Taxonomizing My Gameography
You know what I hate? Labels.
You know what I'm about to do? Label all my games.
Despite the excessive backlog of other posts I could've made, this particularly self-indulgent one has been calling to me for quite a while. Initially I was going to use it to celebrate 1,000 Followers on Twitter X.com Hell, but that happened well over a month ago. I was then going to do this to celebrate my birthday, but that's passed by too. Still, before the social media ship totally sinks I wanted to take this brief look back on what I design and why. Namely because most of my works are a reaction to other works I see in the wider tabletop hobby.
See, a lot of folks get hung up on The One True Way of how tabletop games aught to be. Games should never let you fail, or always have randomness, or rules need to get out of the way, or nothing should be left for the GM to adjudicate, etc, etc. Pretty much a plethora of (often pedantic) preferences presented as platitudes. I've never bought it. Instead I've always believed different games were built for different purposes with different audiences in mind. I adore Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast as much as I adore Mork Borg, but I'd run those two in very different ways for likely different groups as they operate very differently. Some might even debate that only one or neither are truly a TTRPG (a title and definition which I've grown excessively tired of people using as bludgeon to make the hobby smaller - So from here on in I'm just going to be talking about tabletop games, because ultimately if it doesn't involve computers and it generally involves tables, that's what I'm most interested in).
And so, looking back on the games I've made, I've realized many of them are direct reactions to each of these different preferences. My take on their respective genres, remixed and retrofitted for my tastes. Thus we arrive here; Taxonomizing my Gameography (a noun that I am loathe to learn is actually a real word). These are roughly going to be done in order of when I started developing these respective games, but not when they were finished (as about half of these are still works in progress). All my work that is out has about a bajillion community copies, so if one of the pitches appeals to you, feel free to grab one of the PDFs!
Steel Hearts - The Trad Grid-Based Heroic Tabeltop RPG
We can get into arguments all day about "what is a Tabletop RPG", but when I say "Trad RPG" people generally get the vibe. Steel Hearts in particular is my response to the kind of combat I'd played through in D&D 3.5 and 5e, as well as Starfinder and other such derivatives. Roll initiative, roll to hit, move guy on grid, play through roleplay with skill checks. It's a reaction and reworking of that genre. I've been told it shares some DNA with 4th edition which is actually pretty funny because I realized only recently that I've never played or read 4e (what I thought was 4e was 3.5 at the end of its lifespan).
What it really shares more DNA with is dungeon crawlers like Descent and Gloomhaven (and we'll get to that genre later).
The big focus here was making combat not suck, specifically in terms of waiting for your turn (a theme you'll see crop up a lot). I'm a big proponent that time is precious, so when it comes to gameplay I tend to prefer fast and punchy resolution. This (combined with a dropped board game project I'd been working on some years prior) coalesced in a system that had you using 2 character sheets, one for the loose goosey RPing and one for tactical combat. In said Tactical Combat I tried to make sure that combat was ever flowing and that players would generate resources mid-fight to burn on all kinds of punchy actions. No initiative rolls, no waiting for your turn, and emphatically no roll to hit (pretty much no skip turn mechanics at all!)
While there's a lot of Steel Hearts' goals that miss the mark (ex; crafting and base building were cut), it does serve the purpose of being a more Trad Narrative Tactical Combat system that I'm actively excited to play! So I'd call that win.
Demon Crawl : Gothic - The Dungeon Crawler
In many ways Demon Crawl is as much a board game (if not more) as it is an RPG. Much of the game could be easily truncated into some kind of standardized automated co-op board game, and I think a lot of that comes from my love of Ameritrash Dungeon Crawlers. Zombicide, Super Dungeon Explore, Descent and many more packed with pre-generated adventurers and smashing against waves of monsters. Demon Crawl tried to bring you that on a budget ((another running theme, as Steel Hearts shared a "Big box feel, indie design" mantra - Print and Play is my passion T^T )).
This is the first time you'll see my "The map is always a Chess Board" idea - Something I'd use in a lot of experiments that have yet to see the light of day. The goal being twofold: firstly make the game and maps as accessible (and compact) as reasonable (because most gamers have at least one Chess board laying around and no one has the room for huge sprawling dungeon crawler maps anymore), and make my job as a designer easier as I only had to design each room within an 8x8 Grid.
