Ratings for - RPGnet RPG Game Index

Statistics: Over the Edge

Core Game Ratings

Rating: 7.78 / Ranking: 10

These ratings are based on 100 ratings with 1.91 average weight and 8 reviews.

This is compared to an index-wide 3.64 average ratings and 1.98 average weight.

This rating earns a medium-high level of trust because of its considerable input.

Ratings + Reviews:

12%

25%

30%

21%

Index Ratings Only:

11%

34%

23%

19%

RPGnet Reviews Only:

13%

50%

25%

Core Game Comments

All User Comments

Rating	User	Comments
10 / 10	Longspeak	I've never been a fan of the setting, but the system is so wonderfully simple and adaptable, I love it.
10 / 10	comrade pointdexter	Hands down, this is the game that kept me in the hobby. Not to cast aspersion on the kind of gaming that was popular before OtE, but my interests and my aesthetic tastes had taken a turn away from the kind of genre-pulp verisimilitude that games up to then emulated. Over the Edge offered a system and setting that incorporated the "high-brow" arts and theory that I'd become attracted to with the gonzo weirdness and prophetic imagination I expected from the best of genre fiction. Years later, I still game, and I remain convinced.
10 / 10	John Marron	Changed the way I look at RPGs forever.
10 / 10	Nomad4life	A classic. One of the best RPGs ever made for us rules-lite/minimalist gamers (although I would still like to see an alternative to hit points.) The setting is almost horror, almost parody, almost noir, almost drama, almost a paradise, and almost Hell. Those "almost" elements all play off each other to make the "surreal" setting work in a way I haven't seen since. Even when nothing really significant is happening (such as the PC's buying coffee or something) there is an odd giddy sense of Kafkaesque dread in the air. I think that's what I like the most about the game.
9 / 10	walkerp	The character generation system for Over the Edge introduced me to the freedom and effectiveness of open ended traits. The system is elegant and effective as well. The setting captures an anarchic punk 80's zeitgeist that is fun to play in, if a bit too surreal for some. But this game is worth owning for the character generation alone.
9 / 10	Ars Mysteriorum	I don't like the system, though I understand how it shaped games to come. That said, the setting is MARVELOUS. Own this book and mine it for it's beautiful, twisted ideas.
9 / 10	JDCorley	It's the setting that makes this book sing. The system, ultra-rules-light, does nothing but get out of the way. Outstanding well-developed and self-contained.
9 / 10	Menchi	THE surreal roleplaying game. Before Unknown Armies, Over the Edge was teaching us that roleplaying can really break the rules. Brilliant setting and fun, simple, game system.
9 / 10	Sleeper	The indie revolution stood on the shoulders of this giant. Any problems with the overly-American European island vanish with the realization that Al Amarja = Erewhon.
8 / 10	Simple Man	System was revolutionary for it's time, but it's showing some age now. Setting was always really just campaign notes for this spooky little island in the Mediterranean.
8 / 10	Pig with Pen	An extremely simple system with innovative dice mechanics for its time. The true beauty of this game is the wicked setting of Al-Amarja.
8 / 10	Nightwalker	An interesting book with interesting ideas. Really interesting. My only beef with this game is the physical book itself. I'd like to see something a bit higher quality for my buck.
8 / 10	Ben Lehman	A remarkably fun system. I can't comment on the setting material, having only ever played games which used the mechanics as a generic system for other settings.
8 / 10	BigJackBrass	Required reading for anyone who wants to design a game and an excellent RPG to boot. It's really "Interzone: The RPG" and none the worse for it. One of the very few games capable of regularly giving players the creeps.
8 / 10	Chocobo	I like the idea of the kitchen sink setting, and it has my favorite rules light system.
8 / 10	Jon Hastings	I really like this system. I like the setting, too, although I think it might be "filled in" a little bit too much.
8 / 10	Merten	Over the Edge has one of the best character creation rules and resolution system I've seen. It's fast, it's easy to learn and use, and it fades away when you don't need it. The setting, while funny and intresting, does not rock my boat.
8 / 10	Oliveira	Whoa!
8 / 10	SJE	Fantastic book- the only RPG where you can play anything you can imagine!
8 / 10	Yokiboy	Over the Edge features a great rules system at its core, but don't try to hang onto the setting too hard. It is best when played loose and fast, creating your own version of Al Amarja, just like Jonathan Tweet explained how it grew organically through his own game play. This book belongs in almost every serious roleplayer's collection.
8 / 10	Zachary The First	Brilliant, revolutionary game. Easy to learn, easy to create whatever you can imagine.
7 / 10	TrippyHippy	A product that demonstrates how simple game systems can be if you just want to have fun. Weird setting, with interesting concepts that seem inspired mainly from 60s 'alternative' literature, and it is well written. The simplicity of it's system makes it useful as a setting book for a number of other games.
7 / 10	Stalkre	I love the setting and and enjoyed reading the book. I don't know if I could ever run it, though, and the system is a little clunky.
7 / 10	Skiorht	OtE is a very well written and revolutionary game, which captured the early 90's zeitgeist perfectly. The setting is great, if a little too strictly defined, leaving less room for players to maneuver than I'd prefer. The rules work fine, but have needless complications in combat. Still, one of the best products of the nineties.
7 / 10	ShannonA	An interesting, innovating rule system, that nonetheless didn't quite catch me enough to ever play it.
7 / 10	Thanuir	Freeform traits with guidelines for balance and an intriguing setting filled with ideas.
6 / 10	Doc Halloween	OTE has a very interesting blend of genres, themes, and ideas. Setting is terrific, the rules are a bit too light. I think I will incorporate some of PDQ into the OTE's system or take some of OTE and use with PDQ but keep the setting.
5 / 10	eruditus	No a bad game at all. The setting is interesting and very Naked Lunch. The system is one of the earliest Story Games, focusing on narrative and player collaboration.
5 / 10	Tommy Brownell	I own it...I've read it...I just don't "get it". Ultimately, I figure it's just a TAD too "lite" for me.
3 / 10	Willow	Too much conspiracy for conspiracy's sake, as opposed to the high wierdness.
2 / 10	Sangrolu	The setting for this book - Al Amarja - is a lot of fun, though implausible in many ways (by which I do not mean " 'cause it has magic"). Unfortunately, it's system is possibly one of the most over-rated in gaming. It has what is probably the original take on the "roll your own trait" nonsense, and as such, has few of the mechanics of follow on games of this type that help keep the spotlight spread among the group. I actually did try to give this game a go of it. In the end, I found the rules vacuous and insufficient to the task.

