Written by Luzena Donell

Mazes is a simple to play, rules light “dungeon crawl” adventure game. It’s a player facing game, with the Game Master ((known as the ‘MC’, for Maze Controller)) taking on the role of story teller and guide. The MC never rolls against the characters. Another aspect of the game that was very enjoyable is the simplicity of the dice! In Mazes, there are four predominant ‘Roles’, which determine the single type of dice the player character uses. Players decide which Role best suits their play style desires. Character creation continues from there, with a series of questions that lead to choosing a Class and Aspect, opening up a slew of character types the player can choose from.

The core book is both beginner friendly for players new to the TTRPG world, and friendly to new GMs. The game is low-prep, with quick and easy character creation, little to no math required, and game play that is designed for quick, single session ‘episodic’ games. Mazes is designed to get the players straight to the action, dropping the characters right at the beginning of a challenge, or maze, or dungeon. It’s a very narrative driven game, as well, with a mechanic called ‘Stars’ lending itself to large, dramatic, narrative feats the player characters bring to the story.

Additionally, the lore of the world presented in the core book drives the MC and players to get strange and weird with the narrative, with creatures from the bestiary like “bickerknockers” and “swamp sirens”.

I GM’d, or in this case ‘MC’d’ a session of Mazes, with a group of three players in person. I’m a returning GM, but don’t have a huge amount of experience playing games that aren’t based on a 5E system, so this was a new experience! Mazes uses a system the creator calls “Polymorph System”.

Essentially, the players individually decide on what factors bring them to the game, and from there, choose which ‘Role’ best fits their interest. There are four ‘Role’ types in Mazes — each has their own single die they roll for actions, effects, and saves.

For example, one of my players chose the Role of the Fighter, who uses only the d8 die. Actions the players can take are sorted by different numbers they want to hit — rather than just rolling against the MC. Since the game is player facing, it’s a very narrative driven game, according to the core book “To do it, do it”.

Mazes is also designed to be a fast paced, quick start game. The game always starts at the beginning of a maze. ‘Maze’ here is figurative — the adventure can take place anywhere, it’s intended as a dungeon crawl, but that ‘dungeon’ could be anything — a decrepit treehouse mansion, a radioactive underwater laboratory, or, just, a literal maze. It’s very open ended to foster those creative juices and keep things weird.

‘Mazes’ is good for impromptu sessions, low-prep sessions, or filler sessions between larger campaigns. Episodic in nature, it’s intended to be completed in a single session ((Which is ironic, considering my first session had to be split into two, but, that’s mostly due to the fact the module I picked out was designed to be extra EXTRA challenging…oops)). The ease of play also comes from quick character creation — which was one of the most enjoyable parts of the process ((other than when our Underground Druid spent a ‘Star’ to shape-shift into a killer-death-bear, which our Excellent Vagabond then rebounded off of to score a scarlet letter ‘A’ into the chest of an encroaching Ghoul Thane)).

One mechanic of the game my party also enjoyed is the ‘Star’ token mechanic. ‘Stars’ are tokens received and determined by character roles that are then ‘spent’ by the player to perform big, dramatic narrative feats. ((Did you read about the bear?))

1. Other pluses we found include, but are not limited to;
   Super quick game play, seriously, being able to sit down and have a solid adventure in a single 2 -3 hour session is immaculate.
2. ‘Flashback’ and Treasure Token mechanics, removing the need for narrative role-playing that takes place outside the maze((…or treehouse, or laboratory)). It also gives players incentive to interject and develop their character’s lore!
3. Very little ((…actually, none at all)) math
4. Cool character aspects and classes ((a personal favorite of mine is ‘Haunted Librarian’))
5. Player facing gameplay — the GM doesn’t roll to attack for combatants, or, against the party in general
6. “If it’s feasible for your character to have or do, your character has or does it”. Seriously, if your character would have packed a torch, they have a torch.
7. A token mechanic specifically for the MC, called “Darkness” that determines the fate of character’s rolls, or, can be ‘spent’ in a manner similar to the party’s ‘treasure’ mechanic. For example, the MC can ‘spend’ two darkness to summon an extra hazard!
8. Beginner friendly, player friendly, and the ‘Stressed Out Forever GM’ friendly.
9. Designed to be a weird, weird world.
10. There’s a beast called a “Funglion”, seriously.

Overall, Mazes is a fun and weird TTRPG designed for a quickplay, no math, rules light experience for beginners and experienced players alike!