This was my first solo rpg and I gotta say... I am having way too much fun with it. My character (my enby loser "Avery of Mann") grew to be an absolute lazyass who kept attracting competent NPCs to do their work for them (as in I kept pulling court cards as approaches 😭). They couldn't haggle or solve puzzles properly!! Their latest quest was to break a crime lord out of prison, for crying out loud! A young magician even killed a freaking Minotaur for them! Violently!! 100/10 first experience, would 100% play again.
After watching a bunch of That Time I was Reincarnated As A Slime, I got in the mood to play something in the isekai sphere. FooL helped me scratch that itch, a little bit. I'm not into card mechanics in RPGs, and don't own or know anything tarot, and wound up resorting to asking an AI to make me a minimalist tarot drawing HTML app thingy so I could try FooL out. I should also mention that jounralling isn't a type of solo play that I typically enjoy.
That said, even though I'm not fond of journalling and card mechanics in RPGs, I still enjoyed FooL. The mechanics are simple. It walks you through an "intro chapter" that doesn't just tell you how the game is played, it shows and walks you through it. Very good technique there. I liked the oracles. All of them were good and fit the isekai trope. The gameplay is episodic "chapter" based. Like an episode of an anime or a single issue of a comic book. I haven't ready any manga, so I don't know how they compare to comic books in the USA.
I found FooL to be easy to play and good for quick sessions. While I commented on my aversion to journalling games, FooL's "journaling" is very slight and leans towards cliffnotes. Though someone who is into journalling could go into greater length than the game suggests. I was able to even have a chapter between long commercials while watching TV. The game is designed for quick in and out play and I felt that.
As an example of how things can flow: In chapter one, my character died and then showed up in a fantasy tavern during a Halloween style festival and he was believed to be an ancestor spirit reborn. In chapter two he mediated a dispute between a punkish ramble rouser and a serene monk. In chapter three my character came upon a flying fortress where an arachne tried to tie him up and ... do stuff to him. Fortunately the Lady Vampire that owned the castle and had been sleeping for who knows how long woke up and booted the spider woman out of her castle. Disguising herself as my character's maid *Caugh.* the vampire noble decided to accompany him, as the world had completely changed while she was in torpor. In chapter four, my character and his vampire "maid" companion visited a ruined monument that attracted pilgrims to it. There they were accosted by a jerk, and the chapter revolved around dealing with and outwitting him without making him look like a fool.
At that point I stopped playing. I primarily wanted to try the game out without committing to something long term. There is also the tarot mechanics, and semi-jounraling element that don't appeal to me. The latter is tolerable, because the game discourages you from writing at length, and encourages short chapters. Like the episodes of an isekai anime. I kept my notes, and this is something that I might come back to. But FooL isn't something that would be a main game for me.
People who like card or tarot mechanics, and aren't put off by very like journaling would enjoy FooL even more than I did. It makes for a good entry level game for people starting in solo play. It would also be good as a side game, or something of a palette cleanser between games. FooL fit the isekai vibe.
Had an absolute blast getting carried away playing this one. I'm usually pretty bad with inventing stuff off the top of my head but the oracle table was immensely useful and I eventually found myself even coming up with stuff without it. I went through a whole deck playing this game (though I used a lot of oracles lol). It was also very freeing that the game doesn't demand that much detail and chapters go quick so you can gloss over a lot to keep the momentum going. The experience really felt like watching your favorite comfort isekai and I'm very attached to the adventure I've made.
Hi! I love the game and actually combined it with Iron Valley to help me flesh out some of the relationships and keep track of the lower stake quests. Do you plan on streaming this game like you did for Iron Valley? Thank you for all of your hard work!
Thank you for the comment! I am very much looking to play this game on my stream (and expand it a little bit too), most likely starting in Janurary as I am busy prepping for my 2-year streaming anniversary (which is happening on December 27th 😉). Once again, thank you for showing interest in my little game(s) 💙💚
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This was my first solo rpg and I gotta say... I am having way too much fun with it. My character (my enby loser "Avery of Mann") grew to be an absolute lazyass who kept attracting competent NPCs to do their work for them (as in I kept pulling court cards as approaches 😭). They couldn't haggle or solve puzzles properly!! Their latest quest was to break a crime lord out of prison, for crying out loud! A young magician even killed a freaking Minotaur for them! Violently!! 100/10 first experience, would 100% play again.
