I played with friends a few years ago as trash pals in the open fields and gardens avoiding angry farmers. Fun and simple. Really deserves more adventures written for it.
Do foxes like chemicals? I'm not sure. But in Trash Pals, they do.
MIST is a potent hex and dungeon crawler RPG in a tightly written trifold. With a setting reminiscent of Souls games, you play a questing adventurer who returns to a crumbling land shrouded in fog, beasts and monsters. Push through the horrors to find out what happened to your Duke.
Most impressive is the micro-dungeon crawling when you perform a Fort Delve in Mist, it flips the hex crawl script on its head by generating a whole new dungeon on the spot.
If this ever receives an expansion, it would really benefit from more tables or an oracle to inspire how you craft the ending.
A Weekend in the Country is a murder mystery house game to find the killer who took your dear friend Lord Adler before his time. You are a renowned detective with a list of concerning suspects locked in the same house as you. Find the killer before they get away!
The game uses cards twicehold to build a hand and collect prompts. Your prompts go to narrate how you think the murder was carried out. Your hand goes to prove if you were right (a weaker hand means your accusation was disproved by an alibi). A tumbling tower keeps you in check with dwindling suspects as the killer threatens to strike again and escape.
It is a fun, quick RPG to narrate the accusation scene in a murder mystery movie. Where the investigators have a flashback to reveal who did it.
But if you are looking for a deeper game which focuses on meaty investigation, you won't quite find it here.
ENTER HIM LOVE HIM is a body horror dungeon pulsing with horrible memories. A short RPG asking you questions to build H-I-M
It plays and looks like a sad and gruesome dissection. You discover guts and gore which remind you what H-E has done to the world. But you are too curious not to continue. To stubborn not to let it swallow you. Too desperate not to look into the maw.
The layout pairs well with the atmosphere it tries. It feels cold and intimidating. Cross-sections of the body lurking behind imposing prose.
Great way to adapt a small prompt into an expansive heist mission.
I really like how the PANICO building has its own dedicated page and layout. The PANICO building feels like an enemy and character in itself. You need to climb through its guts without rousing the beast.
I like how it leans into the espionage elements of FIST.
Great way to adapt a small prompt into an expansive heist mission. I really like how the PANICO building has its own dedicated page and layout. The PANICO building feels like an enemy and character in itself. You need to climb through its guts without rousing the beast. I like how it leans into the espionage elements of FIST.
Really good.
Cold Blows The Wind not only drowns you in danger but brings to shore a a monster and mission powered by dense art and eldritch experiments.
Despite the league of writing squeezed tightly into three pages, the layout is surprisingly accessible as long as you read left to right.
The Gaia Leak clock is cool. It raises the stakes and gives players a reason to not take Colonel Kraken and this menacing island too lightly.
Do you like waking up with amnesia and finding out you're a detective caught in something wretched? Do you like the fumbling in the dark against a mystery that eludes you? Do you like Memento and Disco Elysium?
The Ouroboros Case is a quick and lean 48-word RPG that does all this. It's deadly simple to learn but inspires you to make a memorable (hah!) story. The real meat to these good bones lies in the attached 'Case File' replay.
My recommendation is to play the 48-word version before checking out the Neocities link.
It's a House RPG! I had a fun time reading this. And I plan to try playing it with a friend or two. :)
The only thing I feel it could flesh out more is a solid way to end the game.
Based on the inspirations and the tables, I would use what the spirit desires to build up a mystery for the players to solve. Find the house's desire, fulfill it and survive in one way or another.
But the game does make it clear escape is unlikely. And if House (1977) is the inspiration, then a game of Nerve should focus on the horror vibes and scenes more than the actual escape.
Hi! Thank you for the questions.
1) You start by fighting THEM immediately. The intention was for players to start playing the moment they read the game.
2) You fire 3 Shots in a burst each time with your Pistol and the Three Kings. The only exception is when you have less than 3 Shots loaded. So you will fire the remaining Shots instead (1 or 2). This can happen if your total ammo for a gun is at an odd number.
3) WHAT REMAINS can only be found and picked after making THEM fall. Under PLACES, each new place you enter will have its own list of items or effects. Some of these items are the same ones you see in WHAT REMAINS. If you mean entering a Room under the list of Places given, you can choose to add either 1 Shot or 1 Skin into your Inventory.
4) You reload all your Shots at once. The game won't stop you from reloading less. But it would not be wise.
5) I split my answer for this in two parts for backtracking and revisiting Places:
6) This is definitely a common problem I'm seeing from first reviews! There is a short preamble on the last page of the game right now. But it does not explain much. I plan to add a better introduction to help players get into play better in the next big update.
7) That's a good suggestion. I'll try to add labeled cutouts for accessibility.
And this was not in the questions but I notice dying quickly happens frequently for players. So I'm considering more options for players to adjust the difficulty for themselves without taking away the challenge facing THEM. Such as a better starting inventory and more risk-vs-reward effects.
Thanks for the compliments too. I hope you enjoy your next play!