TinyD6 has quickly become our "go to" for gaming, and Tiny Dungeons is somewhat of the backbone for this.

The TinyD6 engine, in and of itself, is very rules light - if you want a crunchy system, this may not be the one for you - but it has a number of options that allow the crunchiness to be ramped up a bit without losing the simplicity. In fact, the simplicity of the engine means rules can be tweaked and house rules employed without any real danger of "breaking" the system. This, and the pervasiveness of Tiny settings makes it easy to grab a favorite thing from someplace else and port it into Tiny Dungeons. It's also easy to use with other settings from other systems (such as "the world's most popular role playing game", which we've done).

Tiny Dungeons recreates classic fantasy roleplaying without a lot of mechanical things to get bogged down with (although, as stated earlier, if you want more crunch and grit, some options are there to make it so). The focus is largely on story telling, but unlike many other "story telling" games, there aren't a lot of rules and mechanics on HOW to tell the story - just enough is there to give your imagination a springboard to adventure.

The front end of the book breaks down the game mechanics, and then jumps into character creation. The PDF is bookmarked well, so even if you need to jump around to some of the optional rules, it's easy enough to go there and back again. TinyD6 isn't a level or class-based system, and character creation is open-ended (meaning, if you can imagine it, you can likely build it). There are a number of Heritages available (some of the usual, like Humans and Dwarves, and others that are more unique to the Tiny multiverse), each one generally having something to make it unique while leaving room for customization.

The middle section gives you the optional rules, like expanding magic, or using sailing ships for example.

The back end of the book is dedicated to a variety of settings (or what they refer to as "microsettings" since they're generally the bare bones of a setting for GMs to build on). If you have your own setting you want to run, you may think this is a waste of space, but it's a great showcase of settings by some long-standing writers in the RPG industry, displaying the versatility of Tiny Dungeons for world building. None of the setting examples and possibilities are entirely "generic" which means they're a great way to fire up the imagination if nothing else, and some offer a few extra options for the rules.

In short, I highly recommend Tiny Dungeons to anyone wanting to get back to casual, fun gaming.

Dark Camelot is the first setting/adventure for the rules-lite Adventurers! RPG, and like the 'core book' it's got a lot packed into a (very) small space.

The Good Bits: The setting takes up two sides of a single page, as does the adventure, which means you don't have a lot of printing or space demands when it comes to adding this to your Adventurers! binder. At first glance it may seem that there's not enough there, but on closer inspection it becomes apparent that a lot of good bits have been packed into a small space. The setting lays out the basics very well, and also includes some new equipment (mostly for knights, because this is an Arthurian setting after all) and some new 'monsters', along with the setting's premise, a brief gazetteer, and a summary of who's who. The adventure also takes up two sides of a single page, and is surprisingly well thought-out and flexible for something that's not twenty-odd pages long. I'll admit to being a bit biased, but "The Madness of Sir Richard" has all the things I like in an adventure: evil things to be bested, damsels to be rescued, and problems to be solved. As an added bonus, Dark Camelot also includes 4 pregenerated characters and three pages of monster cards for the setting (as well as two extra pages for your own creations). All in all, quite a tidy package for your $1.50.

The Bad Bits: If you're one of those GMs who likes to have everything spelled out for you, and every location detailed to the fullest, you'll be disappointed. Factions, locations, and people are all described in a single sentence. For me, this isn't a bad thing, but there are those who prefer more detail. Much like the core rules, this setting is best used by GMs who are willing to make things up and develop a setting on the go. There are a few grammatical problems--largely due to translation more than anything--but they didn't hinder my ability to understand what was meant. I also found the names in the adventure to be a little 'flat' ('Richard' is ~so~ 12th century), but that's more a personal issue, and not one that will rub everyone the same way.

The Bottom Line: Once again, Gramel has delivered 'no frills' gaming at its best. No interior art--although there's a cool piece of cover art included--just lots of useful bits crammed into a couple of pages. The setting itself is potentially fun for a number of reasons, but the adventure and the pregens mean you can pick this up and be playing/running in almost no time flat. Over all, I'd be inclined to give it the same 4.5 rating as the core rules--rounding down for the little glitches--but since the whole thing is dirt cheap and I feel like I got more than my money's worth on it, I'm rounding up again to 5 stars.

I've invested about $3.00 in this series so far, and feel like I've already gotten more from it than some series that I've put ten times that amount into. I'm looking forward to seeing more good things come along for my Adventurers!

Adventurers! is a rules-lite RPG with a lot packed into a (very) small space.

The Good Bits: With a 'Players Guide' that takes up two sides of a single page, and a 'GMs Guide' of the same size, you can't really ask for a more compact rules set. And, as far as simple systems go, this one manages to achieve it and stay elegant: everything is pretty much roll 2d6 and add a modifier. In the four pages of rules, almost every notable contingency is covered, and I found myself with very few questions regarding game play. There's only a handful of Stats but there's a broad enough base of 'Skills' to allow a lot of diversity in character building. Even the gear list gives a fair number of options to work with. Coupled with a short list of 'monsters', you can pick up this game and be ready to run in mere minutes.

The Bad Bits: Because the rules are streamlined so much, if you're the type who wants games to provide lots of details, this isn't the game for you. Many things, like Powers (i.e. Spells) are left with a lot of room for creativity, and players (or GMs) who aren't good at thinking outside the box might not get the most mileage out of them. In short, the rules are simply a sort of toolbox to allow a GM to quickly put something together and run with it--which means he or she had better be able to think creatively. On the other hand, Gramel promises future releases of short adventures, which means that may not be a problem forever.

The Bottom Line: This is 'no frills' gaming at its best. You won't find a lot of cool artwork inside because... well... there just isn't any place to put it. Print out a single-page guide for each player, and a single-page guide for the GM, and the game is good to go. Over all, I'd give it 4.5 stars. Normally I'd round that down to 4, but since the whole package (plus character sheets and monster cards--really just some printable forms to keep track of your bad guys) is only a buck-and-a-half, I'm rounding it up to 5 stars for being the best gaming deal I've seen in a while.

This is a great game to have around if you want to get a game going quickly without a lot of muss and fuss.