Not-So-Short and Sweet: RPG books.

I own hundreds of RPGs (mostly thanks to the Bundle of Holding). Problem is: I have read only a fraction of them¹.

Part of the issue is time, obviously. I cannot afford to sit down and read 400-page books every two days. So how do I prioritize the ones to read, or at least explore?

Most of the time I end up reading reviews to understand what makes a given RPG different or special: What are the innovative mechanics, clever twists, or unique settings? This is actually very ironic: While I have the actual books, I end up going somewhere else to understand whether I should read them.

I believe RPGs could do much better at communicating upfront what makes them special.

A few books manage to do it. Circle of Hands has a 2-page “Absolute Rundown” that gives you the gist of the setting and rules. Cryptomancer or HillFolk explain clearly and early on why their RPG exists and what they wanted to achieve.

Others manage to engage their readers with clear layout, upbeat tone, and easy-to-grasp content (Index Card RPG comes to mind). Yet another approach: While I usually tend to skip play descriptions, Shinogigami does a great job at introducing the game concepts and atmosphere through an example session, before introducing any of the game mechanics in subsequent chapters.

So articulating why your game is different or interesting is a critical element in a market where RPGs abound. At the same time, maybe most RPGs don’t need to be 400-page long to begin with.