Great system, go ahead and just buy Knave and everything else Ben Milton writes.

I hope to run this at the table some day. But even without, the tables inside are invaluable to any fantasy tabletop RPG.

I didn't end up making too much use of the rules, but the tables are great and easy to glance over on organised two-page spreads.

Love this little system. It has plenty to pull from and use in other games - tables are great, advice is solid - but the game itself is a nice rules light affair aimed at fantasy adventure gaming. Easy to grab and go, a handful of d6 and some scratch paper and there's a game.

Still updating the PDF in 2024 so I figure I owed a review that's quite overdue.

Thanks to Questing Beast for the latest update to the pdf of Maze Rats. I am a blind player, and the pdf file is now screen reader accessible. Game is fast and lots of cool random tables. Probably best suited to a one shot or short form campaign.

This is a great system to use in a pinch, but the real value I've gotten from this game over the years lies in its excellent set of tables!

Huge fan of this! Easy layout, slick and streamlined mechanics. Love the make your own spells section. GM advice in the back is very thoughtful and hugely inspiring. Very excited to try running! As a newcomer to OSR style games this really makes the low rule approach simple and accessible and very inviting. Super rad, thank you!!

Fantastic little game. My favorite osr compatible system

Maze Rats is top. My first RPG expereince back in the early 80's was Tunnels & Trolls and I've had a soft spot for it ever since, and this has prejudiced me in favour of short and simple rules.

Maze Rats is really short, and digest size to boot when printed out. Character creation is a breeze, literally a 5 minute job and the game is chock full of all sorts of random tables to flesh out the game world. The randomness even runs the magic system where magic using characters get one spell per day of a randomly determined title, and then decide what it does during play. I love this.

The other thing I love, and which is a surprise in Maze Rats seeing as the author's other game, Knave, is an OSR game, is that it isn't D20 based. Rolling a single die, 20 sided or otherwise, has always felt too swingy for me with exactly the same odds of rolling a 1 as a 20 or a 13 or whatever. Maze Rats uses 2D6 giving results a pleasing bell curve. The default target number is high encouraging players to be creative and play dirty in order to get advantage and a more realistic chance of success in their actions.

Short. Lots of randomness. Minimalist character sheet. Crazy magic. Not D20. Everything about Maze Rats is a winner.

This product is INCREDIBLE for the tables alone. As a GM who has struggled to come up with my own NPCs, locations, dungeons, adventures etc., these tables are EXACTLY what I've been missing my whole life. They provide all the prompts I could ever need to generate endless amounts of cool NPCs, monsters, locations, dungeons etc. And it's so succinct - just what you need and nothing more. Plus, the layout is such that you can easily roll 2d6 to get random results for each list. Great layout, great resource. GAME CHANGER! Thanks Ben!!

The system is simple, but exceptional. Ben's creativity and desire to make something playable is commendable. Get this if you're new to the "OSR" or looking for a great gateway to TTRPGs.

Super fun and easy - perfect for a quick game thrown together at the last minute. The spells are a revelation and one of, if not the best, spell casting systems around

Maze Rats has become my go-to for introducing new people to RPGs. From middle-schoolers up to roudy group of adults on a Friday game night, this system stands up, gets out of the way, and paves a path for memoriable adventures. Inside you'll find some of the best advice around for new referee/game masters including procedural generators for dungeons, cities, wilderness settings, NPCs, unique monsters and interesting spells. Many of the resources offered here will be useful even in systems other than Maze Rats. Well-worth the price of admission!

Alright, there are a couple of cool things about Maze Rats. But here's one I'll mention - if you are a solo player, you should get this for the fun tables, even if you don't intend to play. There are so many awesome random generation tables that with any sort of oracle you should be ready to go with a fun adventure. I've been playing Maze Rats alone with the 'Maze Rat' solo play companion, and it's been great fun.

Maze Rats is great for a quick game and even better when half your group didn't show to game night. It's simple, clean, and has everything you need to get into the meat of the action in a few minutes. Personally, I like more guts to my games so I lean towards Knave but having Maze Rats in my back pocket is great. Aside from it being a great pick-up game it's also a great solo game, Parts Per Million has a nice two page PDF to help you through any rough spots but Maze Rats already has so much in the game for generating adventures it's hardly needed. It's $3, just buy it and revel in the simple joy that is Maze Rats.