TTRPG Genres You Just Can't Get Into -and- Tell Me Why I'm Wrong About X Genre I Don't Like

[Kannik]

Genres-wise, I would go with horror in general and Cthulhu specifically. The big-C seems super popular right now (both in TTRPGs but also board games and even finding its way into other genres and mini games), but it holds no interest for me at all. I also haven't tried a soap-opera-esque game yet; I'd classify that genre then as neutral (ie I'd be willing to give it a shot but I'm also not seeking it out).

Systems-wise, there are a few out there I'd be hesitant to play with again. One I haven't played with yet but have an aversion to is Savage Worlds. It's funny -- I've read it three times because I know a lot of people love it (including several of my friends who have run long campaigns in it), and so I keep re-reading it to find out what makes it tick for them. But every time I do it seems to exist in this uncanny valley that leaves me cold.

 

[Kannik]

I did think of another genre that I won't play: spies. Pretty sure I'd be hopeless at running one too.

Oh, this one for me is a total "yes yes yes!" Top Secret was my first RPG and I'll always have a soft spot for good superspy action. (I even got to play in a James Bond game recently at a convention, using the 1983 rules )

I tried Paranoia.... I can't find the fun in genre of making everyone else miserable, frustrated, and back stabbed pointlessly. Paranoia is not fun for me.

That's an interesting one... I last tried Paranoia some 30ish years ago and wasn't a fan, but that was 30 years ago. Hmmm. Might be ok for a one or three shot with the right GM and a group with the right mindset.

Don't expect many people to agree with me here about this: but for me it's dungeon crawls. They bore me to sleep. I need NPCs and interactions and all that in ways that don't shatter any resemblance of suspension of disbelief which — for me —dungeon crawls does in a heartbeat.

Yeah, I too am not super keen on them anymore when they're just room after room after room for the sake of finding more rooms and monsters and loot and blarg.

 

[Reynard]

I did think of another genre that I won't play: spies. Pretty sure I'd be hopeless at running one too.

The interesting thing about "spies" is that it is two genres but often conflated to one. There is LeCarre espionage, and then Hollywood high action. I prefer the former but admit that the latter is easier to pull off with your typical TTRPG group.

 

[Arilyn]

I hated dungeon crawls back in the day. It turned me right off D&D. Crawling through rooms and corridors poking every inch with a big stick. Going through the same routine upon entering every room. So boring!

These days there are some really fun dungeons put out for the OSR/NSR. Gavin Norman, Brad Kerr, Kelsey Dionne Ben Milton, and others have changed my mind. But they have to have fun things to interact with, be set up so there are meaningful choices and have interesting NPCs to chat with.

I love Shadowdark and OSE these days. Not nostalgia because couldn't stand "old school play" back in the early 80s.

 

[Reynard]

I hated dungeon crawls back in the day. It turned me right off D&D. Crawling through rooms and corridors poking every inch with a big stick. Going through the same routine upon entering every room. So boring!

These days there are some really fun dungeons put out for the OSR/NSR. Gavin Norman, Brad Kerr, Kelsey Dionne Ben Milton, and others have changed my mind. But they have to have fun things to interact with, be set up so there are meaningful choices and have interesting NPCs to chat with.

I love Shadowdark and OSE these days. Not nostalgia because couldn't stand "old school play" back in the early 80s.

You just had bad DMs back in the day. Interesting environments and meaningful choices aren't new.

 

[RenleyRenfield]

That's an interesting one... I last tried Paranoia some 30ish years ago and wasn't a fan, but that was 30 years ago. Hmmm. Might be ok for a one or three shot with the right GM and a group with the right mindset.

Yup, that is what I thought too. Years later, different GM's etc etc.

Still a big NOPE for me.

I was never much entertained by being a murderhobo, or backstabber to other PCs, or just aggressively defiant against plots and setting ethics. So I am not saying players who enjoy Paranoia are those things. But that is what Paranoia asks the player to lean into. And it asks the GM to be inconsistent, petty, and very antagonistic.

