Like this thread! I played a lot of games in the 80s (Star Frontiers, Gamma World, Boot Hill, Warhammer Fantasy, Paranoia, etc.) but it was so long ago, that I could only comment on nolstalgic feelings I have for them. So, I'll stick to the non-D&D games I've experience since getting back into the hobby a 9 or so years ago.
Dungeon/Mutant Craw Classics (DCC / MCC)
Extent of Experience
Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC)
An old friend and very experience GM ran a DCC funnel when he was in town. One of the best experiences I've had as a player. But never played a leveled class in bog-standard DCC. Looked at the books and loved the old-school feeling and Otis artwork, but it seemed complicated and I was already invested in 5e. So didn't buy any of the books.
DCC Lankhmar
Played in a session at a convention while it was still being play tested. Really enjoyed it and felt it captured the feeling of the Fahfrd and the Grey Mouser books. Got to experience playing a pre-gen, low-level magic caster. I liked the weird/dangerous feel of magic, the luck mechanics, etc.
Mutant Crawl Classics
Same friend who ran my the DCC game ran a holiday themed MCC game when visiting during the holiday season. Great fun. Still never bought the books to try to run it.
DCC Dying Earth
Okay, you got me Goodman Games! I baked the Kickstarter. Really like how they flavor magic, but have to wait for the boxed sets and adventures to be delivered. I am thinking of running my next campaign as DCC Dying Earth campaign.
Verdict
I don't know how much of my enjoyment of the Goodman Games DCC/MCC games is because of great GMs and how much is because of the system, but I have a lot of goodwill with the games and will happily play in a DCC/MCC game. As for running the game, I'm a bit concerned about DCC's love for tables and having to constantly look things up. But I'm at least prepared to give it a shot for a few sessions for an adventure if not an entire campaign. I really, really like the funnel system and have adapted it and used it for the session zero of my current 5e campaign.
The Expanse
Extent of Experience
Enjoy the TV series. Never read the novels. I really like the book. It is a fun read for fans of the series. I also like the mechanics. They are easy to pick-up and do a good job supporting a cinematic style of play. But I only ran one game. The weight of the lore was too much for me. I didn't feel confident enough to deliver a game that felt like the show or novels and the system doesn't really lend itself to generic sci fi. The space travel rules get needlessly complicated. Also, they spend a lot of text on fluff which makes some mechanics seem more complicated than they are. Space combat is not too hard to run but I don't find it much fun.
Verdict
Nice book to have on the shelf. I enjoy reading it and paging through it. Other than space combat, I like the mechanics and would consider using the mechanics to run a generic sci fi campaign, but the work to decouple the setting-specific stuff from the mechanics, makes me more likely to just find another system for sci fi. I plan to look at what other games use the AGE system.
Paranoia
Extent of Experience
The Mongoose Games Ultraviolet edition that was published a few years ago, not the new edition. I really enjoy the game, including the use of cards, which they unfortunately removed in the newest edition. They are a bit vague and lazy in how they run some of the rules and I found it more difficult to really grok how to run parts of the game. But in actual play it ran well.
Verdict
I plan to run additional scenarios now and then as one shots or a mini-campaign. I don't think it lends itself to long-term campaigns. Would happily run or play in a one-shot any time and always sign up for at least one Paranoia game at my local convention.
iSPECTREs
Extent of Experience
Heard about it from a recorded GenCon panel discussion on experimental/indie games and checked it out. The players play members of a paranormal investigation team. I've generally seen it played more as a slapstick game than serious. More Ghost Busters than Call of Cthulhu. Ran it with some friends and we all had a lot of fun with it. Played it a number of times at my local game convention and will try to sign up for at least a couple of slots when I see it being run. It uses simple six-sided dice pool mechanics but what makes it fun are how high successes allow players to change the stories. There is a also a mechanic where a player can go into a "confession booth" (just a share you set up on the side) and player talks to the camera where they can spill the dirt on another player. The player who is a target of the rumor can decide whether the rumor is true and run with it or they can decide it is a false rumor. There are simple campaign mechanics where the PCs can increase their skills and where the company can increase its resources.
