“Works on my machine,” or why it’s really hard to talk about RPGs

I don’t do reviews. I’ve considered it, don’t get me wrong. It’s not as if I’m opposed to reviews as a format, or anything like that. After playing an RPG for some time, I tend to come away with strong opinions, very much encompassing what the game does, what the game fails to do, and if I think anyone should spend money on it. That’s all the necessary ingredients right there. Every time I try to put those ingredients together, however, it ends up very anecdotal. I only have my experiences to speak on, after all, and how my personal impressions were or were not satisfied. Which parts I personally happened to struggle with, and which happened to bring me joy. By talking with the rest of the group, I can multiply that, but it still only yields perspectives on one instance of play. Any foibles or difficulties this set of individuals may have had are magnified. Are made the only thing, in a sense. I got to play in a oneshot of His Majesty The Worm somewhat recently. It’s an OSR game of…