An Urban Shadows review/playtest by the German rpg website Teilzeithelden (“part time heroes”). The debt and corruption systems got a positive review, but the author of the review finds that, in comparison to other ptvA games, many US moves are limited to information gathering and do not create story, and criticizes a lack of “fail forward” options in many US moves.
http://www.teilzeithelden.de/2016/07/04/spieltest-urban-shadows-schatten-ueber-rom-pbta/
http://www.teilzeithelden.de/2016/07/04/spieltest-urban-shadows-schatten-ueber-rom-pbta/
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Interesting, for sure. I have only read, not played, but I this seems to be a considered assessment. Still, not sure how much of this depends on playing style rather than RAW.
I don’t find the moves to limited. I find some of them unclear and not as helpful; like Investigate a Place of Power or the perception part of Let it Out.
Information gathering does move the story forward, so that’s silly. As for failing forward, the MC should always be doing this with every miss. It’s why they have principles and agenda first, then moves.
Urban Shadows is a wonderful game and the moves are spot on for driving exactly the kind of story that the World of Darkness reaches for but fails to deliver. Getting the group together is more an issue of the initial setup than the game. I find Urban Shadows one of the most evocative and best designed PtbA games out there. The writing of the core book could be a lot tighter, but still the gameplay is excellent.