The Inside Scoop on Gaming

*sigh*

This...this is the third time I've tried to review this game. Every time I've tried before, it just hasn't come out right. It's like...it's like...here, let's do a quick, easy simulation. It's interactive, so stand up.

Go to the kitchen.

Snag your favorite foodstuff from the fridge, pantry, or counter.

Stuff your mouth full of this delicacy. Full, I said. Comin' out your nostrils.

Now tell me what it tastes like.

And this, my friends, is exactly what it's like to attempt a review of Chris Engle's "The Matrix Game!".

But this is for RPG Net, where I've built a small circle of friends from all over the world. I owe it to you, my peers, my fellows, my very gaming kin, to review this game for you.

Quickly stated: If you are a gamer, and you can breathe, you can play this and you will LOVE it.

I am a bit biased, here -- the designer is a friend of mine, and he has the courtesy to laugh at my lame-ass jokes. But none of that matters. All that matters is that this game rocks, it's totally rad, and -- and I'm going to use the "R" word here, because it just might apply:

REVOLUTIONARY.

But is it, really? Well, I think so -- or it's damned close anyway. You decide.

"The Matrix Game!" is not really an RPG. It's more of a...a simulator, using logic as its engine. The British military uses it to simulate conflict resolution. Since it is well and truly universal like no game ever before it, you can use it for any sertting, not to mention any kind of game: role-playing, wargaming, political sim...I don't care. Honestly. Miniatures, even. Whatever you want.

Man, this is a hard review.

Here's how you play: you define a Matrix, being composed of People, Places and Things; You make Arguments, being statements with results, that involve this Matrix; You judge the relative strength of those arguments, and depending upon the logic behind them, roll a die to see if they happen.

Your matrix can be anything. *Anything*. Say it's Middle Earth -- your People are Gandalf, Frodo, Gollum, etc.; your Places are The Shire, Bag End, etc.; your Things are The One Ring, Galadriel's mirror, etc. The People, Places and Things are further defined, usually on little cards. Gandalf might have a card that says, "A powerful wizard who has seemingly endless knowledge and can cast spells", for instance. Usually, no one player controls any one character, but this is always an option -- the game does use a referee, but the ref has less power than most refs do in other games.

If you want Gandalf to do something, just argue for it: "Gandalf takes the One Ring from Bilbo before he can give it to Frodo. RESULT: Gandalf has the Ring and no one knows where it is." The ref -and the other players- then evaluate the strength of this argument, and rate it from Very Strong through Average to Very Weak (and onto Stupid), depending upon what we know of Gandalf and the rest of the Matrix, not to mention the complexity and logic of the argument.

Since everything within the matrix is fair game, you can alter the things within it through arguments as well -- maybe you argue that Gandalf kills Frodo, or that Bilbo gives into the power of the Ring, or even make up new People, Places and Things! Imagine if there were a floating city of elves, or a sword that could kill Hobbits if they so much as look at it, or a well-endowed Amazon warrior princess who...well, you get the idea.

Oh, you're not limited to making arguments for characters. You can argue for disasters, too. In fact, you can play the hand of fate -- argue for an ice age, argue for bad or good crops, argue that Gandalf turns into a well-endowed Amazon warrior princess who...well, you get the idea. The success of your argument depends only upon how logical it is, and you CAN build arguments over time, to make them more likely to occur. If you want Frodo to be a master swordsman, start small: "Gandalf gives Frodo a sword." "Frodo asks Madmartigan to teach him to use the sword." (This, of course, can only happen once someone's argued that Madmartigan exists in the Matrix.) "Frodo practices with the sword and the techniques Madmartigan taught him." "Frodo bests Darth Maul in a one-on-one battle at Yavin IV." "Frodo gains the status, 'Master Swordsman'."

There are a bunch of you out there who are getting ideas already. Right? (Hopefully they don't involve Eowyn, Bene Gesserit witches, the T-1000 and NeoTokyo from the "Bubblegum Crisis" anime...but if they do, then hey, it's your Matrix.) The possibilities are limitless, quite literally so. Make your Matrix WWII Europe, and have aliens show up. Make it the entire galaxy, and play out its history in millenium-long increments. Make your matrix two people in a basement with a cardboard box and some duct tape, with five-second long turns.

Again, you can use this game engine for just about any application: my game store, The Game Preserve in Bloomington, IN (plug!), uses it for damned near EVERYTHING. In a recent "Crimson Skies" campaign, every squadron got to make an argument each week to increase their funds, design new planes, change the allegiances of their enemies, add new factions, everything. The former manager of the store is running a PBEM Matrix game, with an on-line map and mailed-in turn arguments. I've used it to settle long, dull bits of role-playing: "You want to avoid that murder charge? Gimmie a statement of why, and a result for what happens."

