Grab your nuts, pull up a chair, and get ready for the fun. Squirrel Attack is a great diversion if you need a break from a long campaign or a quick pick-up game when not everyone in the group shows up. Squirrel Attack could also be used as a great introduction to role-playing for young or new gamers. Hinterwelt does a bang-up job of creating the fanciful game-world of Nuttopia - a world of tribal rodents, oblivious hateful farmers, and watchful crafty canines, cats, and hawks. Using Hinterwelts Iridium Lite game system, Squirrel Attack is easy to pick-up, crack open, and dive into the meat of the action. . . no complex systems or a steep learning curve here, just nutty goodness. Players first select from colorful pre-gen denizens of Nuttopia. Each character is unique coming from the variety of tribal squirrel-kin scurrying around Nuttopia and with their own individualized skill sets and goals. Goals are vital to Squirrel Attack as characters are awarded points for completion of these tasks. . . unlike standard RPGs, Squirrel Attack is a game to be won. . . I know, don't get your tail in a knot - there can only be one . . .winner. So as a GM how do you keep a bunch of walnut-brained squirrel-kin from running wily-nilly around Nuttopia? - you really don't, you let the goals handle things; some characters gain points for protecting other squirrel-kin or preventing death, others for finding specific items, or stuffing your puffy cheeks full, etc.

Hinterwelt is up front that Squirrel Attack is a one shot - and this is due to balancing characters goals that are unique to the story yet provide flexibility for game action and a framework of party cooperation. Although Squirrel Attack is a one-shot, Hinterwelt provides such a rich and cohesive game setting one could easily run a Nuttopia campaign. Rules are present for character creation if one does not find a character to their liking - but this means a little extra work as the GM and player would have to establish game balancing goals.

pros: easy to grab and go, game setting, character goals cons: may be a little squirrelly for GM's needing a structured story-line and unaccustomed to running "setting style"

If you're tired of logical fellows with pointy ears or the war in your stars has kinda burned out - then you need to check out Nebuleon. Hinterwelt does an excellent job of presenting a rich background to play in, while allowing the gm and players the flexibility to create their own niche of the universe. Both the Iridium system and the Nebuleon backdrop allow you to play the type of sci-fi game you want to play. Want your sci-fi served up crunchy? Take a peek. Like a more military feel? You got it. Desire a sweeping space opera? The fat lady is singing. . . everything you need to play in one book. The Nebuleon is well presented in an organized fashion and boasts both a lexicon and a detailed "functional" index. A nice bonus is the Hinterwelt's website - they do a great job of supporting the game: on-line character gen, quick responses to questions, a good forum for discussion - just check it out.

I have both the hard cover and the e-copy, and for an Indie, Nebuleon is top-notch. I can only think of two negatives - some of the artwork is "old school," but I would much rather have that than clipart - it at least shows that Hinterwelt is trying to do something original and fresh. The other negative - well I can't remember what I was going to say so it must not have been that big of a deal. . . so lock and load and grab a Mog ( love these guys, Mogs) and prepare to have some fun.