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Reviews
Bluebeard's Bride: A Horror Tabletop RPG by Sarah Richardson, Marissa Kelly, Whitney "Strix" Beltran
litwrite's review against another edition
4.0
Kinda outside of my usual read, but I've been thinking of running this as a tabletop game so I picked it up. Bluebeard happens to be one of my fave fairy tales, and I love the concepts that they've come up with here. Really interested in exploring what I can build for a group within the parameters given.
vickar's review against another edition
5.0
I. Absolutely. Love. This.
The way it's written, the art, the graphic design, the stories it generates. It gets everything so weird and so creepy so fast. And your players react in unimaginable ways, I love how it pushes everything to the limit.
Not for the faint of heart. Otherwise, do yourself a favor and run/play/read this.
The way it's written, the art, the graphic design, the stories it generates. It gets everything so weird and so creepy so fast. And your players react in unimaginable ways, I love how it pushes everything to the limit.
Not for the faint of heart. Otherwise, do yourself a favor and run/play/read this.
sjlee's review against another edition
5.0
I am reviewing this RPG before I've had an opportunity to use it as either a player or a game master. I would probably prefer to give it a 4.5, but rounded up given my general feelings about the product.
Bluebeard's Bride fascinates me in a way that few games (video, tabletop, or otherwise) have. It came to my attention at precisely the right moment. I have been trying to become more aware and cognizant of the differences between genders in our society and historically. Moreover, I try to be aware of how broader society imposes itself upon women and how dangerous that can be. Bluebeard's Bride with its unique presentation of feminine horror packaged a lot of anxieties and issues together into something that was fascinating to explore.
The game itself is quite simple. It does not rely on excessive mechanics. The game is in the narrative style in which the players take on aspects of a single person - the Bride. The Bride is newly married to her husband, Bluebeard, and is free to explore his house. The setting offers a great deal of flexibility, but the art and the language would incline people towards the Gothic, I believe. The players explore rooms filled with ghosts and horrors and must piece together their opinion about the man they have married. Is he a monster, or merely misunderstood?
The text of the game expressly supports forms of deception, manipulation, and violence that women experience. The Bride cannot truly fight back. The Bride can be gaslit, deceived, or dismissed. The fears and expressions of dread in the house take on the form peculiar to women. It's incredible to listen to how these things can come together into gripping, tense moments.
This brings up a problem with Bluebeard's Bride, but it not truly a fault of the game. It's very difficult to play with people. A good player and game master needs to be secure in their group. They have to be respectful and sensitive to they emotions of the players. This is a game that traffics in things like domestic violence and threats of rape, just to name a few. Treating the topics with insensitivity would be devastating. This is part of the reason that this game is difficult to play.
That said, the game has provided enough in my imagination to drive me to make notes, think of rooms and horrors that haunt them. The art goes a long way in helping that along. The art is stunning. It blends the beautiful and the grotesque in a fascinating way. Flipping through the art and picking out favourites is an easy way to get dark thoughts moving.
A final problem with Bluebeard's Bride is that the game is a bit of a railroad. Anyone familiar with the game knows precisely how the story will end. There are a number of conclusions and there is room for detailing the ending, but ultimately the broad strokes are identical. A creative GM and engaged players could make the journey fantastic, but it is a bit disappointing to find the path ending at a handful of destinations. I feel it limits replayability to a certain degree.
As a person considering running the game the onus it places on the GM is quite heavy. The GM could do planning in advance, but the players choose a lot of the decisions in the moment, but then the GM must create a space relatively quickly to submerge them in horror. These transitions can cause problems, I believe. It certainly makes such a emotional game more daunting for someone to run.
If nothing else Bluebeard's Bride is a fascinating examination of what tabletop RPGs can be. It is worthy of consideration and should be read by those who enjoy horror games and mined for material if not explored directly.
Bluebeard's Bride fascinates me in a way that few games (video, tabletop, or otherwise) have. It came to my attention at precisely the right moment. I have been trying to become more aware and cognizant of the differences between genders in our society and historically. Moreover, I try to be aware of how broader society imposes itself upon women and how dangerous that can be. Bluebeard's Bride with its unique presentation of feminine horror packaged a lot of anxieties and issues together into something that was fascinating to explore.
The game itself is quite simple. It does not rely on excessive mechanics. The game is in the narrative style in which the players take on aspects of a single person - the Bride. The Bride is newly married to her husband, Bluebeard, and is free to explore his house. The setting offers a great deal of flexibility, but the art and the language would incline people towards the Gothic, I believe. The players explore rooms filled with ghosts and horrors and must piece together their opinion about the man they have married. Is he a monster, or merely misunderstood?
The text of the game expressly supports forms of deception, manipulation, and violence that women experience. The Bride cannot truly fight back. The Bride can be gaslit, deceived, or dismissed. The fears and expressions of dread in the house take on the form peculiar to women. It's incredible to listen to how these things can come together into gripping, tense moments.
This brings up a problem with Bluebeard's Bride, but it not truly a fault of the game. It's very difficult to play with people. A good player and game master needs to be secure in their group. They have to be respectful and sensitive to they emotions of the players. This is a game that traffics in things like domestic violence and threats of rape, just to name a few. Treating the topics with insensitivity would be devastating. This is part of the reason that this game is difficult to play.
That said, the game has provided enough in my imagination to drive me to make notes, think of rooms and horrors that haunt them. The art goes a long way in helping that along. The art is stunning. It blends the beautiful and the grotesque in a fascinating way. Flipping through the art and picking out favourites is an easy way to get dark thoughts moving.
A final problem with Bluebeard's Bride is that the game is a bit of a railroad. Anyone familiar with the game knows precisely how the story will end. There are a number of conclusions and there is room for detailing the ending, but ultimately the broad strokes are identical. A creative GM and engaged players could make the journey fantastic, but it is a bit disappointing to find the path ending at a handful of destinations. I feel it limits replayability to a certain degree.
As a person considering running the game the onus it places on the GM is quite heavy. The GM could do planning in advance, but the players choose a lot of the decisions in the moment, but then the GM must create a space relatively quickly to submerge them in horror. These transitions can cause problems, I believe. It certainly makes such a emotional game more daunting for someone to run.
If nothing else Bluebeard's Bride is a fascinating examination of what tabletop RPGs can be. It is worthy of consideration and should be read by those who enjoy horror games and mined for material if not explored directly.
ipacho's review
5.0
A true jewel of horror RPG. The book is not only lavish, beautifully diagrammated and drawn, but luxurious. Its contents are dark and revolting like very few horror RPGs are because this deals with the horrors most women have to face through their lives. This is a game not made to make campaigns, this is an experience to be lived. A feminine experience, in all its beauty and horror.
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