Summery
Cryptid Creeks is a new TTRPG by Hatchling Games. In this game, you take on the role of River Scouts, young investigators that are guided by a benevolent cryptid known as “The Watcher.” You’ll explore, investigate, and track down clues to unravel the secret behind the eldritch curses that are plaguing your sleepy town.
Art
Before I started reading the text, I took a minute just to flip through the pages. The art style and layout give you an immediate feel for the tone of the game. The art has a whimsical feel, but the quality is professional. I was also surprised at the impressive amount of art that flourished the pages.
The introduction tells us the game was partly inspired by 80s movies like “The Goonies” and “Stand By Me.” This is reflected in the art as well. As someone born in 80s, I experienced a feeling of nostalgia as I paged through.
Layout
As the book transitions sections, the background and color schemes change. Aside from being visually appealing, it has a real benefit. As I flipped back and forth to reference sections that I read earlier, the different styles made it easier to find the section I was looking for.
The text layout is excellent. Each page is broken up into clearly labeled sections, boxes, and bullet points. Readability is something we take for granted when done well, but its worth calling out. Especially in a game book as long as this one (It's over 300 pages.)
Substance
Now for the meat of the game. The game mechanics.
The game is a d6 system. Using 2d6 for normal rolls or 3d6 for rolls with advantage/disadvantage.
The character abilities are well designed. A lot of abilities in other games feel like a simple re-skin of Dungeons and Dragons, but that is not the case here. They feel unique and well suited to the tone of the system. For Example, the “cool” ability can be used for actions involving steady nerves, leadership, or stealth. The abilities feel straight forward and intuitive.
Game actions are referred to as “moves.” There are 6 basic moves universal to everyone, plus you will have 1-3 character specific moves, and eventually a custom move written by the player. I’ll probably require a cheat sheet for awhile to keep track of what each move is for, but I consider it a strength of the system. I prefer a rule book with some meat on its bones. There’s enough complexity to give some depth without being overwhelming.
The character sheets are called “playbooks.” The game comes with 6 premade playbooks. The Athlete, the Bookworm, the Medic, the Misfit, the Musician, and the Sailor. Each one comes with enough choice and customization that more then one person can play the same archetype. It also includes rules to help you create your own playbook if you want to try a different archetype. I want to gain some more experience with the game before I try that, but there are a lot of 80’s movies to use as inspiration. The home brewer in me is eager to try out some concepts.
The heart of the game revolves around curses and the River Scouts mission to break them. These curses are not meant to be a “monster of the week” format. The book recommends running multiple curses concurrently and tracking the progress of each curse between sessions. I think most seasoned game masters will have some experience with this. It can be difficult to juggle multiple threats and story lines, but the game is built around this concept and will lead to a much richer story if you can pull it off.
The book contains 8 curses to get you started. The curses are thoroughly explained giving you a detailed account of the curse, locations, NPCs, clues, etc. Everything you need to present it to your players. As you get familiar with the game, you’ll be able to write your own curses.
Final thoughts
All the fun of Call of Cthulhu without the death and madness. If your looking for a fun, nostalgic, mystery game, then grab your friends and don’t go home until the street lights are on.
A physical hardcover book is available here.
A PDF copy is available here.
Disclaimer: I have not been compensated in anyway for this review. However, I was sent a free media copy for this review.
Review Written by Dan.