Quest is a fantasy-setting, DaD style, simple story-telling game, meant to be a basic entry-level RPG. You pick 1 out of 3 classes to play, apply the simple concepts, and play the game. That's it - that's all you get for $5.

Note: the PDF does not include the cover art.

LAYOUT / ART: Good layout, shows promise for a Work-In-Progress (but fails as a Finished Work). With the sketchiness of the rules, it's hard to tell if this is a "finished work" or if this is an attempt to sell a test-drive advertisement. If it is a TDA, then I am sorely disappointed in CSG's approach and I feel like I have been tricked into buying a "used car without wheels". I hope this is not the case.

GAME SYSTEM: Simple to a fault - if you are looking for something innovative here, you look in vain. Crystal Star Games have a great idea, but they did not "follow through with the shot" and hence, they "fell short of the green".

• (If you like to engineer and tweek your games, this may not be a bad choice for you to tinker with - there's enough here to cook up a decent game with.)

GAME PLAY: It plays OK -- overly simple, but it's so easy, a caveman can do it. Hey, an empty soda bottle could play this game ...

CONCLUSION: It's a decent, simple game that is over-priced at $5. However, CSG promises to make "advanced, expert" rules that may close the gap between a great game and a flop. (Only time will tell.)

WHAP is a bare-bones, almost no "flesh" quasi-ruleset for playing pulp action adventures that would date from the 1860s to the 1930s. This is a short, 50 page book that is severely over-priced. When I downloaded the product, it didn't even come with the cover (seen here). I don't know if the PDF is only a part of the printed work, or if it is, in fact, the whole enchilada. Whatever it is, this game feels like it is unfinished and headed on the wrong track, mechanics-wise.

RATINGS: Is it ... 1) Straight-forward? Yes, but that's done by accident - not design. There isn't enough typing, background info, explanation, or story-line present to cause any kind of deviation from the subject. 2) Easy to Teach? No: this game uses formulas of addition, mixing and matching abilities / attributes, to produce calculated secondary attributes. This method is not "going the extra mile"; it's "going in the wrong direction". 3) Easy to Play? Not really: the results are gleaned after reading formulas - not after reading dice or reading the GM's reaction. 4) Appealing? Yes, the idea is appealing, and the cover art seems promising (on the computer, reduced in size). However, close examination and reading the rules will kill any pre-conceived joy. 5) Functional or Creative? Neither: in my opinion, this game, this game book, this rule set is not finished. It's not even out of the gate.

I am not happy with this purchase. Peryton Publishing needs to drop back and punt on WHAP ... or, send it to the side-lines for good.

The reason for buying this product is for the information in it. The game system is entirely dated, and overly complex, but it has a lot of information about how to run starships, psionics, weapons and types of items. It is loaded with stuff.

• Us older gamers will buy it for nostalgia too.

However, I must rate it as a stand-alone game, for it may be the only game someone plays. If this person stops at this game, it would be a shame for him to miss out on the other excellent products available.

QUALITY: Fair VALUE: Good EASE OF PLAY: Poor VOLUME OF INFORMATION: Excellent LAYOUT: Poor ARTWORK: Good (but BW and limited)

As some reviewers have already stated, this is a good game, with one major flaw: the abilities are redundant. What I have done is to re-work them down to about 50% of the number of abilities to choose from, which makes the game simpler, without really destroying its versatility. Other than that, this game is a good buy.

I rated it a 3 because this one problem is a major flaw of the system that must be over-come if you want to play OVA; you must fix this fact, in order to make the game work well.

Why not just have one ability description, and call the ability or weakness by another name to add flavor? That way, one rule works for 2 or 3 abilities; makes a simpler, shorter rule book too.

IMHO

Simply put, Ex Machina is Shadowrun for the Tri Stat system. If you already have Shadowrun, you may want to skip this one; the information is very similar in function. However, it is a good product, and the price is just right, even if you already have another cyberpunk world setting. WRITING: Excellent LAYOUT / ART: Excellent, though "ink heavy" when printed QUALITY and VALUE: Both are good

U want to like "U", but I couldn't get past some of the clunkiness of this game. I have said it before and I will say it again -- layout and design matter. This game might be fun to play, but the art and the layout of the book is amateur and predicable (not in a good way). U will buy this game, read it, and think, "well, I want to try it, but the layout makes it confusing, so I will wait until later, when I have some free time, to try it out." It's odd how the free time will never come.

Other than that, I think this might be an OK game to play. It has some concepts that are nifty at first, but you get over that quickly. The core mechanic is not entirely original, although they do throw a surprise in there for you ... if I reveal it, then I will spoil what little this game has going for it.

You see - I keep typing this review, so it proves I want to like it, but I just can't bring myself to. Even at its economical price tag.

