The Best Witches

It is an undeniable truth that the Witch gets a lot of bad press. Not necessarily within the roleplaying hobby, but from without, for the Witch is seen as a figure of evil, often—though not necessarily—a female figure of evil, and a figure to be feared and persecuted. Much of this stems from the historical witch-hunts of the fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeen, and eighteenth centuries, along with the associated imagery, that is, the crone with the broom, pointy hat, black cat, cauldron, and more. When a Witch does appear in roleplaying, whether it is a historical or a fantasy setting, it is typically as the villain, as the perpetrator of some vile crime or mystery for the player characters to solve and stop. Publisher The Other Side has published a number of supplements written not only as a counter to the clichés of the witch figure, but to bring the Witch as a character Class to roleplaying after being disappointed at the lack of the Witch in the Player’s Handbook for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition. However, there is a tradition of telling stories about witches, often aimed at younger readers, such as in the Harry Potter stories or The Worst Witch series by Jill Murphy, and if your players are fans so either, a book like The Children of the Gods: The Classical Witch for Basic Era Games is probably not going to the most appropriate option. In which case, Tales of the Village might be.

Tales of the Village is an introductory roleplaying game published by Arion Games, best known for reprinting the Elizabethan-era Maelstrom and its other iterations, such as Maelstrom Domesday. The roleplaying game is intended to be played by younger players, aged between seven and twelve, but run by an experienced Game Master. Each Player Character is a young witch, living in a small, rural village, helping out with day-to-day tasks, but also helping the sick, finding lost animals, and dealing with such threats as greedy bandits, mischievous faeries, and scary ghosts! Or at least they aspire to do so, because being young, they show plenty of promise, but have only recently graduated as fully fledged witches.

To create Witch, a player rolls first for her Background, which explains what her parents do and grants her an appropriate skill. For example, the daughter of weavers learns Clothworking, whilst if the parents are castle guards, the Witch knows Brawling as a skill. A second roll determines how she became a Witch, such as a local witch shouting and pointing at the aura around the young Witch or because the Witch’s memory proved to be so good that a witch took her on immediately. Whatever way in which the Witch became a Witch, she is granted a random ability, and then two more, one from the training she receives from her Witch teacher and another from a life-changing event towards the end of her training.

Name: Ottilie

Class: Witch

Background: Minstrels

Skill: Entertainment

How Did You Start: Drove a mischievous faerie away

Teacher: conventional Witch

Event: Lifted a cure of locusts

Gift: Broomstick

Abilities: Naturebond, Potion Making, Shapechange

All of the backgrounds and events as well as the skills and abilities are nicely expanded upon and clearly explained. In the case of the abilities, there are some examples of their is too and the Witch creation process is supported with an example too.

Mechanically, Tales of the Village is simple. To have her Witch undertake an action, her player rolls three six-sided dice. Each result of five or six is counted as a Success. One Success is required if the task is Awkward, such as catching a pig; two Successes are required if the task is Difficult, like catching a sheep; and three Successes are required if the task is Very Difficult, such as catching a goat or wild hill sheep. This represents a Witch who is untrained, but if a Witch is trained in a skill, her player only has to roll four, five, or six to succeed, and if the skill or ability is mastered, her player only has to roll three, four, five, or six to succeed. The advice for failure suggests that it need not be absolute, and that if a player rolls Successes, but not enough to succeed, her Witch might get half way there or do most of a task, and so on. The consequences for failure comes into play in when the Witch loses in a mental, physical, or social contest. In which case, the player ticks a box on either the mental, physical, or social track. On each track, the Witch starts at Fine, but will go from Fine to Shaken to Beaten to Defeated. It is up to the player to roleplay most of these conditions, but if ever one of the tracks is reduced to Defeated, the Witch has failed at the adventure!

The advice for the Storyteller Guide  is simple and straightforward. This is to set up minor challenges, a mix of challenges related or unrelated to bigger challenges, and even the main challenge. Overcoming such challenges should not wholly rely upon the Witches’ skills and abilities, but allow for player ingenuity and roleplay. The more minor challenges that the Witches overcome or deal with, the easier it should be to confront and deal with the main challenges. Unfortunately, there is no advice on running Tales of the Village for the specific age range it is intended for, and what this means is that the roleplaying game relies upon the experience of the Storyteller Guide more than anything else.

In terms of support, the Storyteller Guide is provided with a scenario, ‘Goblin Rings’. It is set in a happy, fairly ordinary village except that it is home to the Witches and there are unseen threats roundabout. The scenario consists of a series of small events, such as a child being sick or sheep going missing, the child being a sickly green in colour and there being no trace of the sheep. As the Witches solve each problem, they earn Success Points, and these can be used to ease the final confrontation against the villain responsible for the situation. None of the problems are overly challenging, should not take too long to play through before the final encounter, and is thus suitable for play by its intended audience. ‘Goblin Rings’ is a charming scenario with a fairy-tale feel that its audience will enjoy.

Physically, Tales of the Village is neatly and tidily presented. It is lightly illustrated, but the artwork is certainly cute.

In the strictest of senses, Tales of the Village is not an introductory roleplaying game, one that anyone new to the hobby can pick up and start playing. It is, as intended, best suited to be run by someone who has some roleplaying experience and can therefore run the game for the intended audience—younger players who like witches and fairy tales. Yet as playable and runnable as it is, it is underwritten in places and the lack of advice on running roleplaying games with a younger audience is disappointing. And, of course, once the scenario is played through, the Storyteller Guide will need to write some more, and again, the advice to that end is underwhelming. Overall, Tales of the Village is a serviceable roleplaying game that does what it sets out to do and does it with a little charm, but it feels like it could have done a little more.

Quick-Start Saturday: The Smurfs Roleplaying Game – Quick-start Guide

Quick-starts are a means of trying out a roleplaying game before you buy. Each should provide a Game Master with sufficient background to introduce and explain the setting to her players, the rules to run the scenario included, and a set of ready-to-play, pre-generated characters that the players can pick up and understand almost as soon as they have sat down to play. The scenario itself should provide an introduction to the setting for the players as well as to the type of adventures that their characters will have and just an idea of some of the things their characters will be doing on said adventures. All of which should be packaged up in an easy-to-understand booklet whose contents, with a minimum of preparation upon the part of the Game Master, can be brought to the table and run for her gaming group in a single evening’s session—or perhaps two. And at the end of it, Game Master and players alike should ideally know whether they want to play the game again, perhaps purchasing another adventure or even the full rules for the roleplaying game.

