Game Chef - 56 through 60

Our Last Best Hope (+ death cards) by Mark Truman / Magpie Games

The Good: It's a good use of the theme, you've got that whole Armageddon, it's the end of the world thing and you have to fix it.  The Death Cards are great though, here's you're one moment to beat the odds but you have to fulfill your destiny later. 


The Bad: It doesn't say how many tokens you start out with.  Even if it's zero, it would nice to know rather than continually searching the document for it.


The Other: You can really feel the heavy Fiasco influence in the game.  From the resolution mechanic to the your neighbours have a relationship with you (though it's simplified to a good or bad relationship)


Would I Play It? The fate of the world is in our hands, we must save it.

Rage, Rage by David Miessler-Kubanek

The Good:  The fact that you can switch from one side to the other, going from Hope to Fear and back again over the course of the game.


The Bad: It may have been that this was game 57 but the rules didn't seem to make a lot of sense to me.  Maybe with a fourth read through they might but they just didn't really jive.  Could go with a once over to see where things could be explained better.


The Other: Apparently this is the post apocalyptic themed section. I like that though, there needs to be more of it in a Last Chance Themed Game Chef.


Would I Play It? No, but only because it left my scratching my head a lot when it comes to the rules and that's a game turn off for me.

Snowy Mountain Syndrome by Jason A. Petrasko

The Good: I like how there's a lot of good thematic elements.  You have a Meltdown when you run out of various elements.  I like how there are a wide variety of characters, that have different elements and questions.


The Bad:  I don't think the part about Coyote actually add anything to the game.  It feels really random, and even though there's that whole section about it, and a bunch of questions ... it doesn't feel like it's really part of the game.  I understand that they are ingredients, and this time there were 8, maybe picking one that might have worked more with what you were doing would have been a better decision.


The Other: I really wanted to believe you when you said that no Coyote's were appropriated in this work, and then I read it.  Knew it was too good to be true.


Would I Play It? No, but there might be a mechanic or two, or an idea or two, that I might think long and hard about.

Into the Void by Kira Scott

The Good: The First scene is great.  Here is what you start with, build your traits over the course of the game by showing what else you can do.  Fan-freakin'-tastic.


The Bad: One quick snag is that I can see a player getting no relationships, it's not common but it's there.


The Other: Best quote out of any game ever, "Psychologists have analyzed astronauts and found them disappointingly stable, so there is actually no factual basis for a disorder with symptoms similar to space madness."


Would I Play It? You know in space ... no one can hear you scream.

Dark Beast, Dark Name by Scott C.

The Good: Use of props and the idea that you're going to build the visage of this dark demon that might have taken over someone you know.


The Bad: It doesn't really make much sense.  I mean, there's a roleplay element but it's almost kind of superfluous.  This might have been better as an actual drawing/board game kind of thing rather than an RPG.


The Other: I love the fact that you bid secrets, another party game trick that's well used here.


Would I Play It? Nope, though I'm sure there's a party game in here somewhere.