Gattai! is a role-playing game written by Claudio Serena and published by Fumble GDR. The title, easy and quick to read, will allow the game group to play a team of pilots in command of a giant robot. If your thoughts immediately ran to the robots you saw in the souls of the 70s and 80s, you are in the right direction!
Structure of the manual
The manual is presented as a twenty-page booklet, full of illustrations, tables, quotes and screams to activate the attacks. It is mainly divided into six sections, which deal with game mechanics from conflict resolution to the creation of enemies. The writing of the manual, as previously mentioned, is lean and easy to read. In fact, the imagination will give life to the author's words. Reading the manual will bring back dozens and dozens of episodes of the souls of the genre mecha, ending up with giving wonderful adventures before even sitting at the table.
The episodic structure
In the introduction, which serves as a declaration of intent for the whole game, Claudio Serena explains that the purpose of the sessions should be to stage an episode of a Japanese anime robot, of those that can be seen in Voltron, Getter Robot, Zambot 3 and many others. This statement is reflected in the game's staged structure. In fact, the author identifies several main phases, which follow the day of the pilots from the initial situation to the final confrontation with assembly of the super robot.
The main game mechanic of Gattai!
The centerpiece of the game is the creation of a pool of d6 dice, to be rolled and compared with the results obtained by the opponent. The master will determine which traits of the enemy to flow into his pool and the players will have to balance their resources throughout the bet. Much like Rockopolis and other Fumble RPG ideas, the traits of the pilots, components and robots add d6 to the pool. Once used, a trait can no longer be used in the session. These are the general rules, very simple and easy to understand.
Ease of preparation
One of the most notable things about this title is the ease of session preparation. You can decide everything at the table, with an initial chat, instead of having an entire session 0. For the avoidance of misunderstandings, however, we always recommend making the preparatory sesisone to synchronize the theater of the mind, talk about your expectations and understand some mechanics game details. The manual also recommends the main themes, of which I obviously loved that of Atlantis. The theme helps in the creation of iconic objects, enemies, robots, etc ...
Even the names of the characters and robots can be decided at the table, as the manual offers an easy table for creating them on the fly. This could give birth to very interesting names, try it for yourself!
Voice activated weapons
We close this review with the most interesting, cool and fantastic aspect of this game. The component and super robot weapons are voice activated, so players will have to activate it by shouting the name of the technique. Have you always dreamed of shouting "Space Halberd!"? This is the game for you. Of course, for players who aren't embarrassed, this mechanic is the most fun.
Why play Gattai?
Gattai! it is a title that responds to a particular need, which I understand very well. It does not lend itself to playing many things but, obviously, it lends itself to different settings. What I recommend is to play Gattai! first to try it and, secondly, when you want to crash your robot against some giant monster. Close your eyes, visualize the command console and your enemy and shout the attack to use.
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