Zine Quest 2020 is going on over at Kickstarter this month, so I thought I’d pull some zines off the shelf. To kick things off, let’s start with one from last year, Goblinville Gazette, by Michael Dunn-O’Connor (with illustration and other support by Eric Swanson).

This is a punchy and fast rule-light RPG that puts you in the role of a party of weirdo goblins. Goblins in other games are basically cannon fodder for PCs, but Goblinville explores their quirky lives and society. You go out exploring nearby, bringing back treasure and resources in order to improve the town of Goblinville. The stakes are both high and humorous, with a focus on managing inventory, light and health that reminds me quite a bit of the grueling survival RPG Torchbearer. It is more forgiving though – failure in Goblinville is often more fun, and funnier, than success.

There are lots of little intriguing mechanics. Combat is particularly cool. There are no hit points. Rather, goblins have a set of conditions they check off as they are injured while monsters have a number of moves (bite, claw, energy ray) that get removed by successful attacks. When a goblin checks off all their conditions, they’re dead; when a monster’s moves are all removed, same deal.

Expeditions are in service to the town building, in which items and treasure are used to build and upgrade specialty buildings in town (Want tougher goblins? Build a fighting pit, etc.). I love this kind of thing on its own, but Goblinville adds the wrinkle that every time your return to town, there is a chance that the goblins there have mucked something up and you have to fix it.  

I think it is all entirely delightful – easy to pick up and play, quirky character generation, challenging without being frustrating, funny, weird and with clear goals and rewards built right in thanks to the town building mechanic. And after you read it, you’ll think twice about smearing a party of goblins in your other games, guaranteed.