All of the past board games that I've reviewed are board games. This one will not be, but I figured that I'd include it in the board games name, because it's in that vein of games (played with friends, not a video game, etc.) So, without further ado, I present to you the Indie RPG known as...
Fiasco
"Fiasco is inspired by cinematic tales of small time capers gone disastrously wrong – inspired by films like Blood Simple, Fargo, The Way of the Gun, Burn After Reading, and A Simple Plan. You’ll play ordinary people with powerful ambition and poor impulse control. There will be big dreams and flawed execution. It won’t go well for them, to put it mildly, and in the end it will probably all go south in a glorious heap of jealousy, murder, and recrimination. Lives and reputations will be lost, painful wisdom will be gained, and if you are really lucky, your guy just might end up back where he started."So, what do you need to play it? Fortunately, not much:
•3-5 players
•4 dice per person, 2 light and 2 dark (light for good resolutions, dark for bad)
•A Fiasco Playset {free ones are offered on the site}
•A copy of the Fiasco Tilt Table and the Fiasco Aftermath Table {Gotta buy the book or PDF for this one}
•Something to write with and on (the game suggests index cards and pencils)
•90 minutes - 3 Hours
Things start out normally, but quickly get out of hand. It's a game of escalating stakes, shifty characters and strong motivation. Everything may not be related at the beginning, but by the end everyone is usually in a huge entangled web of events, from which they can neither escape each other or their fates.
Pros:
•Deep character development
•You can drag others down with you, to create hilariously tense moments
•A story is crafted in the time it takes to watch one unfold in a movie
•Requires lots of thinking
•Game progression is escalated and controlled by the players
•Easily changed to fit the players {There aren't imagination police, so why not?}
•Game doesn't slow down after the start of act 1
•Allows room for beautiful nuances
•Twistedly lighthearted
Cons:
•It only works if everyone is invested in it
•Can be derailed if someone just argues their way through everything
•Requires lots of consensus... lots.
•Best if the players are comfortable with each other, because some of the subject matter is heavy
•There is no winner. Everyone loses to some degree. (Not exactly a con, just something to note)
•Starting act 1 on the first game can feel intimidating
Final Thoughts:
Dude. Great game if you have awesome friends. Get the gang together, and play the heck out of this game! It's a fun time for all!
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I've also included some story from my first game. This is as I remember it, and some of the details are a bit fuzzy. If something wasn't right, well then, whoopsie. :P
It's setup so that people can just scroll by if they want, but if you'd like to read it, you should! It all started very normally, I was a community worker who just happened to drive a van full of weed in a small rural town...
