Product– ION Heart
System- ION Heart
Producer– Parabel Games
Price– Different price levels here https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/parable-games/ion-heart-a-cozy-solo-mech-ttrpg
TL; DR-Fun creative solo space adventures 93%
Basics– MECHS IN SPACE! ION Heart is a solo RPG where you play a random character exploring a random galaxy with a random mech. Let’s break this down and look over the basics and system itself.
Base Mechanics- This is a d6 RPG. It is VERY low crunch. You have some basic bonuses with a +1 and a -1 being the biggest changes to a roll you see in the quickstart guide. If you want to do a thing, roll a d6, add any modifiers you have, and see if you hit the target number, usually a 4. It’s quick and efficient.
Character building- RANDOM! This book has either 1 to 3 or 1 to 6 options at every choice. Build a pilot? There are six races and three backgrounds. You can choose or roll. Same for the mechs.
Adventures- When you go on an adventure, you roll to see the type of planet you land on, the type of settlement, and the type of adventure you will go on. For each adventure, you roll three times to have three different adventures of the five provided, sixth being choose one, and then have a final conclusion adventure. Each mini adventure mostly has you roll one time and see if you succeed or fail.
That’s the basics, let’s dig into my thoughts.
Mechanics or Crunch– I don’t hate games with small mechanics, and this one does well with what it is. It’s not very deep, but that’s not the experience of this game. I LOVE me some Shadowrun shenanigans with crazy levels of crunch, but this is a much more low key, Lo-Fi RPG. If you want 90 minutes of math for a roll, this isn’t the experience for you. But I’m interested. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– This, like many other solo RPGs, is almost more about what you bring to the game than what it brings to you. The mini adventures and places ask you to describe them. You take the time to write out what you think and see. This is almost more like a creative writing exercise than just a game. That’s not bad, but I feel the dependence on randomness for the tables is a bit too much and takes away a bit of the charm. The game is still full of story and an intriguing universe, but too much randomness spoils the product. 4.5/5
Execution– The product itself looks great and the things you can get are awesome, but it’s a bit pricey. To get a physical basic book, it’s 30 pounds. That feels a bit pricey. To get a book to write your adventures into you need to pledge 80 pounds. That’s again too much. The art is nice, and the write up is well done and easy to read. The layout is fantastic and I enjoy the minimalist art. Just the price keeps me away a bit. 4.5/5
Summary– This book backerkit leaves me interested. The game is a creative exercise with some math and fun randomness. The things I don’t like are too much randomness and too high a price. The digital only 15 pound option has me most intrigued. That feels like a fair option to get me into bettering myself as a writer, having space adventures, and seeing the full product. This is one to check out, but know exactly what you want out of this game. 93%
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