XENO Minimalist Sci-Fi Horror RPG Review (w/ bonus Xeno mission objectives!)

XENO is a minimalist, pamphlet-sized RPG by Caligaes, where players are the alien threat, serving “MOTHER” and eviscerating the anthropomorphic humans and aliens most games would place you in the boots of. It’s inspired by sci-fi horror classics such as Alien, John Carpenter’s The Thing, Carrion and the X-COM video games. Its mechanics entirely use d4 die pools with few stats, quick resolution, and nearly no math. XENO currently consists of a core pamphlet, a “Victimary” add-on of Z-KOM soldier enemies, and the 36-page HENS & CHICKS module, written in zine format. I was kindly provided a review copy of these materials, and the game will have a BackerKit campaign soon with a physical release and more content.

One side- full combat rules on the left.

The core XENO pamphlet is a single tri-fold that looks great in black and white or color. It covers, in minimal but evocative text, concept, character class & stats, objectives, combat & defense, and nemeses, referred to as “victims”. That’s 5 panels, with one for cover art. The art is minimal and kaleidoscopic modified stock art, featuring primarily insects and skeletons. It’s visually appealing while not being distracting, and the layout is clear and usable. This is a unicorn of a minimalist RPG in that it is actually easy to reference. Minimalist doesn’t always mean usable- lacking information or haphazard organization can make a short RPG as difficult to use as more lengthy ones.

The system utilizes 4 stats ranging from 0-2, with zero being “average human” and 2 being “superhuman”, leaving almost no room for ambiguity, need for calculation, or once you’ve run the game, even reference. There are 4 distinct classes of Xeno, each with a balanced stat block and special ability. There’s no need to “create” a character. Roll a d4 if you want. The pregen character sheets have everything you need, clearly presented and ready to go.

Challenges are made with a 3d4 roll, adding up the total and the value of a relevant stat, to match or beat a difficulty of 9-12. With this system, an average task (difficulty 9) undertaken with a Xeno’s best attribute would succeed about 70% of the time, or an “impossible” (difficulty 12) task about  25% of the time, making the Xenos quite capable, especially with teamwork. In combat, Xenos act first on a d4 result of 2-4, meaning they’re fast and deadly, with low-powered human enemies only having 1-2 HP. They choose which attribute to use for attacks based on the situation and player’s narration, so all Xenos are powerful but therefore also not so differentiated, though it will of course be easier to narrate using the Muscle attribute rather than Brain. Damage is rolled with d4 equal to the attribute used, and excess damage can be spread to other nearby victims- like I said, these things are deadly. If hit while defending, Xenos roll their Survival dice (3 when full) and lose them on a 1. Only the highest level victims do 3 damage, so it’s highly unlikely a Xeno will ever be one-shotted but possible to suffer heavy damage from a single hit if luck doesn’t go their way with enemies such as Z-KOM soldiers.

I’ve already written more for this review than the text of the pamphlet. Suffice it to say that this is a tightly-written game, visually well put together while not overwhelming, and with a satisfyingly different challenge and combat system. If you like sci-fi horror and bug hunts, this is an exciting opportunity to be the horror. Players will appreciate the light and low-reference systems, and abilities will feel powerful and terrifying. As far as minimalist games go, this is actually worth actually playing rather than glancing at and moving on, putting it in the upper tier of micro-systems.

The Good:
Evocative and original concept
Clear and easy to reference
Excellent character selection with minimal time required
Simple resolution with few calculations

The Ok:
Stock art in core pamphlet is less eye-catching than Z-KOM/Zine art 

Rules step up in complexity with squad combat and tech in the supplements

 

The Bad:

Nothing comes to mind- as far as minimalist RPGs go, you're not going to do much better than this

600/666

Bonus Gameable Content: d4 Xeno Objectives

 Here are a few more missions for you to go on, you biological terror, you.

d4	Xeno Objective
1	Cleanse a lab of experimental Xeno specimens
2	Infest an overrun military outpost
3	Destroy an anti-telepathy field blocking MOTHER
4	Obtain a demon for MOTHER