Dude, Run!
Dude, Run! is a modern horror satire role-playing game, written by Robert Nolan and published by Creepy Doll Studios.
By Cape Rust
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Dude, Run! is a comedic paranormal RPG (excuse me… competitive storytelling game) by Creepy Doll Studios that places the players in the role of paranormal investigators on yet another reality show. This is a fun, lighthearted game designed to be run within 1.5 to 2 hours. This, like One Foot in the Grave, is yet another ‘Beer and Pretzels’ game. One of the people involved in the game is known as the Skeptic, the Skeptic fulfills the role of the traditional Game Master. Each adventure is called an episode and the goal for the players is to explain every day normal activities, like the wind blowing a door closed, as legitimate paranormal activity. Each room full of activity is known as a Hotspot, each Hotspot has a point value set by the Skeptic and it is the investigator player’s job to generate enough points to explain each Hotspot as a paranormal activity rather than the mundane activity that the Skeptic has set up. If an individual investigator fails, they run and gain no points for the room; that is a bit of an oversimplification, but you get the idea.
I was not quite as impressed with the cover art for this game as much as I was with One Foot in the Grave. I appreciated the same use of black, white, and green. Actually the shade of green they used is very close to the green hues one sees through night vision goggles, which are very important for anyone exploring a “haunted” house, to find the “truth”. I feel like the investigators depicted were just a bit too cartoonish, but what should I expect from a beer and pretzels game? The reflection in the eyeballs’ of the investigators (similar to the ones you often get when you take a picture of a pet) were spot on.
I’m not a big fan of the ghost hunting shows that are out there. Do I really need to watch some steroided-up dude wearing a tap out shirt two sizes too small with a D-bag faux-hawk talking tough to spirits? My wife, however, is a completely different story; so as you can imagine I have seen more than my fair share of these types of shows. Dude, Run! is simply put the RPG version of those shows. However, I enjoy this version much more than what I “get” to watch on T.V. Now everything is better when it is in RPG form, even when it is bad! But Dude, Run! isn’t bad, it is tons of ghost busting fun. The only drawback I found was a lead investigator mechanic that I almost felt was not needed, simply because it added a sense of longevity to a game that doesn’t need one.
In what is proving to be typical Creepy Doll Studios fashion, this game is easy to learn and fun to play. Even my non-gaming wife and children wanted to play this one. The mechanics support competitive storytelling and as long as the players and the skeptic realize that there is a difference between RPGs and competitive storytelling and adjust their style at the table to compensate, this game is a blast. There is so much right with this game and it achieves exactly what it has set out to achieve. While this season is an especially good time to play this game, don’t write it off for the rest of the year. In the realm of beer and pretzel games, this one is that local craft beer that you love and the best soft pretzel you’ve ever eaten! Wait, you say you don’t drink and you hate pretzels? I still think you’ll love this game.
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