Alternatively, if the Game Master already has the full rules for the roleplaying game the quick-start is for, then what it provides is a sample scenario that she still run as an introduction or even as part of her campaign for the roleplaying game. The ideal quick-start should entice and intrigue a playing group, but above all effectively introduce and teach the roleplaying game, as well as showcase both rules and setting.

—oOo—

What is it?
The Smurfs Roleplaying Game – Quick-start Guide is the quick-start for The Smurfs Roleplaying Game, based on the Belgian comic created by Peyo and The Smurfs cartoon series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast between 1981 and 1989. It is published by Maestro Media Ventures.

It is a twenty-page, 5.24 MB full colour PDF.

How long will it take to play?
The Smurfs Roleplaying Game – Quick-start Guide is designed to be played through in a single session, two at most.

What else do you need to play?
The Smurfs Roleplaying Game – Quick-start Guide needs five six-sided dice per player.

Who do you play?
The five Player Characters—or Smurfs—in The Smurfs Roleplaying Game – Quick-start Guide consist of Smurfette, Hefty, Jokey, Smurflily, and Clumsy Smurf.

How is a Player Character defined?

A Smurf in The Smurfs Roleplaying Game – Quick-start Guide is defined by his name which provides a broad description of him and a motivation which explains how he thinks. A Smurf also has an Advantage, a special power which ties into his name or motivation. Each Advantage provides a bonus which applies to certain situations, modifies action rolls, or grants access to certain equipment. For example, Hefty has an Advantage that grants a bonus to any test of strength, whilst Smurflily, who has the Motivation of, “I will do my best to be friends with, and not hurt, any Smurf or other creature.” has an Advantage that reduces the difficulty of skill tests to persuade, calm, or befriend any NPC. Each Smurf also has four attributes—Quick, Brawn, Mind, and Heart—rated between four and twelve.

How do the mechanics work?

Mechanically, The Smurfs Roleplaying Game – Quick-start Guide uses the BURN 2d6 published by Saltheart RPG. To have his Smurf undertake an action, a player rolls two or more six-sided dice, aiming to roll under the appropriate attribute. If the roll is under the attribute value, the action succeeds, but if it is equal to the attribute value, it is only a partial success. A roll higher than the attribute is a failure. Bonuses can come from equipment, Advantages, and Smurfberries.

The difficulty of the action is set by the number of dice a player has to roll. This ranges from two for a Challenging difficulty to five dice for an Impossible difficulty. The Storyteller can make an action more challenging by adding another die, whilst a player can add another die if he wants the outcome of the action to have greater effect. A player can also reduce the number of dice ha has to roll by spending Effort. Each attribute has a number of points of Effort equal to its value and they can only be spent on actions related to that attribute. If a Smurf runs out of Effort for a single attribute, all of his actions are penalised an extra die. If Effect is exhausted for a second attribute, a Smurf falls unconscious or rather, is smurfed...

To avoid this and other dangerous situations, for example, a dragon breathing fire on a Smurf or a Smurf falling from a great height, a player can make a Safety Roll. It is rolled on two six-sided dice and difficulty for is determined by the Smurf’s own Smurf House (but is set to three for the purposes of The Smurfs Roleplaying Game – Quick-start Guide). If the Safety Roll is successful, the Smurf wakes up in his bed, fully refreshed, but with no idea of how he got there. If a failure, the Smurf will probably start the next session in dire circumstances.

In addition to Advantages, bonuses to any action can come from equipment and Smurfberries. Smurfberries are enjoyed by every Smurf and by every player because they are rewarded for good roleplaying. Each Smurf begins play with one and their primary use is to give a player a one-point advantage on any roll. Their secondary use is to restore a point of Effort to a single attribute. This can be for the player’s Smurf or the Smurf of another player, and is more expensive, costing three Smurfberries.

Lastly, each Smurf has access to Smurf Power! This is represented by the Smurf Power Die, and can be used in one of two ways. When rolled, it replaces one of the standard dice a Smurf’s player rolls for any action. It is a standard six-sided die, but marked with the Smurf Symbol on five of its six faces and the Smurf Critical symbol on the one face. It does not add anything to a roll, but when the Smurf Critical symbol is rolled, one of two things can happen. If the roll is a success, with the Smurf Critical symbol, it becomes an amazing absolutely smurfy success. However, if a failure, it becomes the unsmurfiest of failures possible. Alternatively, it can be used to add a narrative element to the play of the game. The ability to roll or use the Smurf Power Die becomes possible once a player rolls all sixes on a previous roll. Otherwise, it is inactive.

Besides the possibility of a critical failure, there is another downside to using the Smurf Power Die. This is that when used, it grants the Game Master a Thorn, which she can then use to make the lives of the Smurfs that much more difficult. This can be by describing a change in circumstances and adding an extra die to a roll, adding a complication by adding or removing a story element, allowing an opponent to act first (as Smurfs always act first otherwise), or cause a piece of equipment to become lost.

Mechanically, The Smurfs Roleplaying Game – Quick-start Guide is player-facing. This means that the players make all the dice rolls rather than the Game Master.

How does combat work?
Combat? In a roleplaying game about Smurfs?

What do you play?

The scenario in The Smurfs Roleplaying Game – Quick-start Guide is ‘Papa Smurf Goes Missing: An Introductory Adventure for The Smurfs RPG’. The adventure begins when the Smurfs wake up to find that Papa Smurf and his Mushroom House has gone missing, leaving a big hole in the ground where it stood the previous day. Investigating the hole reveals the wreckage of his house at the bottom and a tunnel leading deep into the earth! Where will lead and where has Papa Smurf gone? The adventure is quite straightforward, primarily involving a mixture of stealth and exploration. It also comes with plenty of staging advice that the Game Master can use simply as examples of play or inspiration for when she runs the scenario. It playable in a single session.

Is there anything missing?
Yes. The Smurfs Roleplaying Game – Quick-start Guide does not come with a Smurf Power die, so the Game Master will need to provide something in its stead.

Is it easy to prepare?
The core rules presented in The Smurfs Roleplaying Game – Quick-start Guide are very easy to prepare. They are light and easy to use as much as they are to teach, making them and the quick-start as a whole suitable for running for a younger audience.

Is it worth it?
Yes. The Smurfs Roleplaying Game – Quick-start Guide presents everything you you need to play a fun, happy-go-lucky session of Smurfiness, with a little dash of mild peril. The rules are easy to grasp and teach and the scenario is an uncomplicated affair. However, this is a quick-start (and a roleplaying game) for fans of The Smurfs rather than the casual player necessarily and they are likely to get more out of this than the said casual player. Otherwise, this is a well done quick-start, one that roleplaying fans of The Smurfs will pick up with ease and enjoy. Plus, if there are younger fans of The Smurfs, this is something that they will enjoy playing and being run for them.