There's an advanced version of the game, wherein you make slightly more complex arguments. All this entails is backing up your statements with three reasons why it should make sense. Example:

STATEMENT: Dr. Rotwang takes Phoebe Cates out for a date. RESULT: Phoebe Cates falls desperately in love with Dr. Rotwang. REASONS:

1. Dr. Rotwang takes her out for sushi, which is just bitchin' classy.

2. Dr. Rotwang is really, really studly.

3. Dr. Rotwang tells her that he's really Scott Lynch, and she says, "Oh, I LOVED your review of 'Laws of the Night Revised'! You're so witty!"

Currently, "The Matrix Game!" is available as a set of rules by itself, or packaged with scenarios -- everything from historical wargames to a humorous horror RPG about teenagers in a haunted house. (That's why the priceis listed as "variable".) Risking a plug, I direct you to http://www.io.com/~hamster, where you can find more examples and stuff. I think the full rules might even be posted there, somewhere.

I wish I had something BAD to say about the game. That way, I'd not come across as a drooling slave to the game. But, uh, there really ISN'T anything too horribly bad about the game. The only thing I can think of is that the shift in understanding of the gaming paradigm that "Matrix" requires can be a little hard, but once you get used to the idea of "Hey, I can do LITERALLY anything!", it's cake from there. Also, its free-form manner may look weird to hard-core gamers, and the lack of hard-and-fast attributes, ratings and the like can make it seem unsuitable for role-playing (which it isn't -- it just ends up being different from what you're used to).

In summary, this is one of the freshest, most innovative, and certainly most delightful games I've ever run across. It's amazing what you can do with "The Matrix Game!", an AXIS & ALLIES board, and some fantasy miniatures. Find it, acquire it, use the hell out of it. You won't be sorry.

Oh. Uh, go ahead and swallow your food now. Sorry.

[A note on the ratings: "The Matrix Game!" gets a '3' in style because it's pretty average-looking, but then, any 'production values' (filmmaking term) above what's been done would just be overkill. The '5' in substance is deceptive -- there's no real meat here, as "Matrix!" is but a skeleton. But when you consider what you can hang on that skeleton, I think you'll agree that the '5' is well-deserved.]