Even as a one-shot it was miserable. At no point did I ever feel 'paranoid', i just felt abused and bored.

"Pasion de las Pasiones" rpg succeeds at everything paranoia fails at, and is bonkers fun. Just reframe it in the paranoia setting and away you go!

"Infinity" rpg is the only game that ever brought paranoia concepts to life for me. Doubting who was who, doubting the use and interaction with AI, doubting what it was to be human, doubting morality when you can just go get a new Lhost (sleeve/body), doubting any leader or government or corporation with its Metanoia and PsyWar rules...

 

[chuckdee]

I don't like Silly games. I've tried them, and just don't like them.

Toon, Paranoia, Tales from the Floating Vagabond et al.

I don't know if this counts as a genre, but I don't like one-shots. My interest in playing is for development, and one-shots leave me cold at the point of what happens next?

I don't like romance RPGs as a rule- but Pasion de las Pasiones caught my interest, but I haven't had a chance to try it yet.

 

[chuckdee]

There are rules for romance and relationships in Blue Rose AGE.

To me, Romance genre implies that the story is about that and that it's integral, not that rules are included. Rules are included for relationships in Apocalypse World, but no one would ever say it's a romance game.

 

[dragoner]

I think of myself as a very open minded gamer. I can enjoy playing just about any game as long as I can get on with the rest of the players. And I generally can get on with most people. So I rarely turn down a gaming session because of the system. But there is one big exception.

I don't like "supers" games. The whole genre of superheros games turns me off. And I'm not even sure why. It can't be the power levels. I've run campaigns in D&D to 20th level. And it is not that I hate the genre in any media. I've enjoyed many superhero movies and TV series. I've enjoyed some superhero comics off and on over the years. But whenever I hear about a superhero TTRPG game session, I'm like, "ugh, no thanks." And I don't just mean committing to a superhero-themed campaign, I don't even want to sit down for a session. I'm thinking at the next Gamehole Con I should sign up for at least one superhero game session to see if I can either work past this block, or at least come away with a more informed opinion and maybe some insight on why I don't like them.

There is a player in my regular game that is like this with Sci Fi TTRPGs. And I mean Sci Fi in the broadest sense. When I run any Sci Fi flavored one shot, he nopes out. The Expanse? Nope. Paranioa? Nope.

Does anyone else have similar genres that turn them off? Do you have more self awareness than I do as to why? Or is it just a "doesn't float my boat" instinctual thing?

Also, this thread is a place to defend your yum that others yuck. Not argue, berate, belittle or otherwise be belligerent about it. Just a good faith explanation why you love the genre others don't. And if you were once turned off by a genre and came to love it, what turned you around?

I have never much cared for supers either, I did play Champions back in the day, it was ok. I don't really know the genre though, not reading the comics or watching the films, so it is always like an in joke I don't get, or if I say something wrong, the half hour lecture of "how could you not know this?" Another player in our group doesn't like them either, claiming they are "copaganda."

I have also passed on a "Anime Magic Girl" game they played using Pathfinder. It's also really a genre I know nothing about.

 

[Reynard]

Yup, that is what I thought too. Years later, different GM's etc etc.

Still a big NOPE for me.

I was never much entertained by being a murderhobo, or backstabber to other PCs, or just aggressively defiant against plots and setting ethics. So I am not saying players who enjoy Paranoia are those things. But that is what Paranoia asks the player to lean into. And it asks the GM to be inconsistent, petty, and very antagonistic.

Even as a one-shot it was miserable. At no point did I ever feel 'paranoid', i just felt abused and bored.

"Pasion de las Pasiones" rpg succeeds at everything paranoia fails at, and is bonkers fun. Just reframe it in the paranoia setting and away you go!

"Infinity" rpg is the only game that ever brought paranoia concepts to life for me. Doubting who was who, doubting the use and interaction with AI, doubting what it was to be human, doubting morality when you can just go get a new Lhost (sleeve/body), doubting any leader or government or corporation with its Metanoia and PsyWar rules...

Sometimes games are just supposed to be fun.