The Smurfs Roleplaying Game – Quick-start Guide is published by Maestro Media and is available to download here.

Strange & Simple

The Silver Road is a rules light—a very rules light, minimalist storytelling. It is so light that it does not even have its own integral setting, although it does include a scenario and a set of sample Player Characters. Designed to be played by two or more players—though four is the perfect number, plus a Game Mediator, the types of stories The Silver Road is designed to tell should be ideally composed of discrete scenes, whether arrayed along a narrative or organised into a flowchart. Each scene should involve one or more problems with potential consequences. The example given in the book involves a child attempting to pick the lock of her bedroom, the consequences being that if she fails, she will get frustrated, stamp her feet, and so attract the attention of her stepmother downstairs. The story could be the exploration of a dungeon or an escape room, a fairy tale, a race across Europe to escape with information from behind the Iron Curtain, or the infiltration of the moon base home to a gang of space pirates! Whatever the story, the mechanics are designed so that ultimately a character will always succeed, but will have to suffer the consequences of their initial failure, and as a storytelling game, provides scope for a player to add elements to the scene beyond whatever their character is doing.

The Silver Road is published by Handiwork Games, best known for BEOWULF: Age of Heroes, and requires a single six-sided die each for both the players and the Game Mediator, and some pencils and paper. A character is simply defined. He has a name, an important fact about them—such as a job, role, or what he is, two things he is good at, two things he is bad at, and lastly, a Magic Number. The latter ranges between two and five, and is unique to the character. Character creation can be done as a group or separately, but ultimately, the players should have as a group a reason to stay together and face the hostile situations designed and presented to them by the Game Mediator.

Tiddles
I am a Cat Who Belongs to No-One

Things I am Good at
I am good at getting people to trust me
I am good at sneaking

Things I am Bad at
I am bad at meowing
I am bad at dealing with children

In terms of play, the Game Master will have ready a series of scenes containing obstacles and consequences, which when one is overcome will lead to the next and so on and so on. She will present the scene and then in turn, each player will narrate what his character will do (it need not be in turn order round the table, but that is the default). To have his character undertake an action, a player rolls his die. If it is something the Player Character is good at, he will nearly always succeed. If it is something the Player Character is bad at, he will nearly always fail. If he fails, there will be consequences, but if it is something the Player Character is good at and he fails, there will be consequences also, but he will succeed on his next turn.

There are no rules for combat in The Silver Road, the outcome of any direct conflict being already built into the rules through the effect of consequences. In conflicts, these can be that the character is hurt—or depending upon the story being narrated, actually killed. The former is more likely than the latter though, and even if killed, a character could return as a ghost—depending upon the story, of course.

In addition, if the result on any die roll is equal to a player’s magic Number, that player can ‘Butt-in’. This gives him the opportunity to add to the current scene or action within the scene—even if it is not that player’s turn—with his new narration having to begin, “But…” The Butt-in’ interjection can be used to bring in the player’s own character, or that of another player, to add something to the scene (even to warp it to make it even more challenging for the current or next player!), and so on. The narration thus switches from player to player to the Game Mediator and back again, with the interjections happening at random.

The Silver Road could be criticized for being too simple—and arguably, given the size of the book and the extent of its mechanics, it is. After all, they have been developed from one page of rules. Nevertheless, their simplicity makes them easy to learn, teach, and use—such that this roleplaying game could be run with children—and further, what that space allows is advice for the Game Mediator on organising and running the game, handling consequences, getting hurt and more. The roleplaying game also comes with a set of example Player Characters and Obstacles, as well as a scenario or story, a sort of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five affair which spirals into a fairy tale.

The Silver Road is well written, easy to read, and ready to run in five minutes. In addition, the simplicity of The Silver Road expanded into a booklet-sized roleplaying game has the advantage of allowing space for fantastic artwork on every page. This has an ethereality to it, suggesting something lost or over there on the edge where figures, often in odd or period garb, slide into the mists, doors stand closed in hedges, buildings crumble atop rises, and ghosts linger in the morning light. The implied nature of The Silver Road is liminal, somewhere between the modern and the past, a step or two’s way from somewhere further back or elsewhere.

Ice Cool School 2

Launched at the UK Games Expo 2016, Ice Cool was not just a big hit, it would go on to win the 2016 UK Games Expo Best Children’s Game Winner and the Kinderspiel des Jahres—the children’s game of the year award, similar to the Spiel des Jahres—in 2017. It was the biggest, coolest penguin flipping, fish grabbing, trick shot-taking game on ice ever, and that in a field of flicking games like Rampage or Terror in Meeple City and Flick ‘em Up! Now all that changes, with publisher Brain Games returning to UK Games Expo in 2019 to release Ice Cool 2. With Ice Cool 2, the flicking game goes back to school again, all the way down to the South Pole, and lets the players—or penguins—run round and jump about it as they race to grab fish before the hall monitor can grab them and steal their ID Cards! Played over multiple lunchtimes, the penguin player who gets the most fish and the most Hall Passes is the winner.

Ice Cool 2 is both a standalone game and an expansion to the original Ice Cool. As a standalone game, it is designed for between two and four players, aged six plus, plays very much like Ice Cool, and shares many similarities. The first of these is the ‘Box-In-A-Box’ set-up. Open up the box and nested inside are several smaller box lids. These together with the box base that Ice Cool comes are laid out and clipped together—using the tan fish (plastic in Ice Cool 2 rather than wooden as in Ice Cool)—to form the school and its rooms. Between each of the rooms there are doors and over some of these doors are clipped the fish that the penguin pupils are after.

The second is the penguins themselves. The stars of Ice Cool and thus Ice Cool 2, they are made of plastic, each with a round bottom with a ball bearing weight inside it. A bit like a Weeble. What this means is that when flicked, a penguin will roll. Of course a penguin can roll straight, but flick it from behind on the right hand side and a penguin will curve to the right and flick it from behind on the left hand side and a penguin will curve to the left. Which means that it can go round corners! Yet if you flick a penguin in the head, you can get him to jump, even jump over the walls of the school!

