It would seem like a misogynistic pile of male chauvinism and objectification (whew, big words). But I implore you to look a little harder and deeper. Once you do, you see the spirit of the project. It's actually a tongue-in-cheek tribute to busty fantasy art. The game is designed to take you back to the day when you were a snickering adolescent when looking at those pin-up rpg covers. The creator describes it well on his kickstarter page:
There is enough on the internet to make you feel guilty for liking chainmail bikini stuff, and there has been enough of a social backlash against it. Through all the guilt ridden attitude, it is refreshing to see something like this get support and funding. I had a small part in the game's development, and at first I didn't give it any credence. I thought it was just another basement dweller's fap material. But once you look through it, it's not that at all. The game isn't meant to be perverted or an erotic roleplaying game, nor is it meant to be an ironic empowering women through sex agenda game. It's meant to be a fun romp for snickering adolescents, as the creator described it. Even my wife, who generally isn't into roleplaying games, finds the concept of this game fun and intriguing, and would be willing to sit down for a session.For decades, games have been marketed with scantily-clad, shapely young women prominently displayed. All too frequently these games aren't about those cheesecake pin-ups at all. The girl is a damsel in distress or villain, and the majority of play revolves around sweaty muscle-men running around being manly. Not so with Busty Barbarian Bimbos. Here the players take on the roles of the titular characters in a world that is dominated not by bearded wizards and savage swordsmen, but by the values of aesthetic beauty, fashion, and social standing.
Core design concerns, taken into account whenever possible, include
- Pretty girls get preferential treatment. They are treated better by other characters. They are treated better by their clothes. They are treated better by the rules. * An aggressive absence of math. No hit-points, no numeric bonuses, very little counting.
- Disdain for slavish book-keeping. Book-keeping leads to math, math leads to tedium, and tedium isn't what games are for.
- Disdain for verisimilitude. While the assumed setting is essentially a post-apocalyptic swords & sorcery environment, getting too serious about questions like “what kind of economic and industrial infrastructure is present to allow for the supply of lip-liner and daiquiris?” is a buzz-kill.
- Dismissal of manliness. Men don't matter. The heroines aren't encouraged to solve problems by emulating manly characters from other games. We aren't taking Conan the Cimmerian and photoshopping a bikini onto him. Not to knock Red Sonja, but the model of empowering girls by having them act like boys is not the goal here.
As far as gameplay, it's actually pretty sound. It's meant to be simple and use as little math as possible, and the creator did a great job with that. Usually when they describe the main stats, that is when people get up in arms. Similar to Rogue Space's FASER, this uses a simple acronym. Watch the video on the kickstarter page to find that out.
It's already reached its funding goal and is growing healthy and strong, so this isn't a cry for support. Mainly I just want to bring attention to this fun project, but not start any arguments, or alienate any of my readers. If you still find this project offensive after taking a closer look at it, that's cool. Move on. Even the creator knew he would get some flack and negativity, but I think it's important to point out that he didn't make this to troll the internet, and neither am I.
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