Howdy Everybody!
I've gone through and written a quick mini-review of each and every submission to this year's Sci-Fi One-Shot Jam, and collected them all in a big post on my blog. I had a great time participating in the jam and reading each submission. They were all great!
Here's the link to the blog post:
- Surface Level Games: Sci-Fi One-Shot Jam 2025 Roundup
See you all again next year!
- Dan
Someone asked about a rubric to help frame feedback/critique of others’ scenarios, so I’m sharing mine. I don’t use points, but I’ve attached a points system if anyone wants to use them.
Is the scenario written and organized in a manner conducive to understanding it?
1 - The scenario needs an editor, badly. The scenario feels confusing and tough to read.
3 - A run-on here, a weird explanation here. The scenario isn’t beautiful, but it’s a serviceable read. I’ll need to take my own notes if I want to run it, though.
5 - The scenario reads as clear, well laid out, and flows from one section to the next in logical fashion. I don’t need to take notes to run it. I could’ve even run it while reading it for the first time.
Is the scenario designed to be dropped into an existing or future campaign (fitting its genre)?
1 - The scenario is incredibly narrow in utility (such as ending in a guaranteed TPK), has too few or too-uninteresting hooks, and I would likely not use it as a module in my campaign.
3 - The scenario is sufficiently-modular, with sufficient hooks for the players into this scenario (and potentially into future scenarios). I can drop this into an appropriate campaign, but I’ll need to add/remove segments to make it fit.
5 - This slides into a campaign effortlessly. There are many hooks that will certainly catch the attention of players I don’t think I’ll need to modify it at all.
How did the entry use the themes? 1 - A theme was clearly shoehorned in to fit the requirement.
3 - The theme(s) is sufficiently integral, but not especially creative.
5 - A novel interpretation of a theme that elevates the theme to new highs.
Does this scenario include everything that is needed to run it? 1 - No. Essential fictional (locations, NPCs, events) and gameplay elements (encounter details, maps for a map-heavy game, stats if using a stat-heavy game) are completely missing, the scenario lacks conflict or interesting choices, or the scenario is too frequently distracted with non sequiturs.
3 - Mostly. The essentials are here, but a few things are either missing or frivolous. I’ll need to either expand or “fix” this scenario before it hits my table..
5 - Yes, easily. This has everything I’d ever need or want to run this scenario: the locations and events are well-arranged, each NPC is fleshed out but not over-detailed, the conflicts have only interesting resolutions/outcomes, and sidebars are focused yet useful.
Does this laser-target my special interests, or do something cool that doesn’t fit the other criteria? That’s accounted for here.
1 - This scenario is absolutely not for me. No part of this will hit my table.
3 - The scenario is fine. I may run a version of this or steal parts of it for my game, but I don’t have a strong desire to.
5 - This scenario was written for me specifically. I need to run it ASAP.
25 points possible.