Once again speed in processing rules was at the heart, as was writing lore in a way that let players and GMs piece together the story on their own. Fugue of the Heretic King is technically my first (and really only) adventure I've ever released and I am exceedingly proud of how it came out for how sparse its prose are. Each enemy and NPC is tied into the history of Sangburg, and clever players or GMs could draw threads to create emergent stories.
It was also the game that really sold me on the power of Classes as distinct characters. That was something that had been inspired by games like HeroQuest, Gauntlet or Dungeons & Dragons (Capcom's version). I wanted each class to have their own distinct history, sensibilities and a way the world would react to them and I'm really proud of how these came out in that regard.
Honestly looking back, I think Demon Crawl (while the much smaller game) is just as strong if not a bit stronger than Steel Hearts when it comes to these kinds of things. However it's limited scope of actions and more focused "clear all the levels to progress" dungeon crawling style disqualifies it from what most look for in (or even consider) an RPG, so it's much trickier to pitch in that regard.
I Got Hit By A Meteor & Was Reincarnated as the Hero of a Tabletop RPG - Lyric Games
I don't think it was intentional at the time (as this game was ostensibly me game jamming something out in 48 hours as a swansong for using Microsoft Word to layout games), but looking back there is something deeply Lyric Gamey about Meteor. The way each page is laid out to reference a different idea of what an RPG is, the way the game is intentionally obtuse and absurd to challenge you "do you really think you can actually play this?" (you can, I've run it twice).
Fellow local designer Waffleboy had sparked a part of the idea in my mind with his "Escape From the Ham Planet and Possibly Maybe Get Back to Earth" - A game whose text was exclusively allowed to live within his mind, and thus created a gameplay loop of exploring parts of that internal space. (Literally we burn all the character sheets after so the only record is our memories).
Likewise it was hugely influenced by the way Richard Kelly's Game Lampreys challenges you to literally destroy the book you're playing from. Talk about intertextuality. It's a huge part of why I keep a stack of random RPG books on the table whenever I run this. If ever a rule needs to be clarified I nab a random book and flip to a random page and narrate a paragraph that this RPGmancy might reveal some ruling.
This is also when I started to actually get good at layout, in part because each layout was a reference to another game's layout or UI. (And also realized that I could make a lot more RPGs faster if I did everything, including the art, in house). It's a tour de force really. If you haven't peeped this monstrosity and you enjoy my sense of humor (or experimental games), I highly recommend reading it.
There's something very seductive about pamphlet RPGs. Learn 'em fast, run 'em anywhere. I like them in concept! Especially the print-and-play mentality. It's just... With a lot of pamphlet RPGs there's not a lot there there. 3-Stat RPGs and my feeling on them are a discussion for another time, but Burnout Reaper was my attempt to show that you can do even more with even less. Plenty of character options, adventure prompts and a system that whose mechanics deeply reinforced its theme.
The simplicity of its whittling dice system made for a compelling gameplay loop that made this the game that I've probably run for the most people of all of these (with Steel Hearts as a close second). In many ways it became my go-to intro tabletop game if someone wanted to try something more freeform, but wanted to avoid anything too complex.
I'm really pleased with how tight the writing was in such a small space. Those limitations seem to bring out my best work. Also the bit about how the city's baseball team used to be called the "Paradise City Scalpers" before they were forced to change the name to the "Paradise City Dollar Bills" due to "controversy" is still the most rawly American thing I've ever written.
When it comes to Schooling Renaissances I was pretty late to the party. My biggest introduction was Mausritter, a print-and-cut inventory game that completely captured my imagination. Something about the inventory heavy texture of the OSR (NSR?) paired with its focus on quirky characters made it map perfectly to the PS1/2 games of my youth (namely Metal Gear Solid and Resident Evil).
Thus BOX Engine was born, as a means to capture these two spirits in tandem. Of note, I've only run two playtests (which both went swimmingly), where I used an array of premade inventory items and then winged an entire session from memory. Which memory? Memories of Shadow Moses and Spencer Mansion respectively. They both went exceedingly well and stats were very easy to pull from thin air.
BOX Engine was less trying to innovate in terms of mechanics (though there was an extensive and intuitive tag system) and more about expanding in terms of genre (because other than FIST, which really feels better suited for super heroics, there's not much out there that's riffing off of this era of games).
It's something I do still plan to go back to, but there's just so much that's calling to me on my plate these days... Speaking of...
Despite its name and its format largely riffing off modern itchio darlings like LUMEN, WILD has both feet firmly planted in my time reading the Rulescylopedia. It's pretty common knowledge that the OSR isn't how things actually were, they're an interpretation, a rehashing, a misremembering with rose tinted glasses. Where BOX Engine reimagines the reimagined, WILD drinks straight from the source.
