Dead Inside, by Chad Underkoffler, is a game unlike quite any I've encountered before. Not so much for the details of its mechanics but for the basic goal of play. The premise is this: you've lost your soul and have to get it back. Or rather, you have to grow it back. You do so not by killing things and taking their stuff, but by actually being a good person. This premise might sound too saccharine, and maybe it could have been, but Dead Inside is anything but simple-minded; in fact, I think it's one of the more intelligent, thoughtful games I've read. The game deals with some dark themes but it ultimately has a positive message about humanity. Just how seriously you need to take this in order to play is, I think, up to you. But if you play it as written, these aren't issues you can neatly tuck away in the corner to bring out at the very end of a campaign. In Dead Inside, everything revolves around Soul. And I mean everything.

This review isn't going to deal with a whole lot of specifics, since other reviews have done that. Instead I'll try to discuss what those specifics add up to.

Presentation

Layout

DI's layout does its job without fanfare. There are two columns, a good amount of leading and plenty of white space, so it's an easy read (at least on my monitor). Some pages get a little messy but no major problems.

Art

There's a fair bit of art scattered through DI, mostly quarter-page pieces. Some is pretty decent, some is so-so. A bigger problem is the low resolution of some pieces, making them pixellated. As for subject matter, it's consists of weirdness, though not really werid in a bad way. It doesn't do a whole lot to communicate the setting though and the game wouldn't suffer if the art were gone.

Writing

There are two different modes of writing in DI. When discussing setting or the ideas that lie behind the rules, the text flows well and is genuinely engaging, with a comfortably informal style. The text explaining the nitty-gritty rules, however, is much more banal. It's definitely not terse either. Some of the explanations quickly become convoluted and took several read-throughs to fully grasp. On the other hand, there are plentiful examples, which mitigate the confusion.

There's also a running piece of fiction that crops up throughout the text. Thankfully, this isn't there for its own sake or merely to illustrate the setting (though it does a bit of that). Really it serves as introduction to major rules of the game. Since the protagonist of these peices is himself new to the Dead Inside world, he discovers it just as we do. I thought this was a nice way to use fiction and it's not badly written either. It also managed to deal with sex and not sound idiotic. Kudos there.

Setting

Dead Inside posits an intricate alternate cosmology, laid over our own reality. Not only does it mesh with the rules and support the goal of the game, but it's also interesting in its own right. In fact, I'd say the setting it worth the price of admission alone. Even if you never used DI's rules, you could still play in its universe and you'd have good reason to. I normally don't like detailed settings, so take this as strong recommendation.

I'm not going to relay the setting in any great detail here, since that's what the game is for. The basic set-up is that Soul can be gained and lost, and different things happen to you based on that. Lose (most) of your Soul and you're Dead Inside. Gain more and you become Sensitive. Lose it and become a hideous Qlippoth. There are all kinds of entities in the DI world, whose existences revolve around Soul, with some interesting interactions between them.

Another big point is the existence of an alternate reality, the Spirit World, where all these things seem more obvious and the Soul is laid bare. It's also an ever-shifting world that reacts to its inhabitants. At the center is The City, a mad-cap clearing-house for everything, from everywhere, where the soulless rub shoulders with mages, zombies and their own shadows, just to name a few. This aspect of the setting promotes exploration, which itself is metaphorical for soul-growth through self-exploration. Overall, a cool place.

One final point of interest. Even while DI is fundamentally about getting back a Soul, it still has a place for action in it. Once awakened to their true nature, the Dead Inside get access to various super powers. Some are utiliatrian but free to use while the more significant ones require burning up part of your Soul. So you're not just an ordinary, soulless human wandering around a strange city. You can do things too, which is the whole point.

That should give you some basic sense of the world. There's a lot more to it than that, of course. It's not splat book material, with reams of people, places and objects that don't actually do anything. There are complex interactions everywhere and it all ties into Soul.

Rules

In many ways the rules of DI are fairly traditional. The action resolution system is simple—in fact simpler than the rules first make them out to be—and there's nothing too strange in terms of resource manipulations.

What I Didn't Like

DI also features the standard sort of "GM controls everything" mentality, with him creating not just situations but whole adventures for the players to go through. I personally think the players will need to have a stronger hand in driving things if the game's main ideas are to be addressed. (But I haven't played it, so take that with a lump of salt.) The GM's section talks more about involving the players but is somewhat contradictory. At one point it suggests that a player isn't being railroaded even though a roll has forced his character to do something and the situation itself was prepared by the GM in advance. Depends on what you mean by railroading I suppose. Generally I would have liked to see more carrot and less stick (or barred, locked gate). But this only applies to a handful of the rules. Make your own judgment on whether this matters.

There are only a few really core rules but many variations and sub-rules for specific circumstances. This was a little much to get through and maybe a little fat could be cut, but most of it seems necessary. There are also a lot of optional rules, which had something of a "kitchen sink" feel, but they don't really interfere either.

What I Liked

That's most of what I don't like about the rules. There's a lot I do like. For one thing, there's no emphasis on combat, thank goodness, since that's not what the game is about. Instead, the rules emphasize Soul.

Soul Points are the central mechanic and get used for most everything important: for activating powers, as a form of currency and for improving characters. While there are a couple of ways to get Soul, the most reliable is "soul growth" through committing virtuous deeds. Conversely, giving in to Vice decays the Soul. (And Soul changes are also used as a generic player reward/punishment.) All this forms the real core of gameplay and it seems like it should work.

The Abilities and Powers rules are also centered around the right kinds of things. They're small in number but flexible and focused, and basically interesting. They function differently between the real and Spirit worlds as well, reinforcing that dynamic.

On the whole, the text does a good job of describing exactly how and when to use its mechanics, as well as the ideas behind them. This goes a long way to describe what play should be like, rather than leaving it up to the imagination. (And as I said earlier, even if the text is some times circuitous, the examples help a lot.) This is done very extensively in the GM's chapter, which is packed with stuff. It actually offers real advice, covering everything from setting up a group to planning sessions. It also discusses ways to customize the game, including not just optional rules but also different ways to formulate key game ideas, like Virtue, and how to sneak in "evil" characters. I would have preferred all of this to be spread throughout the rules, rather than relegated to the back as though it were some kind of secret, but it's good stuff either way.

There's also a lengthy scenario at the end (22 pages long). I'm not big on using pre-made scenarios but it demonstrates what preparation might entail.

Conclusion

I really like Dead Inside. It's different. Its cosmology is cool. It has a focus and it sticks to it. Its rules address that focus and the text explains how. The presentation is not as cohesive as it might have been, but it makes up for it with vision and completeness. If you're remotely interested in some fantastical, morally-charged adventuring, get Dead Inside. It's got Soul.

Note: I've given ratings of 3/5 Style and 4/5 Substance. I was close to bumping both those up, so you can consider them 3.5 and 4.5, respectively. I don't think ratings are very important anyway though.