Love to hear it! Thank you for trying my game out 💚
After watching a bunch of That Time I was Reincarnated As A Slime, I got in the mood to play something in the isekai sphere. FooL helped me scratch that itch, a little bit. I'm not into card mechanics in RPGs, and don't own or know anything tarot, and wound up resorting to asking an AI to make me a minimalist tarot drawing HTML app thingy so I could try FooL out. I should also mention that jounralling isn't a type of solo play that I typically enjoy.
That said, even though I'm not fond of journalling and card mechanics in RPGs, I still enjoyed FooL. The mechanics are simple. It walks you through an "intro chapter" that doesn't just tell you how the game is played, it shows and walks you through it. Very good technique there. I liked the oracles. All of them were good and fit the isekai trope. The gameplay is episodic "chapter" based. Like an episode of an anime or a single issue of a comic book. I haven't ready any manga, so I don't know how they compare to comic books in the USA.
I found FooL to be easy to play and good for quick sessions. While I commented on my aversion to journalling games, FooL's "journaling" is very slight and leans towards cliffnotes. Though someone who is into journalling could go into greater length than the game suggests. I was able to even have a chapter between long commercials while watching TV. The game is designed for quick in and out play and I felt that.
As an example of how things can flow: In chapter one, my character died and then showed up in a fantasy tavern during a Halloween style festival and he was believed to be an ancestor spirit reborn. In chapter two he mediated a dispute between a punkish ramble rouser and a serene monk. In chapter three my character came upon a flying fortress where an arachne tried to tie him up and ... do stuff to him. Fortunately the Lady Vampire that owned the castle and had been sleeping for who knows how long woke up and booted the spider woman out of her castle. Disguising herself as my character's maid *Caugh.* the vampire noble decided to accompany him, as the world had completely changed while she was in torpor. In chapter four, my character and his vampire "maid" companion visited a ruined monument that attracted pilgrims to it. There they were accosted by a jerk, and the chapter revolved around dealing with and outwitting him without making him look like a fool.
At that point I stopped playing. I primarily wanted to try the game out without committing to something long term. There is also the tarot mechanics, and semi-jounraling element that don't appeal to me. The latter is tolerable, because the game discourages you from writing at length, and encourages short chapters. Like the episodes of an isekai anime. I kept my notes, and this is something that I might come back to. But FooL isn't something that would be a main game for me.
People who like card or tarot mechanics, and aren't put off by very like journaling would enjoy FooL even more than I did. It makes for a good entry level game for people starting in solo play. It would also be good as a side game, or something of a palette cleanser between games. FooL fit the isekai vibe.
Thank you for sharing FooL with us.
This is super cool!
Had an absolute blast getting carried away playing this one. I'm usually pretty bad with inventing stuff off the top of my head but the oracle table was immensely useful and I eventually found myself even coming up with stuff without it. I went through a whole deck playing this game (though I used a lot of oracles lol). It was also very freeing that the game doesn't demand that much detail and chapters go quick so you can gloss over a lot to keep the momentum going. The experience really felt like watching your favorite comfort isekai and I'm very attached to the adventure I've made.
Thanks for the game!
This is such a lovely comment! Thank you so much for going out of your way to try my game and leave your thoughts 💚
Hi! I love the game and actually combined it with Iron Valley to help me flesh out some of the relationships and keep track of the lower stake quests. Do you plan on streaming this game like you did for Iron Valley? Thank you for all of your hard work!
Thank you for the comment! I am very much looking to play this game on my stream (and expand it a little bit too), most likely starting in Janurary as I am busy prepping for my 2-year streaming anniversary (which is happening on December 27th 😉). Once again, thank you for showing interest in my little game(s) 💙💚
Looking forward to the stream!!
This is, simply put, all-around excellent!
It's the kind of content I really see as something you could potentially expand into a fuller game; I'd buy it for sure!
Awesome work, I'm actually making something similar but with a custom Oracle deck with a skill tree