Ice Cool is played in rounds, one round per penguin. In each round one penguin is the Hall Monitor. His job is to catch the other penguins who are trying to get through the doors with the fish and so claim the fish. When a penguin goes through a door with a fish of his colour, he grabs that fish and a Victory Point card. If the Hall Monitor touches another penguin, then he confiscates that penguin’s I.D. Card. Everyone continues flicking their penguins around the school until either one penguin has grabbed all of his fish from over the appropriate doors or the Hall Monitor has confiscated all of the other penguins’ I.D. Cards. At the end of the round, the Hall Monitor receives a Victory Card for each I.D. Card he confiscated. Then the I.D. Cards are handed back and another round begins with play continuing until everyone has been the Hall Monitor and the game ends. The penguin with the most Victory Points wins the game.

The Victory Point cards are worth one, two, or three points. A penguin—whether a penguin or the Hall Monitor—can use pairs of Victory Cards of the same value to activate special abilities. Pairs with a value of one and marked with an image of skates have two uses. The first is to allow a penguin to have another go at the end of his turn, and as long as he has pairs of cards marked with a one and skates, he can keep having another go at the end of his turn. The second is for the penguin—but not the Hall Monitor—can attempt a task. There are three types of task—jump over a wall into another room, pass through two doors in a single flick, or bounce off one wall and pass through one or more doors. Successfully completely a task and a penguin can draw another Victory card. A penguin can use  pairs of cards marked with a one and skates to do either, but not both of these actions. Pairs of Victory cards marked with a two can also be used to move a fish of any colour from atop one door to atop another. The only limit is that it cannot be moved to a door adjacent to a room in which there is a penguin of a matching colour.

The use of the Victory cards not only score a penguin points for the end of the game, but as pairs, they add a tactical element to play. Not just taking another turn, but also taking trick shots to score more Victory cards and to move his rival’s fish, forcing his rival to change plans. Now for younger players, these tactical elements in Ice Cool and Ice Cool 2, may well be too complex or too adversarial, but that is very much down to the judgement of the adults playing with the younger players. This reflects nicely how Ice Cool and Ice Cool 2 can be adjusted to suit both older and younger players, because strip away those tactical aspects and what you have is a flicking game that anyone can play because it relies upon personal skill.

Just as with Ice Cool, Ice Cool 2 is an attractive game with physical presence. It looks great on the table and it really is simple to play. The rules themselves are easy to grasp, but they are not written for the young audience that the game is aimed at. So an adult will need to read through them and teach them to younger players, but they are simple enough to both teach and play. Having done, what players young and old will find is that Ice Cool is fun. The design of the penguins means that skill and trick shots can be taken to get the rolling fish fiends to curve and jump to grab the fish and avoid the Hall Monitor. This physical element means that young and old can play on a level ice field and younger players have a good chance of beating adults. Both of course can get better and better with practice.

As a standalone game, adults will enjoy Ice Cool 2 as much as children, despite it being a children’s game. It provides the same fun as Ice Cool, whilst adding the tactical element, and if you were choosing between purchasing Ice Cool and Ice Cool 2, then Ice Cool 2 would be the better choice. That though, is as a standalone, for Ice Cool 2 shares the same issue as Ice Cool and that there is just the one layout that can be created using its ‘Box-In-A-Box’ set-up. It would have been fun if the game allowed for a variety of school layouts to be created. As standalone games, neither Ice Cool or Ice Cool 2 allow for that option. Ice Cool 2, as an expansion to Ice Cool 2 though…

Included in Ice Cool 2 is a second rulebook, ‘Ice Cool + Ice Cool 2’. When played on their own, both games are designed for between two and four players, but combined, they allow up to eight penguins to flick riot around the school to get fish. This is made possible because the penguins in Ice Cool 2 are of a different colour to those in Ice Cool. They allow the boxes of ‘Box-In-A-Box’ set-up of Ice Cool to be combined with the boxes of ‘Box-In-A-Box’ set-up of Ice Cool 2 to allow different layouts and even sliding boxes which move every turn! They add a new game type, ‘Race Game Mode’, which is really a team mode, with penguins dividing into teams of two to race round the school and collect all of their fish. Any of the layouts suggested in the ‘Ice Cool + Ice Cool 2’ rulebook can be used in ‘Race Game Mode’. (An alternative might be for each player controlling two penguins as a team so that even with just three or four players, they get to play with everything from both Ice Cool and Ice Cool 2.)

Ice Cool is heaps of fun, a game that can be enjoyed by young and old, making it a terrific family game. Ice Cool 2 is heaps of fun, a game that can be enjoyed by young and old, making it a terrific family game. Ice Cool and Ice Cool 2 is together better, providing a bigger game for more penguins and more fun.

Ice Cool School

Launched at UK Games Expo 2016, Ice Cool proved to be one of the hits of the convention. Indeed it won the UK Games Expo Award for Best Children’s Game bringing as it did two major additions to the flicking game. Flicking games, such as Crokinole and the recent Push It, have long been popular, but more recently game designers have been adding theme to the flicking. Rampage or Terror in Meeple City added Kaijū attacking a big city, whilst Flick ‘em Up! takes the flicking game to the wild west. What Ice Cool does is take the flicking game back to school, all the way down to the South Pole, and lets the players—or penguins—run round and jump about it!

Published by Brain Games, whose game the Game of Trains won the UK Games Expo Award for Best Card Game, Ice Cool is designed for two to four players, aged six and above. The story is simple. It is almost lunchtime and the penguin pupils have been promised fish. Greedy to gobble down their lunch, they have decided to race round the school grabbing fish, but the Hall Monitor must adhere to his duty and catch the miscreants before the fish is gone, confiscating  their Hall Passes when he does. Played over multiple lunchtimes, the penguin player who gets the most fish and the most Hall Passes is the winner.

 Two things stand out about Ice Cool. One is the ‘Box-In-A-Box’ set-up. Open up the box and nested inside are several smaller box lids. These together with the box base that Ice Cool comes are laid out and clipped together—using the tan wooden fish—to form the school and its rooms. Between each of the rooms there are doors and over some of these doors are clipped the fish that the penguin pupils are after. 

The stars of Ice Cool are the penguins themselves. Made of plastic, each has a round bottom with a ball bearing weight inside it. A bit like a Weeble. What this means is that when flicked, a penguin will roll. Of course a penguin can roll straight, but flick it from behind on the righthand side and a penguin will curve to the right and flick it from behind on the lefthand side and a penguin will curve to the left. Which means that it can go round corners! Yet if you flick a penguin in the head, you can get him to jump, even jump over the walls of the school!

You can see a quick demonstration here.