Another huge influence was the original Cyberpunk 2020 and how its mechanics lean into the blorbiness of its intended campaigns. This deserves its own post but Cyberpunk's design feels like it's tailor made for something a West Marches styled campaign where players check-in and check-out as well as manage more mundane minutia.
Where most of my systems (and campaigns) are heavily directed (funneling players into specific scenarios and encounters), WILD takes the opposite approach being nearly entirely self directed and relatively open. There's still some invisible walls (ex; the Hex Map doesn't cover the entire globe, thus hex crawling can only happen in the given territories that are designed) BUT overall the game lacks any given "Main Scenario" or "Central Plot" that players will have to keep rotating back to.
Another large departure is I'm trying to make WILD as VTT friendly as possible (ideally only requiring Google Sheets, a set of dice and Voice Chat). This is in an effort to truly capture that "30 person campaign" feel, where friends from around the world can log-in to play ((and similarly I'm pulling from some mobile game ideas to reward longterm play and give short-term "log-in" rewards)).
There's even roll-to-hit! Overall WILD is heavily antithetical to my usual designs so I'm excited to see how it goes!
Octo Phantasia - The Megagame
If you too have been given brainworms after learning about Watch the Skies you'll know exactly what I mean when I say "Megagames" - If not let me give you a quick introduction:
Megagames see a group of players roleplaying (though I know some people will debate me on that term, you absolutely play a role in these games so cope) a variety of positions as a main scenario plays out. Each Player's actions are heavily limited, and often negotiation is the most freeform tool they have access to. It's electric! Watch the Skies in particular has players managing an alien invasion XCOM style, with only certain players being able to interact with the battle map or complete research etx. These games usually involve about 30ish people all playing together in real time over the course of a day.
Octo Phantasia is my attempt to capture a bit of that magic in a smaller group size (7-10) and over a much longer period (essentially instead of an hour to choose your actions, you have all week and the campaign runs for a few months). My working title for this kind of thing is a "MaxiGame" (props to Matty for the idea). To say this format is completely antithetical to most forms of RPGs is an understatement. (And it's already deeply upset one of my routine players who can't understand the appeal and wants access to tactical infinity... which kind of misses the point of the whole experiment.)
For me I love this kind of stuff! Limitations breed creativity and creative negotiations. Octo Phantasia will certainly put (most) players in a more reactive role as they control one of 7 available nations (during what will effectively become the end times). Meanwhile a party of hero players will be throwing a wrench in all of their plans, and be a powerful tool to potentially recruit!
Why Labels Matter (Kind Of)
I hate labels. I hate labeling these games as anything but fun experiments that you might enjoy too. I especially loathe the idea of trying to "sell" someone on anything I make or "tap into a market." I don't think soulful art is made like that. When I say I'm making these for me because it's fun, and anyone who wants to join for the ride is welcome, I mean it.
And yet the biggest thing I've learned in both life and game design is that one of the easiest ways to upset someone is to not meet their expectations, and the easiest way to avoid that is to set clear ones. Someone who doesn't want to wade through 70+ pages of character options for a game mostly about smashing robots together on a tactical grid shouldn't play Steel Hearts. People looking for a story to be fed to them instead of having to hunt for it shouldn't play WILD. People looking for a game that is perfectly balanced and traditional shouldn't play Meteor. Someone who wants consistent support for any of these games instead of my flighty popping between ideas should probably not get too invested in any of these.
These are things that are important to express so people don't find themselves disappointed and frustrated when they find that "Dang why does this hammer not unscrew this screw." You'll always get the occasional bad faith person who simply can't or won't get it no matter how hard you try, but by and large you can set peoples expectation with proper wording. It's something I did extensively with Steel Hearts' Beta warnings and that was incredibly effective. I hate labels, and I hate expectations, but both of these things are (unfortunately) pretty important in an age where people have very limited time and need to figure out at a glance if they'll love or hate a thing.
I talk about how not every game is for everyone and that goes especially so for my own work. My old solution to this was "Yippee! I'm small indie dev! Not many people see my stuff so I don't have to worry about setting expectations or elevator pitches!" but now, well past the 1,000 follower threshold, it's starting to feel like labeling and pitching my games is a toolset that I need to build better.
And building this taxonomy of what genres have inspired me in what ways feels like a good first step ~
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