Core Game Reviews

All RPGnet Reviews

[ Link Reviews ]

Rating	User	Summary
3 + 4	Jody Macgregor	Over the Edge. [ Read Review ]
5 + 5	Darren MacLennan	Over the Edge. [ Read Review ]
3 + 5	SeanMike Whipkey	Over the Edge. [ Read Review ]
4 + 5	Carl L. Congdon	Over the Edge. [ Read Review ]
4 + 5	Judson Lester	Over the Edge. [ Read Review ]
5 + 5	Ian Freeman	Over the Edge. When it comes time for me to go off to my desert island, this is the book I take. [ Read Review ]
3 + 5	Torsten Bernhardt	Over the Edge. The classic surreal conspiracy game with one of the simplest and best systems around. The look is a bit of a letdown, but the content is truly wonderful. [ Read Review ]
2 + 4	Lev Lafayette	Over the Edge. OTE is a breath of fresh, light air, in a gaming era which had become bogged down in details. Character creation and resolution mechanics are simple, sensible, generate plausible results and, perhaps most importantly, are colourful. The setting is almost sufficiently exotic, but lavishly detailed with enough material to keep a GM busy for years. Overall presentation is, below average. This is a recommended product that will not disappoint. [ Read Review ]

All Magazine Reviews

Year	Magazine	Synopsis
1998	Pyramid V1, #29	"...provides an excellent roleplaying atmosphere and a setting where everything is not only possible, it's encouraged."
1993	White Wolf #37	Rating 4/5. "...exceptionally creative, fascinating, and just plain weird."
1992	Abyss Quarterly #50	A set of reviews. Nalle: "definitely worth getting ... The rules are a mess"; Schuller: "a grand failure in game design"; Durrell: "a qualified recommendation"