Ice Cool is played in rounds, one round per penguin. In each each round one penguin is the Hall Monitor. His job is to catch the other penguins who are trying to get through the doors with the fish and so claim the fish. When a penguin goes through a door with a fish of his colour, he grabs that fish and a Victory Point card. If the Hall Monitor touches another penguin, then he confiscates that penguin’s I.D. Card. Everyone continues flicking their penguins around the school until either one penguin has grabbed all of his fish from over the appropriate doors or the Hall Monitor has confiscated all of the other penguins’ I.D. Cards. At the end of the round, the Hall Monitor receives a Victory Card for each I.D. Card he confiscated. Then the I.D. Cards are handed back and another round begins with play continuing until everyone has been the Hall Monitor and the game ends. The penguin with the most Victory Points wins the game.

The Victory Point cards are worth one, two, or three points. A penguin—but not the Hall Monitor—can use a pair of Victory Cards with a value of one can use them to have another go at the end of his turn. These cards are marked with skates as well as one Victory point. If a penguin uses them like this, he does not lose the Victory Points.

Ice Cool is an attractive game with physical presence. It looks great on the table and it really is simple to play. The rules themselves are easy to grasp, but they are not written for the young audience that the game is aimed at. So an adult will need to read through them and teach them to younger players, but they are simple enough to both teach and play. Having done, what players young and old will find is that Ice Cool is fun. The design of the penguins means that skill and trick shots can be taken to get the rolling fish fiends to curve and jump to grab the fish and avoid the Hall Monitor. This physical element means that young and old can play on a level ice field and younger players have a good chance of beating adults. Both of course can get better and better with practice.

In fact, adults will enjoy Ice Cool as much as children, despite it being a children’s game. At Afternoon Play it proved to be a hit, despite it not being the type of game normally played at the regular meet-ups. Two games were played, one with just four players and another with eight, with two players per penguin. The team game proved to be a lot of fun.

If there is an issue with Ice Cool, it is that there is just the one layout that can be created using its ‘Box-In-A-Box’ set-up. It would have fun if the game allowed for a variety of school layouts to be created. That aside, the design of Ice Cool is clever in its simplicity and the design of the penguins means that tricks can be flicked around and over the walls of the school. Overall, Ice Cool is heaps of fun, a game that can be enjoyed by young and old, making it a terrific family game.

Pushing the Simplicity

Once upon a time you could step into a public house—the pub, if you will—and play a game. From Dominos and Skittles to Shove ha'penny and Nine Men’s Morris, these were games that were enjoyed up and down the country, but with the coming of cable and satellite television and being able to watch sport with a pint in hand, the popularity of such games diminished. Such games though have always had a poor reputation, often seen as a means to encourage the consumption of alcohol and gambling, and in some cases outright banned by kings as distractions for men who should be otherwise engaged in archery practice. Now the tradition of pub games has not gone away, as evidenced in Dave Gorman vs. The Rest Of The World, but in the 21st century times have changed with the playing board games being an acceptable pastime, one that can be played openly in public, whether that is in the pub or elsewhere. 

Which is where Push It: Ultimate Skill, Infinite Locations comes in.

Published by Push It Games following a successful Kickstarter campaign, Push It: Ultimate Skill, Infinite Locations is a very simple game that can be played anywhere that has a flat, smooth surface. A table, a floor, a newspaper laid on the ground—anywhere. Designed for two to four players, it comes with eight Pucks in four colours, a Jack, a cloth carrying bag, and an eight-page rules booklet. To be fair, Push It is so simple that it does not need a rules booklet, but it includes examples, explanations, and variations, so that it can played as a team game, with two players, and so on.

Push It starts with the Jack being placed in the centre of the table. Then everyone takes their Pucks and whilst sat round the table, take it turns to push, chop, or flick one of their Pucks at the Jack. They get to do this once, from the edge of the table, for each Puck. There is no second attempt at getting Pucks closer to the Jack. Once everyone has launched their Pucks at the Jack, scoring takes place. The player with the closest Puck to the Jack scores a point. If he has both Pucks closest to the Jack, he scores two points. Knocking both another player’s Pucks and the Jack is perfectly legal, but knocking the Jack of the table loses a player two points. Then another round starts and play continues until somebody has scored a total of seven points and wins.

And that is it.

To test it out, Reviews from R'lyeh took it along to Afternoon Play where it proved to be popular as both a game for four players and a team game for eight prior to a longer game.

It should also be pointed out that Push It has perhaps the most singular rule in any game in any of the games in the Reviews from R'lyeh ludography. This is the 'Bum Shuffling' rule. Essentially a player can lean and in the process, lift one buttock from his seat in order to push, flick, or chop one of his Pucks. He cannot though move his chair or shuffle said buttocks...

Push It: Ultimate Skill, Infinite Locations is a nice simple game. Even better, it is a nice, simple, and well-produced game. Both the Pucks and the Jack are beautifully polished pieces of wood that feel good in the hand and nicely slide across the playing surface of your choice. Whilst it might be reminiscent of pub games of old, Push It is the pub game that does not need the pub whose simplicity makes it the perfect filler game wherever and whenever.

Adventure to the MAX!

Over the years the roleplaying hobby has thrown up a number of games specifically designed to be played by kids and in the process, actually introduce them to the hobby. Whether that is uncovering mysteries in PandaheadProductions’ Meddling Kids, exploring the magic of the woods and its denizens in Firefly Games’ Faery's Tale, adventuring in, beyond, and above the Atlantis of Third Eye Games’ Mermaid Adventures: An RPG of Undersea Fun, or protecting society from the dangers of big nature in Mouse Guard RPG from Archaia Studios Press, they invariably combine relatively simple mechanics with a setting that will spark the imagination of the younger, neophyte player. In each case, their aim is to help the parent who wants to introduce his child to his hobby and thus help the child who is curious about the fantastic adventures that he hears about, or sees, his parent playing. 

The latest RPG to aimed at kids is Adventure MAXIMUS!, a traditionally themed game published by Eden Studios, Inc. and set in a fantasy world. This can be the fantasy world of the Game Master or Maximus Master’s own devising, or can be the one lightly sketched out in the pages of Adventure MAXIMUS! This is the world of “Ex-Machina,” once known as Magisterica before the Reign of the Wise Wizard Kings ended. Following this apocalypse is a world in which mythical creatures roam the lands and both food and trees can talk. As much as the setting is traditionally themed in its fantasy, what sets it apart from others is a vein of light-hearted, if not slight silly humour, that runs through it. This shows in the setting, for example, there is a nation called The Take-Out Kingdom, in some of the actions that characters can take, each of which has a card of its own, and in several of the monsters that the adventurers will face. The presence of this light-hearted humour is intentional, as it is designed to engage the younger player’s imagination and to encourage him to think and engage with the world.

