Check out Gigargun!

Is there a nerd in the world that hasn't dreamed of donning a robotic suit to go toe-to-toe with a gigantic monster? A friend of mine, Duffy, is involved in creating a new tabletop RPG called Gigargun that allows players to do just that. Here's an excerpt from his latest blog post:

[The world of Gigargun] has dealt with the existence of giant monsters for over half a century and has almost become jaded to its own wonder. We are populating it with corporations, cults, militias, and criminal organizations that trade in giant monsters. We are devising scenarios where you will be challenged in new and creative ways that take advantage of the world.

Now, I haven't had a chance to play test Gigargun yet. Luckily, my Best Frenemy Mac was able to play it at Tabletop Game Day at our FLGS. And he shared with me one of my favorite gaming stories to date. Apparently a father brought in his two sons for Tabletop Game Day, and the younger one was painfully shy. Already I'm like, "I know that feel, little bro." But then this:

We would all ask him what he wanted to do and he would sit there quietly staring down at the table for a few seconds until his father said, "Would you like to _____?" and he'd nod, someone would put the die in his hand and he'd roll it.

Then the undead whale surfaced (which is apparently a real thing in Japanese mythology, who knew). The kid was on top of our ship, riding his giant lion-looking pet monster, and this time when Duffy asked him, "What would you like to do?" He looked up for maybe the first time, and calmly said, "I would like to jump onto it's back, dig my way down inside of it, and rip it's heart into pieces until it dies."

The table fell silent, then Duffy leaned forward and patted him on the head, and said, "Yes. Yes, that is going to happen now." And we proceeded to make it happen, step by step, over the next few combat rounds. Thanks to a few very good rolls, including a critical hit on the heart itself, we won a few rounds later.

DON'T YOU JUST LOVE IT?!? As much as I love D&D, I have a hard time envisioning something like this happening in that system. This gives me the impression that Gigargun's mechanics are flexible enough to handle just about anything. Even more importantly, it shows that the stories you can tell with Gigargun are evocative enough to bring all our shy inner eight-year olds out of their shells.

Duffy, when do I get to play?