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REVIEWER NAME: Dave Michael
1) CREATIVE AND EFFECTIVE INCORPORATION OF RULES (1-10): 9
Feedback:
Ancient was a stretch, but you got them all in there.

2) CLARITY (1-10): 9
Feedback:
The game is so simple, there was not much to explain.

3) COMPLETENESS (1-10): 9
Feedback:
It is complete, but it is more of a novelty than a proper game.

4) ESTIMATED EFFECTIVENESS IN PLAY (1-10): 8
Feedback:
You can play it as written, but there not much of the play would be
supplied by the game.

5) SWING VOTE (1-10): 4
Final Feedback:
It's a cool idea, but not a lot of substance. I think it might be
fun toi try once, but can;t imagine it lasting up to continued play...

TOTAL SCORE (add items 1 through 5, above): 39

OK, there's more than one thread for this game, but this one seemed the most approriate one to hang my review on.

As an aside, this may be the first time in this competition that the review takes longer to read than the game itself...

Note: "First Impressions" don't affect final scores. They're just there to give an impression of what leapt out from an initial viewing. I'm hoping this is useful to anyone who's planning on publishing and selling their game.

Doug's Review of Tippling, by Joshua BishopRoby

First impressions: “Roledrinking”, cool! I love the idea of having the rules on a stein, that’s very original, and a good way to sell a product. Hang on, this doesn’t look like a complete game to me, what’s going on?

Analysis: this is a cool and original idea for a game. Beyond the initial gimickery, it features support for using alcohol consumption as a means of distributing narrative authority, how freaking cool is that? Lighthearted immersive roleplaying + telling tall tales + beer = good in my opinion.

I’m going to note that – like all drinking games – there is the possibility that someone could get stinkingly, inappropriately drunk playing this game. What’s more interesting is that, by using drinking as a resource, you have the potential for tension between drinking for in-game purposes, and drinking because you want to drink.

It’s like a grown up version of RPGs for children, where you give the kids sweets that they can eat to gain a Luck Point (or something similar), and the greedy kid in the corner eats all their sweets in the first 5 minutes.

As far as the rules of the game go, the first two sections (Introducing Yourself and Boasting) are good and solid. I particularly like the use of the Honorific as a combined character name and potential plot hook (as exemplified by the Sorrow.)

However, things start to go a bit downhill from here. Put simply, the rules are a way off being complete. I actually emailed Andy after my first reading of the game to make absolutely sure that there wasn’t a second page missing form the file.

My biggest issues with the rules is that Empties appear to serve no purpose whatsoever. They have no mechanical impact on who gets to do what in game, so they’re not a currency. It’s possible that they are the means of keeping score (whoever has the most Empties wins) – however, if this is true, then the rest of the resolution system is pretty pointless.

This links into the wider point that there are no clear and up-front goals for the players or characters. There are implied goals – for the characters, it could be to keep talking as long as possible, or for the other characters to agree with your version of events. For the players, it could be to score the most Empties, or to maintain the spotlight while the other players acknowledge your coolness, or to be the last person at the table capable of playing the game!

This may appear somewhat harsh, as there doesn’t need to be this level of rigour in what is effectively a drinking game. The point of playing is simply to play, and have fun, and shoot the shit. However, if I’m considering it as a roleplaying game, then it’s a critical weakness.

One other minor rules question: when a player stops narrating (by going In Their Cups or Bottoms Up), another player takes over narration. How is this decided?

Personally, I would like to see Empties incorporated as a sort of voting block: the more Empties you have, the more weight you carry in the ‘I’ll Drink to That!” phase. If this is supported by somehow allowing people to drink in favour of the original speaker, instead of just against him, then this would go a long way to tidying up the rules. As for goals, just make it explicit that it’s a boasting contest, and the most entertaining player ‘wins’ by general acclaim. The mechanics are then just a way of putting pressure on your competitors.

Overall, this is an original and entertaining concept, an almost-RPG if you like (“roledrinking” is an excellent name for it, and emphasizes that the author is helping to create a new genre.) It is let down somewhat by the rules implementation, but is very close to being a playable – and saleable – product. Kudos.

1) CREATIVE AND EFFECTIVE INCORPORATION OF RULES (1-10): 3

Feedback: Low marks in this area I’m afraid. It’s not enough to say the game is 2 hours long, and not have any rules for what happens at the end of the 2 hours – sorry, but I’m flunking it on this section. Use of Glass is highly original and effective, use of Emotion (Sorrow) is less spectacular but acceptable. However, use of Ancient (venerable, and I think that’s it) is a cop-out. This levels out to ok (on average) use of ingredients, no effective use of time, so that’s 3 points.


2) CLARITY (1-10): 9

Feedback: I’m going to have to be careful to separate Clarity from Completeness for this game. The rules which are present are very easy to read and understand, and it was easy to understand and review this game as a result. The largest clarity issue is about who narrates next (and is mentioned above), so the game falls slightly short of perfection in this category, and scores a whopping 9 points.

3) COMPLETENESS (1-10): 5

Feedback: This is a tough one to call. On the one hand, the lack of clearly communicated goals is a gaping hole in the heart of this game. On the other hand, that’s very easily fixed. As I’ve been wavering between Andy’s suggested coments for 3 point and 7 point awards, I’m going to sit on the fence and give this game 5 points, which will probably please no-one. Oh well.

4) ESTIMATED EFFECTIVENESS IN PLAY (1-10): 5

Feedback: This game stretches, but does not entirely break, the parameters of a “roleplaying game”, and I see no reason to punish the game for not being traditional. however, the lack of clear goals in play – and therefore, a lack of means to support those goals - does diminish it’s standing as a roleplaying game, and I do not feel that I can justify awarding more than 5 points in this category as a result. I’m not awarding less as the issues are easily resolved, but they cannot be ignored.

5) SWING VOTE (1-10): 9

Final Feedback: Despite my concerns with some areas of the game as written, I found the whole concept very entertaining and ingenious. Although this game did not bring a tear to my eye, it brought a smile to my face. Add the fact that there are (IMHO) genuinely innovative concepts, and that you can buy this game and get a FREE BEER GLASS (or vice versa), and this game earns a just-short of perfection 9 points in this last category.

TOTAL SCORE (add items 1 through 5, above): 31 points

Ew, beer.

See, I imagine this with a mixed drink of some kind -- not very dwarfy, no, but... ew, beer.

I very nearly made alternate wine-swilling rules for elves, too.

Just out of interest, Joshua, how do you see this game? Is it a bit of a joke, or a sort of rough game that you think has some merit to it, or actually quite a good game?

Graham