The Gaming Philosopher

It's that time of the year again: the roguelike of the year competition has arrived! Please consider voting for Kerkerkruip if you like the game. (Note: you can vote for as many games as you like.)

Title: Fiasco Author: Jason Morningstar Year: 2009 Price: 12$ pdf, 25$ book+pdf, link Size: 130 pages Genre: black comedy; slapstick; crime Themes: great ambitions and poor impulse control; big dreams and flawed execution; lives that get fucked up by gigantic stupidity Number of players: 3-5 Player roles: no differentiation; everyone plays one character Preparation: none Length of game: 2-3 hours Rules complexity: low (but you need some big tables) Resolution: specified number of successful and unsuccessful scenes; player's choose which scenes will be which Online playability: medium/high Capsule overview: An easy to understand, quick game about people with big ambitions and poor impulse control. You will go from a tense situation full of potential to an absolute mess in a very short time, as the characters get themselves and each other into more and more trouble. Do not expect happy endings, but glory in the absolute train-wreck that it all will be...

The Ludorama is a new feature at the Gaming Philosopher where I present a tabletop roleplaying game. The first instalment is about Mars Colony by Tim C. Koppang, a game that I recently had the pleasure of playing online with Remko van der Pluijm. I'll start by giving you the "vital statistics" of the game, and then go on to give a fuller description of the game. Since this is the first instalment, and I'm just trying things out, let me know what you would like to see in the vital statistics. (P.S. I've added several things since the first publication.) Title: Mars Colony Author: Tim C. Koppang Year: 2010 Price: 6$ PDF, 12$ book, link Size: 52 small pages Genre: social science fiction Themes: the toughness of social problems; inability to meet your own and others' expectations; the temptation of using deception Number of players: 2 Player roles: one "Savior" and one "Governor" (see below) Preparation: none Length ...