Saturday, May 26, 2012

Game Chef - 61 through 65

Coyote Pass by David Miessler-Kubanek


The Good: A great concept, playing smugglers along the Coyote Pass.  The whole idea of debts and contracts and how you work your way out is brilliant.

The Bad: The mechanic has parts that make me shrug my shoulders.  I would have loved it had it been a game of chance the whole way and having the things that influence the Law and the Underworld have an effect on the game.

The Other: Seriously, the contract thing is great.  I think those negotiations would be half the fun of the game for me.

Would I Play It?  Well, I've gotta pay my debts off somehow.


Monsters of Glam by Matthew Sullivan-Barrett


The Good: I love this game.  Maybe I have a thing for bands and music, seriously Cosmic Journey should have won 2010 game chef it was just that well put together.  This game has that same well put togetherness. I love that you play specific members of the band, it's got a great sense of using technology to give you some concepts of you band, and what music.  It's both collaborative and competitive.  Wow.


The Bad: Well, found the Coyote reference and it was lazy. Seriously, I know you can use the ingredients any way you want but that was ... just fucking lazy especially when you consider that the author used 5 ingredients when you really only needed to use 4.  You got props for using all 8, it could have been cut with a name change and then I wouldn't have to comment on how fucking lazy of a reference that is.


The Other: Hee, I love the video game/music album 3-4 players, 3-4 hours on the corner of the cover.  Sometimes it's the little things that really make the difference.


Would I Play It? We've got tonight, and this song / what on earth can go wrong?


Three Card Coyote by Todd Zircher


The Good: I like the bluffing mechanic, and the map.  How even moving from one location to another can be problematic if someone doesn't want you to go.  It's a great PvP mechanic, and I'm almost loathe to see a GM in the game.


The Bad: You know, I will be the first to admit that I don't have a huge amount of knowledge when it comes to Coyote.  I have some, enough to know when something is kinda blatantly "I know nothing about this, but Imma gonna write about it anyway."  Yeah, that's the sense I kinda get from this.


The Other: Yay maps!  I like colourful accessories, because they do take time to make, so yay maps!


Would I play it? Um, no actually.  I'm annoyed enough in general that the theme bugs me and I think that the bluffing mechanic isn't so cool that it makes me want to play it above and beyond what bugs me.


Task Force Trickster by Jonathan Janssen


The Good: I really would like to have read something positive in here, but just ... holy fuck is this game a train wreck of appropriation.


The Bad: Holy Fuck. The art in the game is just .... holy fuck.  You can't just take something, photoshop some feathers on it and be like, "OHHAI! IZ GUD RIGT!?"


The Other: Wow, my head hurt.  I will be the first to admit that I didn't finish it.  I rage quit this review.


Would I play it? No, because I don't want to rage quit a game.


Spirit Quest by David Miessler-Kubanek


The Good: I like the very simple and pleasant mechanic, where all things are based around courage which can be turned into d6s.  I like the seasons as well, thematic in a very literary sort of way.


The Bad: I just wish that there was more in the way of inter-activity, I mean there are the four groups and they each have their tale but it doesn't really feel like there's much in the way of interactivity other than the, "We have to put challenges in front of you" kind of thing.


The Other: I get the sense, a little bit, that people really don't understand things.  I mean, if this is something you've researched why is it bad to show your research?  Because if you don't, I'm going to assume you didn't research and that this is kind of a Noble Savage kind of skin, despite the fact that there's the added "you can be whatever tribe you want, it's your personal tribe" feel to it.

Would I play it? No, because I want a little more interactivity in the storytelling and ... I dunno, I get a bad vibe with the way it's presented.

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