A must-have, if you bought QAGS. For the price, there's no reason to refuse purchase: you might as well have the full set. This book is exactly what it says it is, yet the tables are not so "dumb", if you ask me. A fun game to play, and this book makes the game better.

A simple book for a simple concept. The art is well-done, the presentation is quick, easy to understand, and painless. This is a winner, if you like simple dungeon crawling and you want a set of rules to guide you on how to make a quick and easy one page dungeon, for any story or game system.

This is a good looking magazine. I hope Dream Pod 9 gives information for it's other games too, like Jovian Chronicles, Core Command, and event the Silhouette Core rules. QUALITY: Excellent VALUE: Excellent

I know what you're asking: "why in the world would you want to rate a free game? Isn't it easy enough to download it for yourself?" Good question, one that deserves a good answer: I believe in giving credit where credit is due.

OVERVIEW: Engle Matrix is a story-telling game, simple in design and function. Most of you hard-core, crunchy RPGers won't like it; there's no meat to sink your teeth into. None the less, it is a good idea and a likeable game.

Go ahead and download it. Try it on for size. For the creatively-challenged, it's a good fit.

GAME SYSTEM PLAYABILITY: Strong

ATTENTION TO DETAIL: Fair

REPLAY VALUE: Strong

CHARACTER PROGRESSION: Weak

COMPATIBILITY: Strong

Star System Generator is a helpful, simple, bare-bones booklet that shows you how to adopt your game system / core mechanic to a science-fiction, space fantasy setting. A detailed and dynamic story-creating chart system is included with the other basic space opera material. You get what you pay for -- and then some!

Stuperpowers is a spoofish rule system for comic book hero roleplaying. Oddly enough, there are a lot of unique ideas in Stuperpowers, which makes it worth the money you pay for it. However, it is also filled with mature subjects and corse language and themes. While it looks like it would be a good game to introduce to kids, it is not: it is for mature reading audiences only. I think this is a shame, because otherwise it would have been a pretty good game for potential new gamers, especially the younger ones.

INNOVATIVE CONCEPTS Good SIMPLE TO PLAY Yes, extremely SUBJECT MATTER Bad STORY AND CONCEPT Good INTERESTING GAME TO PLAY Yes

Open Core Quick is a "rules-light" system that seems to be based on Open Core. You get the bare-basics of the system, with an extensive list of skills, abilities, and traits for character creation.

Although it’s a complete game (with this edition), you won't feel that you have the complete game, unless you get the Open Core Rules also. This seems to be the “bare bones” of what Open Core has to offer, but it definitely works as it is. (I have yet to buy the Open Core rules so far - March 2010 - but, I have a feeling that OCQ is the "appetizer", while Open Core is the "main course".

It is a multi-genre, versatile, cinematic game system; it even has a scale function - something that seems to be lacking with most cinematic story RPGs. While most story RPGs imbed the scale with the skills and traits (ie: if you have Flame Power, you can fry the entire group of minions), OCQ scales the traits with a numerical function - and it seems to work well for what it is.

The text is easy to read and straight-forward, but there are some spelling errors and information inconsistencies. You may need to examine your copy closely and make some necessary, yet simple corrections to the information. (For example, there are 6 derived scores, not 5 derived scores.) I don’t mind a few errors here and there, but if you are fussy about perfection, then this game book may get on your nerves somewhat.

The art is simple and sketchy - and, for the price, that’s fine. Some of the art is pretty good, some seems a little rushed or sub-standard, but you get what you pay for. The cover is pretty good, especially the drawn figures.

Some things I would have liked to see is a little more “meat” in the text, some genre specific rules, or other information to help flesh out the game. Not a big problem, since I like to play “standard games with a twist” - for example, fantasy genre with a twist of cartoony action. OCG can handle that type of thing.

Since this is the “quick” version, everything in the book is needed to play. There is no waste of space. All things considered, it is a good system, solid and predictable. Actually, it copies some ideas I have been using for years, but that’s OK - I am glad to see good concepts in simple games.

All in all, worth the money you pay for it. If you like to build robust rules from framework systems, you will like this game. If you are looking for a heavy, crunchy game, then you may want to skip OCQ and get Open Core instead. (I liked the cover, so even if I have to get Open Core later, I think I made a good purchase.)

The name says it all: it's a BUST. (I would leave it at that, but I have to type 50 characters for DTRPG to list my review.)

POW core rules / March 2010: OVERVIEW -- A workable system with some great ideas. The art is pretty good for the price, and there are some surprises and concepts worth having. It has a serious flaw: no support for expansion. If you like to tweak things and create your own worlds, this system would work OK for you. It's hard to see how it will play, without a sample of how to create a game. This is where it lacks. There are some mentioned game world books, but Ican't seem to easily find them, plus the subject worlds are unique in nature. POW needs a standard world to compare itself to other game systems. For the price, it is definately worth it.