Verdict
Great game for a one shot with the right group. Works best with more extroverted players who enjoy a bit of improve and like the "role" in roll play with the dice mainly being a story device. Not a tactical game. Still, I've found that it plays well with diverse groups of players. Players who really hate being on the spot or who like their games more serious or tactical would likely not enjoy it.
Dialect
Extent of Experience
I've played it a couple times at conventions and bought the game, but have not run it yet. One session at a convention game was the most moving experience I've ever had with a TTRPG. The game bills itself as being about the creation and death of language. The PCs are all part of an isolated community. Some of the set scenarios (called "backdrops" in the book include an isolated tribe and a stranded mars mission. The mechanics involve players inventing words, telling a story on how the word came to be used, and other players adding to that. The language evolves over hours of game play, with several ages of play.
Verdict
I love this game but works best with the right group of players who are invested in the concept. I suppose it could be played in a slapstick manner, but in my opinion it works best--and can be very impactful--when played seriously with players who are invested in the concept, the story, and their characters.
Alice is Missing
Extent of Experience
I've played one session online as a player. I bought the Roll20 version and PDF and plan to run it in person at some point when I can bring together the right group. Would like to play it in person. This is a game played entirely by text messages. Each player takes on a pre-created character. All player character's are friends of Alice, who has gone missing. The players change their phone setting so that they can text as their character and share their numbers with the other players. When played online, instead of phones, you can use a chat platform. When I played we used discord. The GM goes over the rules and background of the story. Every player gets a number of cards that are activated based on a timer. The GM starts playing an audio that plays a video that has music and will display numbers as different times. So, say, at the five minute mark a card is activated and the player with that card will communicate based on the information on that card. Some cards require drawing additional cards to resolve certain plot points.
This is an entirely story-driven game. The cards just give information or resolve certain situations. The players simply react, communicating by text. Basically all the players are assumed to be separated, communicating by text, trying to find out what happened to, and perhaps rescuing, their friend Alice. There is not speaking after the game starts.
Verdict
Plan on running it. But it needs the right group of players. For some people it would be terribly boring. With the right group who are invested in the story and text-based, live storytelling and improv aspects of it, it can be rather moving. I don't think that there is a great deal of replayability. I would not play it twice with exactly the same group of people. But if you have some people who have played it before and some who have not, it would be fun to go through the experience again. The story will be different each time you play, but the general theme is always the same.
Mage: The Ascension
Extent of Experience
Some of my players are fans and convinced me to try running it. I like the concept and how it approached magic. I ran several sessions but found the rules to be overly complex and poorly organized. I also found that the lack of adventures and supporting materials made it require a lot of prep time. I ended up killing the campaign due to lack of time and interest in running that system.
Verdict
I would be happy to play in a campaign run by a GM who has mastered the rules and is enthusiastic about the game, but I have no interest in ever running the game.
Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)
Extent of Experience
I backed the kickstarter for this when I was trying to learn and run Mage. Was not impressed by the PDFs. Saved them on Google Drive and never looked at them again.
Verdict
While I have never played or read Vampire or Werewolf, I've come to the conclusion that World of Darkness games are just not for me as a GM. I get tired of the pages and pages of story vignettes. Some of the lore is interesting but I'm not that impressed with the writing would rather they separated all the stories into a separate book. The rules need to be better organized and explained. I think I would enjoy being a player in any WoD game run by the GM who loves the system, but I just can't stand trying to learn and run it. Ghosthunters in particular just felt like a messy collection of mediocre lore and stories. I can't even speak about the rules because after my experience with Mage, after paging through the PDF for Ghosthunters and I didn't even bother to try to learn the system. It just turns me off as a GM.