Mermaid Adventures
Mermaid Adventures is an epic fantasy role-playing game written by Eloy Lasanta and published by Third Eye Games.
By Cape Rust
Learn more about Mermaid Adventures here
Purchase Mermaid Adventures here
In this game, players of all ages take the role of different types of underwater people who reside in Atlantis, the kingdom beneath the sea. Mermaid Adventures takes a lot of inspiration from The Little Mermaid, but also the adventurous elements of Hook or the fantastic elements of movies like Stardust.
CONTENT
This 104 page core rulebook contains 96 pages of underwater wonderfulness. This core rule book includes all of the doo-hingles and snozzles you need to FINish a character and swim into adventure. This system Includes Descriptions of 8 species of merfolk, Sea creature and pre made NPC statistics, Random character creation charts, 30 regular qualities, 10 Magical qualities, 5 sample adventures, a printable character sheet and an optional coloring book (Hell yea!).
OVERALL
When I saw the concept for this game I was really excited. No I am not a big mermaid fan, but I love RPGs and I love it when a game development company designs family-friendly games. There are games out there designed just for kids, but Mermaid Adventures is designed for the entire family to enjoy. Games like this are a great way to get children and uninterested spouses exposed and hopefully involved with RPGs, hook, line and sinker!
RATINGS
Publication Quality: 9 out of 10
I have covered some stylistic games in the past but this one really takes the (fish) cake! There is no doubt that this game is a family-friendly undersea game. The cover is a sea of blue, depicting a group portrait of four of the eight merfolk races. The Merfolk depicted on the cover are both male and female and the Sharkfolk male with his trident tattoo, square jaw, hulking build and orange Mohawk let perspective players know that this game isn’t just for girls. All of the illustrations are in bright bold colors that rival even the most beautiful coral reef. I commend Ms. Gay for her whimsical style with this book.
While the illustrations will appeal to younger gamers older gamers can easily see how well they are married up with the information in the book and the possibilities for adventure. The formatting was spot on and in true Florida fashion, Third Eye Games kept it all light and bright. The use of a wave and different sea-life silhouettes on the footer of each page was a nice touch. There is a different animal silhouette for each section, this is really helpful if you are flipping through the book, it is a small matter, but the devil fish is in the details. The charts are well done and easy to follow. The only real problem I had with the book was that towards the end you feel like you might OB (Over Blue). It wasn’t so much that there was too much blue on the pages quantity wise, it is just that they use such a bright blue that a little goes a long way. This is a minor point, but it kept the book from being perfect.
Mechanics: 10 out of 10
Mermaid Adventures uses the PIP system to good effect. Players and navigators will need 10 white D6s and 10 black D6s. Other colors can be used but when introducing the game to younger children it is important to keep things as close to rules as written, to minimize confusion and to keep a child from refusing to play because the dice are not the right color. The mechanics are simple and effective. For younger players the game concepts should be easy to grasp with a little adult supervision. Mermaid Adventures doesn’t try to sell itself as a hyper-accurate, rules heavy game and that is a good thing! For the target audience the mechanics are just right.
Value Add: 9 out of 10
If you are looking for a different spin on family game night, this is a great product. This is a wonderful game to have on hand if your friends are bringing their children over for a summer cookout. If you don’t have children or know people with children or if you flat out don’t like children this product’s value decreases. I would have no problem playing this game for a few sessions with my regular gaming group and I could see people having buckets of fun with this as a one-shot or Con game. I would schedule this game in slots later at night or in the slots towards the end of the Con as the whimsical feel would be a nice break from sword and board, hack and slash, intrigue or save the galaxy intrigue. This game is a good game to run at your FLGS to get the younger kids who play card games to try an RPG.
Overall: 9 out of 10
I got a kick out of this game and can’t wait to play it with my girls and niece and nephew later this summer on vacation. The art was great and the coloring book was genius! This game is rules light while still being crunchy enough to give younger players a feel how RPGs work. I agree with the choice of D6s but it might have been more fun to use a less standard dice to appeal to new or younger players. We all know people who were attracted to RPGs because the dice were so cool, why not do the same with Mermaid adventures? Eloy Lasanta should be commended for developing a product that has commercial appeal while still being geared towards a younger audience and families. You really have to sea Mermaid Adventures to be-reef it.
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