Where do you find out about new RPGs (that you actually want to buy and play)?

Where do you find out about new RPGs (that you actually want to buy and play)?

Ugh this question! “Google Plus,” folks, really? Let’s get specific. I’ll go first.

Here are my ten most recent arrivals, and my best recollection of how they found their way into my grubby paws:

Masks: I had just played Epyllion with Marissa Kelly at…RinCon, maybe? 2015? And concurrent with that game was either a playtest or a demo of Masks. I’m pretty picky about my supers games so I shrugged and moved on. Got spammed by Magpie, shrugged again. But MadJay Brown and Kit La Touche and others whose opinions I value mentioned it again, so I went for it.

Monsterhearts 2: Tough one. I had MH1, tried it, didn’t really feel it. But the design work is undeniable. I think I only heard about the release of 2E via plus-sharing (turn it on, people!) because I don’t hang in the Apocalypse World or Storygames communities. So…can’t remember who plussed it, but I’m pretty sure that’s how it went down. I remember not backing immediately because I felt like the odds of me pulling this together at some point were pretty slim.

Apocalypse World 2: from Vincent Baker’s personal announcement, I’m thinking, here in the Plus. Unless…you know, I think it was actually one of his Patreon folks dropping coy little hints about early stuff like the road war rules. Might have also been Meguey Baker’s posts of their family playtesting.

Blades in the Dark: I’ve been trying to remember exactly what the infection vector was. It’s been a while, what with the late release and all. I think I got turned onto the Kickstarter because this and Project: Dark were sorta-kinda simultaneous. Might have been a KS announcement from when a friend backed it. Dunno. This one’s a mystery shrouded by time.

Tales From the Loop: Followup email from Fria Ligan announcing the upcoming Kickstarter because they had my email from Mutant: Year Zero. Then someone started posting images and wow! Probably at the bottom of this list in terms of me actually wanting to run it, though.

Coriolis: another Fria Ligan email, I think. So: Kickstarter followup emails, either from the same publisher or cross-promoting their friends, is turning out to be a big lead.

Unknown Armies 3: I’m pretty sure this was Brand Robins hype, which might have started all the way back to talking UA with him and Mikael Andersson at Dreamation 2016. I believe the actual announcement came via Cam Banks here in the Plus.

Inheritance: This one I heard about second-hand from…I want to say BurningCon 2012, maybe. It was the first time I discovered I wasn’t nearly as deep into the BWHQ inner circle as I had led myself to believe. I seem to remember some furtive talk about it after luke crane ran it and folks talked about it some. I distinctly remember feeling left out! Ehh, whatever, I’ll pretty much buy whatever they put out.

Meridian: This came straight from Christian Griffen’s own hype, following on my dissatisfaction with our first exposure to Fall of Magic. Good price point, good form factor, nice experience.

Ghost Court: Pretty sure it started with photos and teasers here in Plus straight from Jason Morningstar aaaand…I want to say Kristin Firth maybe? Followed by “so and so has backed” phone notifications from Kickstarter. That reminds me, I need to turn off the KS app notifications before I go broke(r).

0 thoughts on “Where do you find out about new RPGs (that you actually want to buy and play)?”

  1. AW2: From Vincent Baker as well

    Blades in the Dark for me came from Sage LaTorra and Adam Blinkinsop ‘s excellent Another Question podcast

    Meridian from Christian Griffen, as well

    Top Secret New World Order… Can’t remember.

    Star Trek Adventures, straight from Modiphius, but only got enthused when watching Justinian Herzog ‘s excellent videos on it.

    Villains and Vigilantes 3.0 from Mark Delsing

    Coriolis from some rando named Beakley… 😛

  2. Stop flaunting your flawless memory at us, Paul.

    And “Where do you hear about…” and “What made you pull the trigger…” are sorta separate questions. I hear about lots of games on G+. Buying decisions rely on a complex algorithm​ that lives in a black box in my brain.

  3. At the risk of sounding stupid(er)…. the idea of the entire exercise is to share your enthusiasm of RPGs with other folks who might not have heard of these games, right? What’s Jason Corley ‘s scathing insight that I’m missing? ( as I usually do. I’m looking around the toolshed here, and there sure seem to be a lot of sharper tools… 😛 )

  4. Isn’t hearing about games via friends and connectivity kinda Millenial and anti-capitalist? E.g., the inefficacy of traditional marketing in the current age, buying direct from creators, funding labors of love, etc.

  5. Damnit Paul Beakley! I’d heard of only half of those titles and now I have to go buy the other half. I need to get off G+ to slow down my rampant consumerism.

  6. One episode of Will Wheaton’s Tabletop made me want to buy and play FATE Core.

    I mentioned somewhere that it would be cool to have a game set in Steven Brust’s Dragaeran setting and got the advice to check out Blades in the Dark. So far that setting is a no show, but the game seems really cool.

    I found out about Symbaroum after doing an extensive search on the internet looking for a modern fantasy game that was better than my favorite game from the 80’s. That game, the original Drakar och Demoner, hadn’t aged very well.

    I had of course heard of Dungeons and dragons many, many times before, but I had no idea there was a 5th edition until I saw the Starter set in my FLGS.

  7. Apocalypse World 2, maybe I heard it earlier, but I really didn’t pay attention to it until I saw “Apocalypse World In Print Again!” on Vincent’s (now almost inactive) blog… I dunno if I will pick it up or not. I actually kind of doubt I will ever play any of the PbtA games…

  8. I like answering this question with specifics!

    Bluebeard’s Bride? Two Big Bad Cons ago, run by Whitney Beltrán. Great game and great post-game discussion.

    The Warren? I think three Big Bad Cons ago. A two-hour games on demand run by Jason Morningstar and playing with Josh Roby and others who I can’t remember sadly. The tight move set, characterization, and stark horror drew me in.

    Mutant Year Zero? Some rando who writes the only APs I bother to read. I should just pony up some redonx ebay money and get a copy…

    Lincoln Green? Epidiah Ravachol laying hints on his G+ feed and then going nuts with #Greenwoodwednesday I’m so excited for this game, I almost bought a used Rolemaster Robin Hood campaign book. I probably still will, as it’s got a gorgeous cover.

    Gloomhaven? Sophie Lagace and Edmund Metheny have been playing and posting about it. YEAH, I’M CALLING IT A RPG! Who cares, it looks dope. I wish I heard about it back when it was in print.

    Action Movie World? Richard Rogers interviewing Ian Williams on Plus One Forward. I don’t think many PbtA games do much that is new, mechanically, and that’s fine and even better when it comes to playability, but this one has a cool meta mechanic which I hated at first and now I love.

    I could go on…

  9. Oh yeah Gloomhaven! I’m in for the reprint. Just plowed some slush fund money into the Broken Token organizer, which makes it maybe my second most expensive all-in game buy. (First is all my Armada.)

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