For the most part, the elements of the setting that the players and their characters interact with during play are represented by cards which are drawn from several decks. These include a Blue Race deck, a Green Class deck, an Orange Action deck, Purple Spell deck, a Red Item deck, a Black Monster deck, and a Gold Map deck. A character is comprised of a Blue Race card and a Green Class card, and will be equipped with cards from the Orange Action deck, the Purple Spell deck – if the character can cast spells, and the Red Item deck. The cards from the Black Monster and Gold Map decks are used to create adventures in conjunction with the game’s Adventure Sheet. (There are ten cards in the Green Class deck, eight in the Blue Race deck, ten in the Orange Action deck, thirteen in the Black Monster deck, eighteen in the Purple Spell deck, thirty-four in Red Item deck, and fifteen in the Gold Map deck.) In addition, Adventure MAXIMUS! uses its own “Maximus” dice as well as needing numerous tokens to represent Action Points, Damage Points, and Experience points. 

To create a character in Adventure MAXIMUS! a player draws three Blue Race and three Green Class cards, choosing one of each as his character’s Race and Class. Both provide special abilities whilst the Green Class card sets the number of Orange Action cards, RedEquipment cards, and Purple Spell cards – if a spellcaster, that the character can have. These are randomly drawn. The Adventure MAXIMUS! character sheet has specific places for all of these cards.

So for example, Louise creates her first character. She draws three Blue Race cards and gets Elf, Giantkin, and Food-kin. She chooses Giant-kin she wants to play a big fighting type and Giant-kin can use “Close Attacks” at “Far Range.” For her three Green Class cards she draws The Guard (a warrior who protects others), The Officer (a true warrior and leader of men), and The Sparklemancer (who is all about making friends). She decides to choose the latter, if only for the fact that not only is the idea of a Giant-kin running around in a gown and wielding a wand funny, but so is her Class Power, “Jazz Hands” which lets her dazzle her opponents with this dance move. Of course, this is a “Close Attack,” but since she is a Giant-kin, she can do “Close Attacks” at “Far Range” or “Jazz Hands from Afar”! The Sparklemancer also gives her Close Attack +1, Far Attack +2, one Action Card, three Equipment Cards, and three Spell Cards. For her Action Card, Louise chooses one which gives her “Double Flip!”, “The Naked Goblin!”, and “Lippy-Hippy-Shake!”. The first forces her enemies to lose an Action Point if they see her “Double Flip!” with her sword; the second gives her a +3 Scary bonus and if her enemies fail a Fear Test they must flee because of her big armour (or in her character’s case, her big gown as she is a Sparklemancer); and the third forces all of her enemies to dance as Louise actually gets up from the table and dances! These three actions cost her two, three, and three Action Points respectively.

For her spells, Louise receives “Banana Slips” (makes the floor slippery with the essence of banana peel), “Jared's Reducer!” (because she can shrink both herself and others, and sometimes she wants to be smaller), and “Feel the Heal!” (to make her friends feel better if they get hurt). For her equipment, Louise gets a pillow, a pot of super glue, and a length of rubber hose.

Louise the Sparklemancer

Weapon: Wand Armour: Gown

Attacks: Close A­ttack +1, Far A­ttack +2

Class Skills: Fast Talk +3, Notice +2, Crime +4

Willpower 2

Class Power

(1AP) Jazz Hands: +1 Willpower against one target's Willpower, if successful the target is Dazed for one round.

Race: Giant-kin

Giant-kin ability – Reach! You can use Close A­ttacks on things that are in Far range. Big, tough, and kind are words used to describe Giant-kin, but many prejudiced people will run in fear from you.

Action Card:

(2AP) Double Flip!: You can Dazzle your enemies with your sword play, they lose an Action Point if they can see your Double Flip!

(3AP) The Naked Goblin!: Your armour makes you look a lot bigger than you really are, you get a +3 Scary bonus. Enemies that can see you must make a Willpower test or flee in fear. Any enemies who win the test are immune to this effect for the rest of the encounter.

(3AP) Lippy-Hippy-Shake!: You have the uncanny ability to make your enemies dance when you dance. Get up from the game table and dance, enemies dance until you stop.

Spells: Banana Slips (1AP), Feel the Heal! (2AP+), Jared's Reducer! (4AP)

Equipment: Pillow, pot of super glue, rubber hose.

Adventure MAXIMUS! is designed to be an action orientated game. Once the action – or a “Courageous Situation” starts, whether that is getting into a fight, climbing a mountain, or entering a competition to bake a pie, then the Maximus Dice come out. What a character can do over the course of a single Round is determined by the number of Action Points he has, these being set by his Blue Race card. These are spent not only to undertake normal actions such as walking, running, looting, attacking, charging, using a skill, and so on, but also to undertake the options given on the character’s Orange Action cards and his Purple Spell cards – if he has any. A character can spend as few or as many Action Points as he likes and they always refresh from one Round to the next.

When it comes to skill rolls and other actions, a character rolls a number of Maximus dice equal to his skill. Each Maximus die is a six-sided die marked with three blank sides, one side with a single sword, a second with two crossed swords, and a third with a Maximus symbol. Each sword represents a success, so the crossed swords represent two successes. The Maximus symbol also represents two successes, plus it allows a character to roll another die and add its success to his total. As long as a player keeps rolling the Maximus symbol, he can keep rolling and adding successes. 

At its most basic, as a player rolls a single success on the Maximus dice, then his character succeeds at the desired action. Some skills require a player to roll two or more successes to achieve his desired aim. For example, the First Aid needs two successes to be rolled if a character wants to restore healed one dot on his or another character’s Health Track. Opposed skill rolls require one participant to roll more success than the others if he is achieve his desired aim. 

Combat though, is kept even simpler. Initiative is determined by the highest number of successes as you would expect, but only in the first round. In subsequent rounds, initiative order actually passes to the left, so that the player who acts first moves round the table rather than being randomly determined. Simple and for the most part a fair means of handling it, although there is nothing to stop the players rolling for initiative each round as is traditional. Actual combat is a matter of rolling the Maximus dice and rolling as many successes as possible. Armour negates these successes, so whatever gets through is taken as damage to the defender’s Health.

