FORMAT: ZINE | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Tabletop RPGs have seen a recent explosion in low page-count mini-games with interesting themes and clever mechanics. Mew-Tants is a 23-page RPG adventure in which you take on the role of a housecat that happens to have super powers.

The twist is, of course, that you’re a cat. You might be able to fire beams from your eyes or read minds, but you’re still basically a moggy. The system is very simple; pick the sort of cat you are, the sort of powers you have and figure what stuff you excel at as well as the stuff you’re bad at. Six-sided dice only get flung around when the stakes are high. You’ll be avoiding / fighting rats, dogs and other cats, but this is a game less about the conflict and more about finding stuff out and using your super powers to solve mysteries. Or about trying to figure out how to use can openers so you can usurp humanity; basically it’s daft in a very lovely way.

Short, silly RPGs where you play animals aren’t new; Honey Heist has you playing bears doing crimes, for example. The twist here is that Mew-Tants is more than just a simple idea and a silly scenario. The book comes with adventure design notes and a sample adventure. It’s a proper “superheroes investigate stuff” sort of thing. Heroes meets Cats, but with less singing.

Mew-Tants is a great choice for short gaming sessions amongst friends. If you’re not in the mood for a beefier RPG campaign and just want to make lots of dumb cat jokes then this will have you smiling for an evening or two.

Mew-Tants can be picked up via the Anima Press website.