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

The Matrix Game!
Author: Chris Engle Category: Superflexible all-purpose word-based sim Company/Publisher: Hamster Press Line: The Matrix Game! Cost: variable Page count: ? ISBN: ? Capsule Review by Dr. Rotwang! on 11/23/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Science_fiction Modern_day Historical Horror Far_Future Space Comedy Anime Espionage Conspiracy Post-apocalypse Old_West Vampire Gothic Asian/Far_East Superhero Generic	sigh This...this is the third time I've tried to review this game. Every time I've tried before, it just hasn't come out right. It's like...it's like...here, let's do a quick, easy simulation. It's interactive, so stand up. Go to the kitchen. Snag your favorite foodstuff from the fridge, pantry, or counter. Stuff your mouth full of this delicacy. Full, I said. Comin' out your nostrils. Now tell me what it tastes like. And this, my friends, is exactly what it's like to attempt a review of Chris Engle's "The Matrix Game!". But this is for RPG Net, where I've built a small circle of friends from all over the world. I owe it to you, my peers, my fellows, my very gaming kin, to review this game for you. Quickly stated: If you are a gamer, and you can breathe, you can play this and you will LOVE it. I am a bit biased, here -- the designer is a friend of mine, and he has the courtesy to laugh at my lame-ass jokes. But none of that matters. All that matters is that this game rocks, it's totally rad, and -- and I'm going to use the "R" word here, because it just might apply: REVOLUTIONARY. But is it, really? Well, I think so -- or it's damned close anyway. You decide. "The Matrix Game!" is not really an RPG. It's more of a...a simulator, using logic as its engine. The British military uses it to simulate conflict resolution. Since it is well and truly universal like no game ever before it, you can use it for any sertting, not to mention any kind of game: role-playing, wargaming, political sim...I don't care. Honestly. Miniatures, even. Whatever you want. Man, this is a hard review. Here's how you play: you define a Matrix, being composed of People, Places and Things; You make Arguments, being statements with results, that involve this Matrix; You judge the relative strength of those arguments, and depending upon the logic behind them, roll a die to see if they happen. Your matrix can be anything. Anything. Say it's Middle Earth -- your People are Gandalf, Frodo, Gollum, etc.; your Places are The Shire, Bag End, etc.; your Things are The One Ring, Galadriel's mirror, etc. The People, Places and Things are further defined, usually on little cards. Gandalf might have a card that says, "A powerful wizard who has seemingly endless knowledge and can cast spells", for instance. Usually, no one player controls any one character, but this is always an option -- the game does use a referee, but the ref has less power than most refs do in other games. If you want Gandalf to do something, just argue for it: "Gandalf takes the One Ring from Bilbo before he can give it to Frodo. RESULT: Gandalf has the Ring and no one knows where it is." The ref -and the other players- then evaluate the strength of this argument, and rate it from Very Strong through Average to Very Weak (and onto Stupid), depending upon what we know of Gandalf and the rest of the Matrix, not to mention the complexity and logic of the argument. Since everything within the matrix is fair game, you can alter the things within it through arguments as well -- maybe you argue that Gandalf kills Frodo, or that Bilbo gives into the power of the Ring, or even make up new People, Places and Things! Imagine if there were a floating city of elves, or a sword that could kill Hobbits if they so much as look at it, or a well-endowed Amazon warrior princess who...well, you get the idea. Oh, you're not limited to making arguments for characters. You can argue for disasters, too. In fact, you can play the hand of fate -- argue for an ice age, argue for bad or good crops, argue that Gandalf turns into a well-endowed Amazon warrior princess who...well, you get the idea. The success of your argument depends only upon how logical it is, and you CAN build arguments over time, to make them more likely to occur. If you want Frodo to be a master swordsman, start small: "Gandalf gives Frodo a sword." "Frodo asks Madmartigan to teach him to use the sword." (This, of course, can only happen once someone's argued that Madmartigan exists in the Matrix.) "Frodo practices with the sword and the techniques Madmartigan taught him." "Frodo bests Darth Maul in a one-on-one battle at Yavin IV." "Frodo gains the status, 'Master Swordsman'." There are a bunch of you out there who are getting ideas already. Right? (Hopefully they don't involve Eowyn, Bene Gesserit witches, the T-1000 and NeoTokyo from the "Bubblegum Crisis" anime...but if they do, then hey, it's your Matrix.) The possibilities are limitless, quite literally so. Make your Matrix WWII Europe, and have aliens show up. Make it the entire galaxy, and play out its history in millenium-long increments. Make your matrix two people in a basement with a cardboard box and some duct tape, with five-second long turns. Again, you can use this game engine for just about any application: my game store, The Game Preserve in Bloomington, IN (plug!), uses it for damned near EVERYTHING. In a recent "Crimson Skies" campaign, every squadron got to make an argument each week to increase their funds, design new planes, change the allegiances of their enemies, add new factions, everything. The former manager of the store is running a PBEM Matrix game, with an on-line map and mailed-in turn arguments. I've used it to settle long, dull bits of role-playing: "You want to avoid that murder charge? Gimmie a statement of why, and a result for what happens." There's an advanced version of the game, wherein you make slightly more complex arguments. All this entails is backing up your statements with three reasons why it should make sense. Example: STATEMENT: Dr. Rotwang takes Phoebe Cates out for a date. RESULT: Phoebe Cates falls desperately in love with Dr. Rotwang. REASONS: 1. Dr. Rotwang takes her out for sushi, which is just bitchin' classy. 2. Dr. Rotwang is really, really studly. 3. Dr. Rotwang tells her that he's really Scott Lynch, and she says, "Oh, I LOVED your review of 'Laws of the Night Revised'! You're so witty!" Currently, "The Matrix Game!" is available as a set of rules by itself, or packaged with scenarios -- everything from historical wargames to a humorous horror RPG about teenagers in a haunted house. (That's why the priceis listed as "variable".) Risking a plug, I direct you to http://www.io.com/~hamster, where you can find more examples and stuff. I think the full rules might even be posted there, somewhere. I wish I had something BAD to say about the game. That way, I'd not come across as a drooling slave to the game. But, uh, there really ISN'T anything too horribly bad about the game. The only thing I can think of is that the shift in understanding of the gaming paradigm that "Matrix" requires can be a little hard, but once you get used to the idea of "Hey, I can do LITERALLY anything!", it's cake from there. Also, its free-form manner may look weird to hard-core gamers, and the lack of hard-and-fast attributes, ratings and the like can make it seem unsuitable for role-playing (which it isn't -- it just ends up being different from what you're used to). In summary, this is one of the freshest, most innovative, and certainly most delightful games I've ever run across. It's amazing what you can do with "The Matrix Game!", an AXIS & ALLIES board, and some fantasy miniatures. Find it, acquire it, use the hell out of it. You won't be sorry. Oh. Uh, go ahead and swallow your food now. Sorry. [A note on the ratings: "The Matrix Game!" gets a '3' in style because it's pretty average-looking, but then, any 'production values' (filmmaking term) above what's been done would just be overkill. The '5' in substance is deceptive -- there's no real meat here, as "Matrix!" is but a skeleton. But when you consider what you can hang on that skeleton, I think you'll agree that the '5' is well-deserved.] Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)