Review by Claire Mayne
Panty Explosion, by Jake Richmond and Matt Schlotte (What a fabulous name) has been described as:
“The most controversial game of the year – For 4 or more sexy and brave players.”
Um… No. It’s very good – don’t get me wrong, but the above review was obviously made by someone who has read only the title (which we assume is a bad translation of something spookily oriental). It’s not particularly controversial, and you don’t need to be sexy or brave – unless you feel so inclined.
Panty Explosion is an adventure game about ‘mundane’ Japanese schoolgirls battling demons, ghosts, government agents – and, often, each other. It’s also a game about getting through high school, making friends, achieving goals and your characters living teenage life to the full in modern-day Japan.
In Panty Explosion, you and your friends play teenage, Japanese schoolgirls – at least one of you will have psychic powers, while one other player will take the role of the superintendent (For those veteran role-players out there – yes. The superintendent is your average dungeon/game-master/-keeper/DM/GM etc. etc.). For those of you less enlightened, the DM/GM/etc./the superintendent guides the other players through the game’s journey – mapping out the course the game will take, and designing their surroundings.
Panty Explosion is very well-written and explained – although, as a role-player only just branching off of D&D, I must admit to having read the book more than once to fully understand it. This said, although initially a difficult concept, Panty Explosion would be acceptable for first-time players – whilst players may spend hours developing characters for games such as Call of Cthulhu (well if your name is Derek Mayne) and D&D, Panty Explosion makes this entire process quite enjoyable – with little effort. Traits are laid out is a way that makes them easy to see and understand, and are grouped with other traits that it would be realistically linked with (Simply wonderful for lazier than usual role-players).
Moreover, there are plenty of examples and scenarios– from character creation to a first conflict – to guide the players through the game and actively support the superintendent during the creation of the story.
In all, truthful, honesty (Isn’t all honesty truthful?) I simply cannot WAIT to gather the few roleplaying maniacs I know and plan a truly wonderful adventure to torture entertain my minions players with.
It seems that, in the hands of the correct superintendent, Panty Explosion could be a veritable gem of horror and suspense.
Arkham Lights is a Call of Cthulhu Scenario for three to five investigators inspired by The Lights of Madness published in Different Worlds magazine in March/April 1987; a magazine which I feel is sorely missed and has never been equalled. Although the plot remains the same as the original much of the detail has however been changed along with the dating and location which I have moved to Arkham to suit my own personal campaign.