In keeping with the light nature of the rules, the advice for the Maximus Master is kept quick and simple. First and foremost, it adheres to a simple rule that applies to the Maximus Master as much as it does to the players – “Have FUN!” Second, that he should keep the game going by saying “Yes, and…” to all of the impossibly inventive ideas that his players might come up with. For example, heroes have tracked down the thief who stole the Frog God’s favourite jewelled eye and are racing after them along a steep path down the side of a mountain. Louise the Sparklemancer tells her Maximus Master that she wants to cast Banana Slips to make Barry the Burglar lose his footing. Of course, her Maximus Master says, “Yes,” and then describes how Barry the Burglar not only loses his footing, but also loses hold of the stolen jewel which goes flying through the air only to land on the gas bag of the aerial steamship that was passing below…! 

In addition, preparing an adventure is made all the easier for the Maximus Master with the inclusion of the “Who-What-Where-How Adventure Creation System.” By following its simple step-by-step instructions in conjunction with the Black Monster and Gold Map decks, plus some input from the players in form of names and descriptive words – or if preparing the adventure ahead of time these can come from the rulebook’s “Courageous Maxi-Libs List” – the Maximus Master can create a whole adventure. First, he draws a Boss Monster card from the Black Monster deck and equips him with Action, Item, and Spell cards as necessary. This is the “Who” or villain of the “Who-What-Where-How Adventure Creation System,” whilst another Red Item card is the “What” and a Yellow Map card forms the “Where.” Together these elements form the Climax Map of the adventure. These steps need to be repeated two more times to create two more Adventure Maps that the player characters must travel through in order to get to the Climax Map, although neither of the Monsters faced in these Adventure Maps will be Boss Monsters. 

The Maximus Master also needs to fill out the following statement using the players’ suggestions or the “Courageous Maxi-Libs”: “A message has been delivered to your Adventure Call Box. ‘________’ has asked for your help! ‘________’ has the ‘________’, you must travel to the ‘________’ in the “________.’ Bring back the ‘________’ and you will be rewarded!” So for example, “A message has been delivered to your Adventure Call Box. The Wizard Of Zoz has asked for your help! Sweet & Sour and Sweet & Spicy!* have the Clean Underpants, you must travel to the ruins in the Forest of Doors. Bring back the Clean Underpants and you will be rewarded!” In order to get through to the Forest of Doors, the player characters will have to travel through Teddy Bear Junction and then to Gum Drop Falls. 

* Twin chicken chunks from the Take-Out Kingdom that were just born bad. 

What is so good about the “Who-What-Where-How Adventure Creation System” is not just the ease and speed with which the Maximus Master can create an adventure, but also the fact that it can be picked up and used by the very players that the game is written to be run for. In other words, kids can run this as much as adults can. In combination with the card-driven means of creating characters, the “Who-What-Where-How Adventure Creation System” gives Adventure MAXIMUS! a strong capacity for "Pick Up and Play." Not necessarily such that the game can be played straight out of the box – though the RPG is easy to learn in terms of its mechanics, but the preparation time for an adventure is mere minutes rather than the hours it might be with other RPGs. Just as it is for character creation. 

Adventure MAXIMUS! could be run as a fairly straight forward fantasy RPG, but that would be to ignore its potentially rich vein of humour and silliness. This shows more in the decks of cards that support the game – the Black Monster deck, the Purple Spell deck, the Yellow Map deck, and the Red Item deck than the Blue Race deck and the Green Class deck. In fact, with just the one humorous or silly option in each of the latter two decks – the Sparklemancer in the Green Class deck and the Food-kin in the Blue Race deck – the game feels disappointingly traditional in terms of what characters it offers the players to play. In fact, the choices can be best described as “fantasy vanilla” and it would have been nice if some other choices had been included, preferably ones that matched the game’s humour. Yet once past the Blue Race deck and the Green Class deck and the options and choices for the Maximus Master are a lot more varied and mine much more of the vein of silliness. Whether that is the Bunny Mummy!* from the Black Monster deck, the Foothills of Fungus** from the Yellow Map deck, or the Bunny Borough Bow*** from the Red Item deck, they all show that Adventure MAXIMUS! is intended to be anything than wholly serious in its feel and style. 

* My favourite monster! 

** Actual hill-sized feet upon which grows fungi!!

*** Also known as the Velveteen Wackit because an arrow fired from it never inflicts damage, but anyone hit is turned into a bunny!!! 

Physically, Adventure MAXIMUS! is neatly presented in full colour. In its current form it does need another edit, but it has two more pressing problems. The first is that it fails to state up front what it is, not what a roleplaying game is, but what Adventure MAXIMUS! is and how it is intended to work. It becomes apparent after reading through the whole of the short rule book, but this seems at odds with the “pick up, get playing” intent of the design. The other issue is that there is not enough background, though that said, this lack allows plenty of room for the Maximus Master and his players to create as they go. A lesser issue would be that there might not be enough cards for long term play, though there is nothing to stop anyone from creating their own cards. 

As much as the origins of Adventure MAXIMUS! as a fantasy RPG lie in Dungeons & Dragons, its tone and feel have a more contemporary source – contemporary television animation. It recognises that it is silly, but it embraces this aspect in a joyous fashion whilst referencing this, that, and the other in postmodern “reference anything and everything” fashion. Adventure MAXIMUS! is not necessarily the Adventure Time RPG and certainly is not based on the Cartoon Network Studios animated series of the same name, but it is not impossible to suggest it as an inspiration. The combination of the two in Adventure MAXIMUS! results in an RPG that can be played as a traditional fantasy RPG akin to Dungeons & Dragons, but by design is much lighter in tone, with a setting and means of adventure creation that allows room aplenty for player input and player imagination.

Under the Sea RPG

The Walt Disney Company does not do roleplaying games. None of its many and varied properties has ever been licenced as a roleplaying game. Which in some ways is a shame, for the gaming hobby is aging and its adherents have young children or even young grandchildren who do not have an easy way into the hobby or a means of being introduced to the hobby. As much as Fantasy Flight Games’ forthcoming StarWars: Edge of the Empire RPG is effectively the first Disney RPG, the lack of an actual Disney RPG based on its more family orientated properties seems such a missed opportunity. Yet what if there was an RPG that was like a Disney RPG, both in terms of feel and tone? One that would appeal to a younger audience? One whose rules were simple and easy to understand? And one that was easy to run and came with easy-to-use support?

Mermaid Adventures: An RPG of Undersea Fun fits all of those requirements, and more. Plus it comes from an unexpected publisher, Third Eye Games, better known for its more mature themed, action-orientated RPGs, Apocalypse Prevention, Inc. and Part-Time Gods. As its title suggests, Mermaid Adventures is all about the lives and escapades of the seafolk in and around the magical kingdom of Atlantis under the sea. They will help King Neptune and Queen Anastasia as well as their friends and others; take part in the annual Undersea Olympics; explore the Dark Lands that lie beyond the borders of the Kingdom of Atlantis, home to pirates, bandits, and worse; and generally have a fantastic time!

