individual in a form of creative meditation to journey on a solo adventure. I have found that after becoming familiar with the core rule book, I was able to help more casual table top gamers understand the concepts behind the skill checks, and flow of gameplay. Plus the application of a dexterity based skill check to determin a result just seems so 'right' to me, and it does a very good job at not breaknig the immersion because of how simple it is in application. I even carry the Token (along with my 2-D Dice coin) in my wallet, because ya' never know... an adventure might be a coin flick away. (very cheesey, but I love this system!)

The good. It is origional. Doing something so totally origional in games is extremely rare these days. The computerized 3d (three dimention, not three dice) artwork looks very well done. The bad. I couldn't understand it. Perhaps if I saw someone doing it. Or it had a few more explanations of some of those more origional parts and wordings. Or maybe had a shock threrapy session to jolt my brain into working better.

This is a good professional product, however it is very incomplete. For it to be usable one has to buy all the tokens that area needed to make the game playable.

Furthermore, my initial thoughts and impressions of this gaming system is that it appears complicated and difficult to understand.

For such a profssionally produced gaming system I really wanted to be more generous in my review, I know how hard it is to produce anything these days.   Unfortunately that is not possible here. Athough this was a free product, ti me it was a bit of a waste of bandwidth.

There are plenty of other products out there that are better.