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The Good: The Jenga tower mechanic is very clever, adding tension to a game while also slowing it down.
The Bad: Players are strongly discouraged from performing affirmative actions, being forced to pull blocks (and thus risk death, insanity, and being removed from the game) from the tower to perform simple investigative work, to translate text, and to otherwise perform tasks necessary and desirable. Some readers may be disappointed with the lack of system here.
The Physical Thing
This 5.5 x 8.5 168 page black and white softcover showcases average production values for its $24 price tag. The editing is excellent, the formatting clearly communicates the topics, and the artwork is moody. A lot of the artwork isn’t very good, amounting to very rough sketches, but somehow it comes together with the stark black and white text to create an impressive sort of horror atmosphere. It’s not pretty to look at, but it will inspire you to tell frightening tales with your friends.Under the Cover
Dread is written for a wider audience and, in many ways, is an excellent means by which to bring new people into the roleplay hobby. To me it’s more of a hybrid of a roleplaying game and a party game in nature, and I think that may make it more accessible to others. Why is that? Let me explain.Instead of dice and number filled character sheets, Dread uses a Jenga tower and a character questionnaire. At the start of a game session the tower is setup with some blocks pre-pulled (depending on number of players). Players come to the table with characters constructed based on a questionnaire the Host (GM) provides. During play characters can generally accomplish things that make sense based on the questionnaire and character description. If a character is fluent in Spanish, they can read Spanish. If a character is a police officer, they can fire a gun. You get the idea. When a character’s capability is in doubt the Host asks the player to pull from the tower in order to accomplish a task.
| Example: A history professor is trying to translate a Latin passage. It’s unclear whether the professor knows how to do this. The Host asks the player to pull from the tower. Three things may happen. If the player succeeds then the professor knows how to translate Latin (and that is added to the character sheet). If the player fails then the player and character are out of the game. If the player declines to pull then the professor automatically fails and its noted on the sheet that he can not translate Latin. |
Character questionnaires are created by the Host and use leading questions meant to result in appropriate characters being created for the horror story the Host wants to tell. “Why don’t you have pets anymore?” and “What childhood fear do you still have?” are examples of this. I like it because it results in a more focused one shot and guarantees appropriate characters. On the downside player authorship is limited – this is very much a situation of the players trying to survive the story the Host is telling.
Once the questionnaires are filled out and the Host has a story built everyone sits down around the Jenga tower and starts playing. If at any time anyone knocks over the Jenga tower for any reason their character is permanently removed from the game (usually immediately). Sometimes characters are allowed to linger until appropriate moments (perhaps an interesting death by serial killer instead of being called into work for a double shift). In these cases, however, the character fails at everything they attempt and are more window dressing than anything else. Woe to the player who accidentally knocks over the tower at the start of the game.
As described above, character actions are freeform unless something is difficult, in doubt, or the player hopes to discover a clue. Then a pull from the tower occurs. The last item, discovering a clue, is particularly frustrating. If the player suspects there might be a clue in a scene they must pull just to try and find it (there may just be nothing). Yet the rules provide a strong disincentive since pulling carries the risk of character death. I wish there was another mechanic or different approach to this.
After being knocked over the tower is rebuilt and several free pulls occur to bring it closer to its more recent state. Tension builds, a horrible event occurs, and then tension is released. It’s a clever mechanic that mirrors horror media quite well.
There’s a little bit more to the mechanics at times, such as in a fight, but not much more. If you understand all of the above – that character capabilities are based on a leading questionnaire and tasks are resolved by pulling from a Jenga tower – then you understand the mechanics of Dread.
If the mechanics are so straightforward, what else is in this book? Lots and lots of advice for telling different types of horror stories with Dread. Madness, mystery, gore, and other sub-genre of horror are all explored and the author provides solid advice on how to develop an appropriate mood for each of these types of games. Much of this advice is good enough to make it worth incorporating into other games as well. To get a feel for a Madness focused game, for example, the book recommends performing cheap pop psychology on the characters. While horribly inaccurate, it’s sure to provide an entertaining tale.
Dread wraps up with three complete adventures ready to go. Each of these could easily provide a full evening of fun with a minimum of work. Grab your Jenga tower, get your friends to fill out some character questionnaires, and start playing!
My Take
One thing to keep in mind when reviewing any game is the audience for that game. I don’t like Dread. I dislike the ease with which players can be removed from the fun, the lack of player authorship, the disincentive for character action, the encouragement to use red herrings in a short game, and even the sort of nervous tension it sets out to build. However, I’m not the target audience of this game. Dread is going to shine in the hands of anyone who wants to spin a tale of horror with some friends. If you like deadly consequences, tension, powerful mood, or just something different then I suspect you will enjoy this game.I do have two concerns for those interested in this game, however. First, removing players early on may not work for all groups. While the game does suggest keeping the characters around until an appropriate exit scene, even then the characters fail at their tasks and can’t meaningfully contribute to the game for the short time they remain. This may frustrate some groups. Second, there’s nothing here but the Jenga pull mechanic. I feel like this idea has a lot more potential and wish there was something else to play with in addition to pulling from the tower.
I think a lot of groups can have a great time with Dread and that it also serves as an excellent way to introduce friends to RPGs. If you’re in the mood to get together with some friends and tell a ghost story then pick this one up.