Players in Mermaid Adventures take the roles of these seafolk, all of whom are half-human and half-sea creatures. They include Fishfolk, traditional mermaids known for their curiosity; Eelfolk, who make great friends, but like to play jokes and pranks; Jellyfolk who are almost transparent and are great hunters; Lobsterfolk, hardshelled, but charming; Octofolk, tentacular seafolk with an aptitude for magic; Rayfolk, who can make themselves flat and have a reputation for sneakiness; the big and strong Sharkfolk; and the spiny, Urchinfolk, obsessed with magic.

Characters are easy to create. A player selects the type of seafolk that she wants to play; this sets the base value for the character’s five attributes – Body, Mind, Charm, and Luck – and gives a single positive Quality that all members of the selected species possesses. For example, Octofolk start with the free Quality of Tentacles, which enables them to get things done quickly when using their (hands) tentacles. Five points are assigned to the character’s attributes and then the player rolls on a number of tables to determine hair style and colour, eye and fin colour, some extra details about the character (possessions, clothing, knowledge, features, and so on), and the character’s goal and its accompanying Quality. Lastly, the player selects four more Qualities. These from Artistic and Beautiful to Weapon Training and Writer via Mechanical and Nosy. Additionally, a character can chose Magical Qualities like Healing Touch, Lullaby, and Water Bending. Lastly a character can have an Animal Companion, essentially a second, less capable character that the player controls. This is a slightly more costly option though.

Our sample character is a pretty princess, perhaps a little spoiled, but still generous of heart and ready to go off on adventures. Her nosiness sometimes gets her into trouble, though she will often try and charm her way out of it. If only her parents were not immune to such attempts! She owns a yo-yo, a toy that she found which must have been dropped overboard by a human!

Princess Pandora
Body 2, Mind 2, Charm 3, Luck 3
Hair Colour: Red Hair Style: Bangs 

Eye Colour: Amber Fin Colour: Light Blue
Qualities: Adventurous (Free); Beautiful, Royalty, 

Lullaby Song (Magic), Nosy
Goal: Giving (Take a hit to Luck to let any player make any reroll)

Extras: Yo-yo, Pointy Ears

Mechanically, Mermaid Adventures uses what the designer calls the “PIP System.” It requires a handful of white dice and a handful of black dice (or just dice of two different colours). The white dice are positive, whilst the black dice are negative. To undertake an action, a player rolls a number of dice equal to the appropriate attribute, with results of four, five, or six being counted as successes. A player can roll more white dice if she can involve one or more of her Qualities. The difficulty of the action determines the number of black dice to be rolled, with a Mid-Range Task calling for two black dice to be rolled, a Tough Task requiring three black dice to be rolled, and so on. Rolls of four, five, or six on the black dice count as failures and cancel out any successes rolled.

A player only needs to roll a single success to succeed at a task. If she rolls three successes more than failures, then the result is counted a critical success and she gains a small bonus. Conversely, rolling three failures more than successes results in a critical failure with extra consequences… If a player rolls an equal number of successes and failures, then she succeeds, but with minor consequences. A player can attempt a re-roll for a Task, but must take a “Hit” on the attribute, temporarily reducing it by one.

For example, Princess Pandora wants to hold a midnight feast for her friends and knows that the cook will not give her anything. So she attempts to distract the cook whilst her friends sneak into the larder and pinch some goodies. The Games Master or Navigator sets the difficulty of the Task at Tough as the cook knows what a little madam Pandora is, so Pandora’s player has to roll three black dice. Pandora’s player will use her Charm of 3 of course, but for her Royalty Quality – she swishes her tail a bit! – and Giving Quality – Pandora explains that it is for her friends! – she gets to add two more white dice. On the white dice, Pandora’s player rolls 1, 2, 5, 5, and 6, and 1, 3, and 4 on the black dice, or three successes and two failures. Cancelled out, that just leaves her with a single success, which is enough to distract the cook and Pandora’s friends will be able to get into the larder a whole lot more easily.

The same mechanics are used for combat and conflicts, the rules for both covering not just fights, but also attempts to charm or persuade major NPCs or other player characters, to trick them, or to use magic on them. In these cases, the acting player character always rolls the white dice, while the defender rolls the black dice, essentially serving as the Task’s difficulty. Further, in these cases, if a player character or NPC is successfully attacked, they take damage to the defending attribute. Should a character suffer enough damage to reduce an attribute to zero, then it can no longer be used, and the character will suffer an even worse effect, such as suffering a bad scar for the Body attribute being reduced to zero, or being drained of magic for the Luck being reduced to zero. These effects are rolled randomly.

For the Navigator or Games Master, there is a selection of NPCs, advice to Navigator to keep the game moving and exciting, whilst also allowing the players to add details to make their undersea world as real as they want it. This is as much as the advice really amounts to, but in the hands of an experienced Navigator, this should be no problem. Were this squarely aimed at a neophyte Games Master, then this section would be sorely lacking, and it might be worth addressing if Mermaid Adventures were to be given a second edition. That said, the Navigator also receives a set of tables to roll adventure ideas on and a quintet of ready-to-play adventures. These see the player characters come to the rescue of a sinking ship, enter the Undersea Olympics, get lost in the Dark Lands, and more…

Physically, Mermaid Adventures is not quite perfect. It is engagingly presented, particularly in terms of art, done in full colour by Melissa Gay, in a style that perfectly captures the light hearted nature of the game. That said, the layout is a little rough in places, and the book could really do with another edit to give it a little more of a polish. The book is easy to read and an experienced eye will run through this is in an hour or so and be ready to run it with relatively little preparation.

The inspirations behind Mermaid Adventures are obvious and they show in its lightness of the treatment of its subject matter and its setting, which is very lightly drawn. This lightness is supported by the mechanics, which are easy to grasp, and all together they make the game very accessible. Similarly, the scenarios make Mermaid Adventures easy to run and there are more ideas to be got out of the adventure generator, though more adventures would not be unwelcome. Above all, the illustrations do the most to capture the feel of the game and setting – light, adventurous, and action packed. These serve to make the RPG suited to play by younger players, with the setting particularly orientated to young girls, though there is nothing to stop young boys playing too.

Mermaid Adventures: An RPG of Undersea Fun is a game with charm, one that is nicely suited to be run for a younger audience.