Every few days in June I’m picking a TTRPG book that’s been languishing on my shelf or hard drive, reading it, and writing a review. I don’t believe in attempting a full critique of game content I haven’t run or played, so my focus will be on discussing the work’s best ideas and keeping criticisms to text-level quibbles.
Here’s a short one at 7 pages. I read through Candied Violets: The Sweet Treat RPG, an indie game by Monroe Soto. It’s one of a bunch of games I got together in the “Your Best Games” Indie TTRPGs bundle on itch.io.
I found it to be a relaxing read, a light-hearted cooperative storytelling game. It's Beatrix Potter meets Great British Bake Off, with woodland creatures as characters and judges.
It's done with bright block colours, a mixture of vivid hues and something closer to pastels, with baking photos like a magazine. The updated version available is a little easier on the eye for casual reading.
Amusingly for the short length and low-stakes format, Candied Violets does include a way to lose.
Minor text quibbles:
- It assumes familiarity with terms like ‘advantage’ and ‘disadvantage’ specific to D&D 5e. Have those become terms of art? Perhaps they have.
- One place in the light rules could do with a little more explanation: “Pick a skill and assign the appropriate modifiers of 0, +1, +2, +3, and +4” seems underdetermined.
My favourite bit:
The judges having randomly determined allergies. There's perhaps room for high drama to enter play here, beyond that already implied by the instruction “Try not to set anything on fire.”
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