Knights of Pen & Paper

Year: 2012
Genre: General
Website: https://www.paradoxplaza.com/knights-of-pen-paper-1-edition

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Shane:

• Platform: Android
• Hours logged: 14.0
• Playthroughs: 1
• Rating: 9/10

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Notes and Discussions:

• Shane (6/22/2014):  I have played a bit of D&D in my day.  Most of it was post college actually, in a time when people are usually more capable of roleplaying and focusing more on the story.  Unfortunately, I was not that good at telling a story.  I was far more attracted to building interesting combinations of skills and maximizing my combat abilities.  As I look back on the games played now I often wonder if I missed out on something important with regards to developing a character, interacting with the world and other players around me, and telling a compelling story.  If I wanted to apply that thought to this game, however, it would be mostly wasted.
  
  Knights of Pen and Paper is a game about people playing an RPG.  I don't know if I had ever encountered this concept before having seen it here actually.  I have played many RPGs in both tabletop and computerized form but the meta-gaming where you are playing the characters who are playing a game appeals to me.  That game inside a game idea is called out a number of times throughout the story as various characters break the 4th wall of the story the players are playing through, and even more so when the confines of the game are broken and... well, spoilers and stuff.  I don't think the developers would appreciate me giving away the twists and turns of the story.
  
  That story though, is not what kept me playing past the first 15 minutes while I decided if I was willing to put in enough time to play this title through.  My favorite part of the game by far was the interactions of the players at the table.  They quipped and distracted themselves in the same way as I have experienced with real people at my own kitchen table.  They asked if they could invite their friends and talked about ordering pizza.  They congratulated each other on good rolls and kicked themselves when they flubbed something.  I didn't understand all of the references that were added (something about a beaver who needed to protect his television?) but I did chuckle at many of the easter-egg like puns and clever names.  When I am running a game I try to make similar additions.  It helps ground me in the world.
  
  Lee told me that he installed the game and played 10 minutes or so but couldn't understand the point. His lack of Pen and Paper gaming is almost guaranteed to be the missing connection here. I say that if you are looking for a quick-ish RPG playthrough and want a call-back to nights spent drinking Mt. Dew in your buddy's basement, this game is well worth your time.  A few chuckles, a couple decent quests and just enough story to keep me wondering where it was going to go.  Good show, devs.  Thanks for this.