Mork Borg

 

The best description I have for this strange game is it is one of those "concept albums" from the 70's or 80's that the record company picks one hit single from and the world ignores the genius behind the rest of the creation.

This is not a "system replacement" game for anything, DCC, D&D 5, Old School Essentials, Labyrinth Lord or any of them. Really, it feels like an adventure module with its own rules and you read through it, and if you want, play through it as well and enjoy the ride. You are free to play other adventures if you wish, but the system itself is this very tight set of rules that cribs from the OSR but goes off in its own direction much like a severed head.

It is an experience meant to be read in physical form, played with friends, and enjoyed for what it is.

I respect they did not try to go the complete game system route with this game, it feels like a party game that you break out, spin a dark one-shot tale, and go about a strange journey down the dark and twisted paths of your imagination.

A lot is said about the art and layout, the pure chaos of it all. Is it needed? To shock people out of their system comfort and expectations, yes, I feel it is completely needed. We get so used to our facing-page layouts, neat organized rules, and bulleted summaries that there are times I feel we miss the raw force of imagination and the primal energy of fear and horror which resides within our consciousnesses.

The layout and presentation is welcome. For too long I have been held in comfort and almost coddled by what is easy to mentally ingest.

The game comes as a shock, and a needed one at that to a society too accustomed to safety and isolation.

It is a wake-up call of a game.

This is not for everyone, and many will dismiss this as a fad. I thought it was at first, how could something so simple and so outrageous be anything more than passing thing? This was the thing Youtubers talk about to get views, right? It isn't fair, honestly. Nor is it meant to be. It does feel like a game written to stand up to all the crap that would get hurled at it, in defiance of common wisdom.

If not for the simple fact that it brought out a near-universal rebellious feeling that so many have when they experience this. It is more than a game, it is a cultural milepost.

Do something different.

Like something new.

Do not let fear rule your life, and if need be, embrace fear and become it.

Conquer it.

Or laugh when you fail and chalk it up to what could have been.

Not every adventure is perfect. Not every hero is a perfect video-gamer avatar meant to represent us perfectly. Not every fight is fair. And there may be nothing you can do about the upcoming end of the world.

But will your toothless cretin of a haggard old man with a missing finger or two smile when he finally grabs that bag of gold before he is consumed by the Hellfire?

Will that moment have made all of the suffering worth it?

To win.

Yet lose.

But defiantly smile as your hero holds the bag up high through the flames and knows he has won.

For that experience alone, something our MMO-inspired player-protecting games of today can't fathom delivering, the price is worth it alone to be shocked to an awakened state. You may not like the album, you may wonder what you just heard when the needle reaches the end of the B-side of the vinyl record, but you will remember it and walk away thinking differently.

For or against.

Trash or genius - and take note, with notable things, like albums or musicians, there rarely is a middle ground.

But you will get an experience that is hard to replicate or even have elsewhere. Even the act of understanding is a part of the experience, and there are a lot of things hidden away to discover later. One read alone will not teach you the game, nor the world, it may take dozens of passes. And the things you discover may be things you discover about yourself. The darkness within. What scares you? What is darkness and horror in your own mind?

For that alone, it is a classic.