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Graboid Hunter's itch.io pageResults
Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
Potential | #4 | 2.772 | 3.250 |
Theme | #4 | 3.624 | 4.250 |
Presentation | #4 | 1.492 | 1.750 |
Mechanics | #4 | 2.772 | 3.250 |
Overall | #4 | 2.665 | 3.125 |
Ranked from 4 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Game Type
Paperless RPG game
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Comments
I can't really say much, I've only seen like the second half of tremors 3, which luckily is enough to know about everything mentioned in this game. Sweet. I feel like I should watch the rest, but I also feel like I already saw all there is to it. Anyway, to the game:
Potential: It's a franchise-emulator, and a very narrow one at that. I can see some fun evenings, but no regular replays here.
Mechanics: It's very, very different. That's its biggest strength. I might've expected a little more incentive to construct and deploy rube-goldberg level plans that require mental gymnastics and elaborate bullshitting, but that's sadly only a slice of the mechanics instead of their very cornerstone. Nonetheless, it's a neat ressource management game that doesn't feel like it can be solved to easily.
Presentation: The writing is fun, but might get more emotion out of an actual Tremors fan. The text isn't formated all that clean, especially compared to the competition, and I'm still not quite sure wether starting out as experienced or rookie hunter is purely a "difficulty setting" option or if there is a deeper logic or limitation to it. The complete lack of any grapic elements is a bit sad, but doesn't actively hurt the whole.
Theme: It is what it's supposed to be, and it deliberately takes on elements of the source material into its gameplay not only as something hinted in the fluff, but as the primary resolution mechanic. That kind of out-of-the-box thinking deserves recognition, and I think it would make Burt proud if he were into TTRPGs.
I really liked the writing in this, it was funny but not too much. The mechanics are very unique and easy to understand. I like the theme too, Tremors is great.
The biggest flaw in this was the visual aspect, obviously it's very basic. Some art of the graboids and whatnot could really add some flavor to this. Other than that I think it could probably use some balancing and playtesting to get the prices of things right.
Graboid Hunter has you take on a role that's exactly what it says on the tin. You and your friends are tasked with hunting Graboids, pre-cambrian monstrosities that are known for causing mayhem and destruction within the "Tremors" series who are infamous for evolving into deadlier forms with each subsequent sequel.
Potential: The potential is fairly high for this game since it has six movies and a series to draw inspiration from. The concept of using coins to resolve conflicts as a player, while the GM uses dice for the enemy whose value can be hidden or rolled openly depending on whether the titular graboid is underground or not.
Mechanics: The overall mechanics for the game were honestly a tad confusing the first time I read it, due in part to spelling and grammatical issues that made it difficult to understand how certain rules worked until I sat down and reread the passage until something clicked. Once you get over the initial hurdle however, it's a pretty simple and straight-forward resolution mechanic. The GM rolls a die for the Graboids while the players put down coins (dimes, nickels, quarters, etc.) in order to exceed the value of the roll. Whichever side has the lower value gets a defeat, which can lead to death if one side earns too many of them (typically 1-3), though any change that you put down is lost between rounds due to Graboids finding ways to work around your tactics. Graboids have different variants that each roll their own dice pool and also offers their own rewards in the form of pennies (used to buy equipment and weapons later on) in order to hunt more Graboids and reap more rewards for doing so.
Presentation: While it's certainly not the most exciting presentation I've seen, it also serves its purposes well enough as far as making sure that all the information presented is organized in a way that makes it easy to find information. With that being said, the game still has a lot of dead space throughout its presentation, there's instances where gaps will appear randomly between paragraphs, not to mention the aforementioned spelling/grammar mistakes that makes it difficult to understand the organization of the rules at times. It's certainly nothing that cannot be fixed later on, but as far as what I've seen, it could really use some work in this aspect specifically.
Theme: As far as the theme goes, it does succeed in evoking the overall tone of the "Tremors" films both in its narration and the way that it presents and explains its mechanics. Some passages really reflects the feeling present throughout the film, juxtaposing the horrifying brutality in how people can routinely be dispatched by Graboids alongside humor that made the films so memorable in the first place.
Overall: While Graboid Hunters is indeed rough around the edges in terms of its mechanics and how it chooses to present it, it should not dissuade those who have even a casual understanding of the "Tremors" films from at least giving it a chance.