PEGBRJE: Software of Page 18
Got something for.. well, a lot of people.
Never Knows Best: Ashcan Edition
Created by Cyberpunk aficionado Fraser Simons, Never Knows Best is a tabletop focusing on middle school kids and their upcoming adulthood reality; last time I checked, we just called this ‘existential life crises’ but that’s okay. Utilizing a GM to help the flow of the game, players will be wading through the waters of a kid’s mind through bizarre motifs and absurdism to help convey society’s expectations and demands, be that through literal creation of monsters or through metaphors instead. Now this is an Ashcan version, meaning that it is not complete — won’t lie, never knew of this term to describe an unfinished title — and is still looking for feedback. So if you enjoy more absurdist-style humor (FLCL is a stated influence) you might want to try this out and give some feedback.
Wampus
Hold on a second, this is a game! What the heck man, did you mess up a second time?
No, random voice that I have created to hyperbolize my own insecurity with making this decision; this is intentional.
See, Wampus is a NES game, much like the Micro Mages that came many page prior. However, unlike Micro Mages there was no PC version and it requires an emulator to play. This brought me to an uncomfortable dilemma — I could download an emulator and play, which I’ve done for many other titles, but it also felt a tad odd to write an overview for a game that required a completely new environment to play from the rest of the titles. It reminded me more of the TTRPGs that I had overviewed so far, how they were still games but I bundled them together with the software due to the different nature in how they need to be approached to play, so I made my decision. Call me petty if you will, I guess.
Wampus is a narrative adventure made by Dr. John Vanderhoef, a writer and game developer who enjoys making titles for the NES while also being, well, a professor. It won’t take long to dive headfirst in to its themes, primarily those that discuss environmentalism and what can happen when a land is plundered for its bounty by those that have no reason to be concerned by their actions. If you wish to try this out for yourself, simply follow the guides given on the itch.io page below.
Skeleton Song
Have you ever wondered what it feels to be murdered? Obviously not, but Skeleton Song by Jacquelin Bryk delves in to what happens to those that die to a serial killer are all coalesced together and no longer considered ‘people’, but trophies. Aspects of the serial killer themselves, rather than individuals who were taken. This is a feminine TTRPG ‘LARP’ as it were, focusing on the lives that had been stolen not just organically, but also being stolen historically. It’s a deep dive in to the cost that we have by ‘uplifting’ serial killers, wanting to know the mentality that can cause people to do such horrible things rather than remember those that were taken because of the actions of another. It deals in some serious themes (if that wasn’t obvious) within its 2-ish hour time, and many will find it uncomfortable. Do be careful exploring this tale, for its visuals and themes will definitely distress some. For those that wish to delve, find yourself the party size and begin your tale.
Pixel Button Prompts!
An entire pack of retro icons created by Retrocade Media, it contains icons for all kinds of controllers such as xbox, dualshock, switch, default microsoft controllers and so many more. It also contains mouse and keyboard icons for all those retro titles that need them, and even a joystick for joystick players. The big thing is that all of these retro icons have animations included; most of them are for pressing the button (indicate to press the button) with the joysticks also rotating for the fun. If you are looking to input some icons in to your games or for just fun, try this out!
PQ93
In a twist of fate, this is an engine/console made by pennie who works primarily in this console. It’s primary utilization is creating tiny games within a Gameboy resolution (160x144), C++ and the Moonscript framework which I hadn’t heard of prior to this console. It’s truly a bizarre yet powerful little piece of software, allowing for the creation of little sprite centric games thanks to a command shell and editors for all of the different sprites and codes that one may wish to include. If you want to play around with some 2D game possibilities, this might be a good place to explore.
Two Years of Mini-RPGs, 2017–2019
As almost spelled out in the title, Emojk created at least one mini TTRPG every month for two whole years, and here is the entire anthology of them. There are so many different kinds of RPGs within that it would be impossible to cover them all, from a solo adventure to a LARP to an escape room somehow. There’s most likely something for everyone within, so parse through and see what you can find.
Godsend
As the avatar of your god, you explore the world as you see fit in this alternate setting to the TTRPG Legacy: Life Among the Ruins 2nd Edition, changing the setting from post-apocalyptic to medieval apocalyptic. Created by UFO Press (creators of Legacy and many other TTRPGs) players will shift their focus to seeing how they will handle the encroaching end of days as they attempt to tell their own tale. The interesting part is that it is a diceless title, with players bending to others and pushing another group to see what the outcomes could be, relying less on chance and more on consequence. Seeing as players are the avatar of a god, there’s a chance for certain gods to clash and disagree, which can cause tension between players or individuals aligned on opposite ends. There’s a lot to unpack and learn, and the gorgeous artwork will be with you every step of the way to help. Can’t lie, I thought I recognized the art from a video game title, with Jess Taylor’s work being fantastically expressive in its imagery. Regardless, good luck with saving the world — or perhaps, not.
The Bonds That Tie Us
Rounding out Page 18 is another GM-less TTRPG made by Drazillion, an individual who has created many pieces of TTRPG content, visual novels and twines with some being compatible with 5e. In this particular instance, players will be joining together to creative a narrative with a focus on relationships, utilizing a six sided dice and sliders to help create or destroy relationships; and I don’t just mean romantically either. This building of narratives focuses primarily on the stress that each interaction can create, and thanks to the simple rolling can be quite easy to understand as the challenge is in the conversations and scenarios that are created. As someone pointed out below in the comments, this could also work fantastically as a session-zero for another TTRPG or novel series where character relationships needed fleshing out and understanding. It’s open enough for multiple interpretations, yet the mechanics are solid to handle them all. Try it out and see for yourself!
And so we end this page, and turn over another.
