Lizard_King

AN was a title that I was eager to see reprinted on the strength of the word of mouth it got as a great old game, and the fact that the very talented Headless Hollow guy was involved in their art side was very encouraging. And I’m a sucker for thematic games that use game mechanics as a storytelling device, so we powered through the needlessly complex rules (seriously, just a little more distinction in the layers of tables and this game would take 2 minutes to explain instead of half an hour) and started playing.
But, frankly, I can’t say there’s much of a game there. You do things that are game-like, such as make decisions and receive results according to a combination of chance and your stats, but it’s a thin veil disguising utter randomness. You can choose a stat to use that’s wholly inappropriate for the situation from its initial appearance, and the outcome is just as likely to be harmful or beneficial as if you’d chosen what seemed to be the best fit.
I just can’t imagine this sharing a space with games that genuinely use a strong theme to create a narrative as you play, which are surprisingly common and operating at an altogether different level, and perhaps it’s my fault for walking in with the expectation that it would be at the level of your Battlestars or Arkhams or Chaos in the Old Worldseseseses.

The caveat I’ll add is that I can see this being fun for an adult playing with young children, assuming s/he pulls a Princess Bride and edits the storytelling as needed rather than randomly murdering little Tommy for failing to roll dice more successfully. Personally, I’d rather just read one of the many variations on the actual stories with a child, depending on their age, and not risk ruining what is a beautiful conceit for storytelling with a game that belongs in the history books alongside King’s Quest games and other dated experiences.