Review: Dramascape – SciFi Diner


SciFi Diner
SciFi Diner is a sci-fi battlemap with cartography by Simon Powell and published by DramaScape.
By Lord Mhor

Learn more about SciFi Diner here
Purchase SciFi Diner here
Find other DramaScape products here

Some things don’t change, even in the sci-fi worlds. Before your characters hit the bars, or afterwards, they just might need to grab some basic food. This is where SciFi Diner comes in! There’s nothing too fancy about this place, but there are seven seats at the bar, twelve booths, and something warm in the nutrient tanks. Entry is through an airlock door, so the diner could be set in the mean streets of the starport, the halls of a starship, radioactive ruins, or within the vacuum of space outside. The choice is yours!

OVERALL

SciFi Diner is an excellent map, allowing the players to have a fulfilling sci-fi diner experience. An interesting combination of high-tech and seedy street feel makes this the perfect place for that nice hot bowl of ramen (or unidentifiable soup) for a possibly edible meal.

RATINGS

Publication Quality: 10 out of 10
Personally, I’m suspicious of high ratings, but I can’t find anything wrong with this battlemat! It is beautifully rendered. DramaScape has, as usual, done an excellent job of sizing the segments across multiple pages. The pieces go together seamlessly. This product includes square-grid, hex-grid, and gridless version of the diner, complete with kitchen, storage area, bar, main corridor with booths, and an optional add-on bathroom.

Visual Appeal: 10 out of 10
This map has captured the grungy feeling of a greasy-spoon diner blended with the high-tech props that might be expected at a starport. The coloration is an urban grey cast, with a lot of thought put into the placement of the features. The booths have a nice solid wall separating them, which is a nice touch when the plasma weapons come out and people need a place to dive for cover. As a bonus, the PDF has an amazing 360° dynamic panoramic view on page 6 that lets you rotate an image of the diner in Adobe Acrobat Reader for a full view from the perspective of someone standing near the bar.

Desire to Use: 10 out of 10
I’m going to combine this with DramaScape’s excellent SciFi Bars when I run my next science fiction game. SciFi Diner is a perfect place for whispered conspiracy in the booths, or a frenzied firefight down the main corridor. This product comes with great instructions. If you want this to last forever, I suggest that you decide which white edges to keep so that the pieces can be held together, laminate the pieces, then use non-permanent double-sided tape on the white edges so that everything is properly held together. Alternately, you can cut off all the edges and just butt the laminated pieces together using transparent tape so that nothing shifts or stains when enthusiastic players jostle the table during the blaster battle.

Overall: 10 out of 10
SciFi Diner is a fine addition to your science fiction gaming, and another quality piece from DramaScape. The design and rendering of this diner is excellent, and you’ll have fun using it for your futuristic adventures.

Share this post:

Related Posts

Leave a Comment