The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Preamble

I like Atlas Games. I have ever since I came across Over the Edge, the game most responsible for my current very relaxed approach to role-playing games. Since then pretty much any game by Atlas has been on the "auto-purchase" list.

Furry Pirates may have changed all of this. I simply cannot fathom precisely what it is that Atlas Games is trying to achieve with this game. Basically, it takes a fringe genre (pirates and pretty much only pirates) and blends it with an even more fringe genre (so-called "furry"). Doing so seems to guarantee that this game will be sold to a very small number of people. (Now I'll be the first to admit that I just plain Don't Get the fascination with anthropomorphic animals in games, comics, etc., but I suspect I'm far from being the only person to do so.)

My biases now shown in sharp relief (it is important for a reviewer to do this in my opinion!), it's time to actually review the game. When I review a game, I like to answer two questions:

What is the game trying to achieve?
Does the game achieve this end?

(A third question, "Was it worth achieving this end?", I tend to leave to the readers to decide.)

What is the game trying to achieve?

Furry Pirates tries to be a game about anthropomorphic animals sailing the high seas as pirates in a quasi-historical environment. It comes complete with an alternate history strongly based upon our own, but with twists in it to suit the anthropomorphic animals and the dose of added magic. Like Albedo, this game takes itself very seriously. This could be a good thing or a bad thing depending upon your tastes.

Does the game achieve this end?

In one respect it accomplishes its goals very well. In another it fumbles the job completely. Let's look at the success first.

Where the game is successful is in its source material. If you are absolutely interested in playing anthropomorphic animals sailing the high seas in search of battle and booty, the source material included in this game is perfect for you. Indeed it is hard to think of how it could be improved short of making it encyclopaedic! The historical revision work done to make a world which is essentially Earth with talking animals (and a bit of magic thrown in) coherent and plausible is second to none. This game's background is obviously a labour of love made by someone who has good taste.

Now we come to the failure: the game system itself. The core engine of Furry Pirates, as with the related game Furry Outlaws, is the so-called "Halogen" system. It is supposed to be a generic engine and, indeed, is such. It's just not a very good one. In a gaming market which includes a wide variety of generic game systems, there is really no need for yet another one.

The "Halogen" engine aside, there is another flaw with Furry Pirates rules. They don't actually particularly support the furry genre. A representative example will be necessary here:

When talking about species during character generation, an assertion is made that cat-like creatures and weasel-like creatures pack a lot of combat ability into a small package. Nowhere, however, in the actual rules for species is this substantiated. Indeed about the only major differentiator between animals' abilities in this game is size. With this a small dog and a small cat have pretty much the same combat abilities. About the only difference -- and it isn't spelled out, it has to be inferred -- is that cats have good claws. Given that most fighting will take place with swords and guns, this isn't really "a lot of combat ability" by any meaningful measure. The generic nature of the core system basically seems to eliminate the differentiation by species. This makes the game mechanics a bad match for the setting and genre.

Other information of potential interest

Being from Atlas Games, Furry Pirates is well-produced. The layout is clean and crisp. The organization of the rules is logical although the lack of an index detracts from this somewhat. Partially balancing out the missing index, however, is the detailed table of contents.

Summary

If the intersection of the furry genre and the semi-historical pirates genre interests you, this game may be worth picking up. Specifically it is worth picking up if you don't care about the lacklustre game system or are willing to do the work needed to port it to a more solid foundation. (FUDGE leaps to mind unbidden here.)

In all other situations this game really isn't worth picking up.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 2 (Sparse)

Furry Pirates
Author: Lise Breakey (Game Design: Bruce Thomas) Category: game Company/Publisher: Atlas Games Line: N/A Cost: US$22.95 Page count: 176 ISBN: 1-887801-72-3 Capsule Review by Michael T. Richter on 05/07/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Historical	Preamble I like Atlas Games. I have ever since I came across Over the Edge, the game most responsible for my current very relaxed approach to role-playing games. Since then pretty much any game by Atlas has been on the "auto-purchase" list. Furry Pirates may have changed all of this. I simply cannot fathom precisely what it is that Atlas Games is trying to achieve with this game. Basically, it takes a fringe genre (pirates and pretty much only pirates) and blends it with an even more fringe genre (so-called "furry"). Doing so seems to guarantee that this game will be sold to a very small number of people. (Now I'll be the first to admit that I just plain Don't Get the fascination with anthropomorphic animals in games, comics, etc., but I suspect I'm far from being the only person to do so.) My biases now shown in sharp relief (it is important for a reviewer to do this in my opinion!), it's time to actually review the game. When I review a game, I like to answer two questions: What is the game trying to achieve? Does the game achieve this end? (A third question, "Was it worth achieving this end?", I tend to leave to the readers to decide.) What is the game trying to achieve? Furry Pirates tries to be a game about anthropomorphic animals sailing the high seas as pirates in a quasi-historical environment. It comes complete with an alternate history strongly based upon our own, but with twists in it to suit the anthropomorphic animals and the dose of added magic. Like Albedo, this game takes itself very seriously. This could be a good thing or a bad thing depending upon your tastes. Does the game achieve this end? In one respect it accomplishes its goals very well. In another it fumbles the job completely. Let's look at the success first. Where the game is successful is in its source material. If you are absolutely interested in playing anthropomorphic animals sailing the high seas in search of battle and booty, the source material included in this game is perfect for you. Indeed it is hard to think of how it could be improved short of making it encyclopaedic! The historical revision work done to make a world which is essentially Earth with talking animals (and a bit of magic thrown in) coherent and plausible is second to none. This game's background is obviously a labour of love made by someone who has good taste. Now we come to the failure: the game system itself. The core engine of Furry Pirates, as with the related game Furry Outlaws, is the so-called "Halogen" system. It is supposed to be a generic engine and, indeed, is such. It's just not a very good one. In a gaming market which includes a wide variety of generic game systems, there is really no need for yet another one. The "Halogen" engine aside, there is another flaw with Furry Pirates rules. They don't actually particularly support the furry genre. A representative example will be necessary here: When talking about species during character generation, an assertion is made that cat-like creatures and weasel-like creatures pack a lot of combat ability into a small package. Nowhere, however, in the actual rules for species is this substantiated. Indeed about the only major differentiator between animals' abilities in this game is size. With this a small dog and a small cat have pretty much the same combat abilities. About the only difference -- and it isn't spelled out, it has to be inferred -- is that cats have good claws. Given that most fighting will take place with swords and guns, this isn't really "a lot of combat ability" by any meaningful measure. The generic nature of the core system basically seems to eliminate the differentiation by species. This makes the game mechanics a bad match for the setting and genre. Other information of potential interest Being from Atlas Games, Furry Pirates is well-produced. The layout is clean and crisp. The organization of the rules is logical although the lack of an index detracts from this somewhat. Partially balancing out the missing index, however, is the detailed table of contents. Summary If the intersection of the furry genre and the semi-historical pirates genre interests you, this game may be worth picking up. Specifically it is worth picking up if you don't care about the lacklustre game system or are willing to do the work needed to port it to a more solid foundation. (FUDGE leaps to mind unbidden here.) In all other situations this game really isn't worth picking up. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 2 (Sparse)