Godlike‘s the best superhero game I’ve played since my DC Heroes days in college. Ok, it’s also the only superhero game I’ve placed since DC Heroes, but that doesn’t change the fact that its an excellent game with an intriguing game mechanic.
Godlike lets you take on the role of a relatively low-powered superhero fighting on the side of the Allies during World War II. The game’s engine is driven by dice pools — you roll a certain number of d10s based on what skill you’re using, and the result tells you not only whether you succeeded, but how well you succeeded. Read my review of the game at SCI-FI.com (Internet Archive).
The game’s biggest drawback, at least for me, has been a lack of content supporting the core rule book. A campaign setting called Operation: Torch, which details the battle for Africa, has been planned forever, but hasn’t been released yet, and there was only a smattering of scenarios for the game.
Fortunately, that’s changing. First off, Arc Dream — the company now publishing Godlike — has posted Combat Orders #1: Donar’s Hammer (Internet Archive), which is a 32-page superhero scenario. There’s also One O’Clock Wake Up (Internet Archive), a scenario for ordinary soldiers fighting during World War II. I plan one getting one or both of them with an eye toward running a Godlike one-shot during one of my group’s upcoming game days.
Cooler still is game creator Dennis Detwiller’s new World of Godlike blog (Internet Archive). It includes answers to questions about Godlike game mechanics, links to game downloads, and news about upcoming releases. It’s a great resource, and one I wish had been around since the game’s start.
There’s also the Godlike Yahoo Group, which has been pretty quiet, but which is now showing signs of life again. As you’d expect, the Yahoo Group’s dedicated to discussions about the game, and is frequented by its creators.
All in all, things are looking pretty good for Godlike. According to Dennis, they’ve got a bunch of products lined up, and are working on getting the money together to publish them. If you like Godlike, I suggest checking out the PDF scenarios and buying them — this is a game definitely worth supporting. If you don’t know anything about Godlike — but want to learn more — check out the Godlike web site (Internet Archive) and download the quick play rules in PDF format.