The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Most gamers with a penchant for game design have taken a crack at writing a game of their own. Esaene is an example of that sort of labor in love. It is also an example of why that very same labor of love can be a disaster.

Esaene's game mechanics are designed with a simple principle in mind, but the delivery misses the mark. The rules while basic are not explained well, contradict themselves and are hard to follow. Examples are virtually non-existent and might have helped explain the game mechanics and make them consistent. The game rules are on the sidebars and spread throughout three of the books. Unclear writing aside, this made it very difficult to follow the game's rules.

The only intriguing mechanic in Esaene is the experience system. Based on bravery, ingenuity, heroism, personal goals, victory (combat) and time of study it is a novel way to advance a character. The experience point system could have used more fleshing out; it is the one part of the rules that was interesting and could be used in conjunction with another game.

The magic system is different but lacks either structure or clarity. Magic is encouraged to be creative and not follow the cookie cutter approach of many games. But this is not just sacrificing some cookie cutter rules, but rather all rules. The definition for how difficult a spell is and how that balances with how powerful that spell could be are hazy. The uses of elements are different than most games and are gravity, spirit, thought, light, noise and magic. They should not be mistaken as traditional elements such as: earth, air, water, fire, life and death. More appropriately they should be called components not elements as that leads to some confusion. Spirit and thought are redundant and could be combined. Magic is completely redundant as it is the element that allows the casters to use the other elements to warp physics (which is the game's definition of the magical arts). Regardless of this different take on elements the magic system is so devoid of rules that the different ideas are basically lost.

The world setting for Esaene is little more than disparate states that are loosely described. The countries are more odd than intriguing and really do not portray a world setting. The hooks for adventuring are very limited, but ultimately it is the un-engaging world that could drive a gamer away from Esaene as much as the game itself.

One comment from another gamer, who perused my copy, was that it has looked like had been shot out of a cannon. It is bundled into 4 photocopied booklets folded over and covered with a different colored piece of paper. The layout and design borders on atrocious. However Badge did do a fair job in conveying charts and table on the back pages of each booklet. The editing is nearly non-existent, with spelling and grammatical errors any decent word processing program would be able to correct.

What little professional art, three pieces, is in Esaene is a stretch. The art conveys nothing about the game and is little better than pencil sketches. The other art in the book is beyond the pale of bad, even considering its claimed frugal qualities.

My initial look at Esaene was favorable. After reading Badge's pledge to deliver low cost games, I thought: "For ten bucks how could I go wrong?" Then I started reading. Then I did the math. Then I realized I was wrong. At ten dollars for 100 (8"x7.5") pages plus four-8.5"x11" maps this brings the cost per page of a little less than 10 cents per page for a game costing $10. Now lets go to another game sitting in the review pile: The Dominion Tank Police. At twenty dollars for 167 pages (8.5"x11"), that comes out to about 12 cents a page. Esaene is "economical" at the expense of everything usually found in a published game.

Esaene does not deliver a professional, playable, interesting or economical game. It claims to be a high fantasy game, but really hits about as low as I ever seen a game go. It would be tempting to pick it up then riff it as if it were an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, but in reality it should be left alone.

Style: 1 (Unintelligible)
Substance: 1 (I Wasted My Money)

Esaene
Author: Brant Guillory Category: game Company/Publisher: Badge Publications Line: Esaene Cost: 10.00 Page count: 100 ISBN: n/a Capsule Review by Wes Johnson on 01/19/00. Genre tags: Fantasy	Most gamers with a penchant for game design have taken a crack at writing a game of their own. Esaene is an example of that sort of labor in love. It is also an example of why that very same labor of love can be a disaster. Esaene's game mechanics are designed with a simple principle in mind, but the delivery misses the mark. The rules while basic are not explained well, contradict themselves and are hard to follow. Examples are virtually non-existent and might have helped explain the game mechanics and make them consistent. The game rules are on the sidebars and spread throughout three of the books. Unclear writing aside, this made it very difficult to follow the game's rules. The only intriguing mechanic in Esaene is the experience system. Based on bravery, ingenuity, heroism, personal goals, victory (combat) and time of study it is a novel way to advance a character. The experience point system could have used more fleshing out; it is the one part of the rules that was interesting and could be used in conjunction with another game. The magic system is different but lacks either structure or clarity. Magic is encouraged to be creative and not follow the cookie cutter approach of many games. But this is not just sacrificing some cookie cutter rules, but rather all rules. The definition for how difficult a spell is and how that balances with how powerful that spell could be are hazy. The uses of elements are different than most games and are gravity, spirit, thought, light, noise and magic. They should not be mistaken as traditional elements such as: earth, air, water, fire, life and death. More appropriately they should be called components not elements as that leads to some confusion. Spirit and thought are redundant and could be combined. Magic is completely redundant as it is the element that allows the casters to use the other elements to warp physics (which is the game's definition of the magical arts). Regardless of this different take on elements the magic system is so devoid of rules that the different ideas are basically lost. The world setting for Esaene is little more than disparate states that are loosely described. The countries are more odd than intriguing and really do not portray a world setting. The hooks for adventuring are very limited, but ultimately it is the un-engaging world that could drive a gamer away from Esaene as much as the game itself. One comment from another gamer, who perused my copy, was that it has looked like had been shot out of a cannon. It is bundled into 4 photocopied booklets folded over and covered with a different colored piece of paper. The layout and design borders on atrocious. However Badge did do a fair job in conveying charts and table on the back pages of each booklet. The editing is nearly non-existent, with spelling and grammatical errors any decent word processing program would be able to correct. What little professional art, three pieces, is in Esaene is a stretch. The art conveys nothing about the game and is little better than pencil sketches. The other art in the book is beyond the pale of bad, even considering its claimed frugal qualities. My initial look at Esaene was favorable. After reading Badge's pledge to deliver low cost games, I thought: "For ten bucks how could I go wrong?" Then I started reading. Then I did the math. Then I realized I was wrong. At ten dollars for 100 (8"x7.5") pages plus four-8.5"x11" maps this brings the cost per page of a little less than 10 cents per page for a game costing $10. Now lets go to another game sitting in the review pile: The Dominion Tank Police. At twenty dollars for 167 pages (8.5"x11"), that comes out to about 12 cents a page. Esaene is "economical" at the expense of everything usually found in a published game. Esaene does not deliver a professional, playable, interesting or economical game. It claims to be a high fantasy game, but really hits about as low as I ever seen a game go. It would be tempting to pick it up then riff it as if it were an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, but in reality it should be left alone. Style: 1 (Unintelligible) Substance: 1 (I Wasted My Money)