Over the course of each episode, Chef visits a new restaurant with the aim to help the staff change their bad attitudes, repair their relationships, and overcome problems to ensure a successful relaunch night.

Each session follows the same 5 act structure: Introduction, Chef Tries The Food, Chef Watches Service, Refurbishment, Relaunch Night. Each session is set in a new location, with a whole new restaurant and set of characters. Each with their own unique problems and desires for the future. Throughout each session characters will have to come to terms with their problems and failings and make improvements for a positive relaunch night and future for the restaurant. 

The game is based on the Brindlewood Bay game engine and inspired by the TV show Kitchen Nightmares.

bought some great stuff at a convention this weekend! details of where you can find these under the cut

Wreck this Deck by Becky Annison. I didn't pick this up at the last con I went to and have regretted it since! Was sad not to see Black Armada at the con themselves but picked this up at an Indie RPG stall.

Tales from the Crows' Nest by Tim Roberts (PDF). Didn't know there was a new setting for BLAC released so was excited to see this at the Critical Kit stand!

Oh No... I Started a Cult by Mike Garley. Never heard of Black Stag Press before but this sounds like a fun & quick solo RPG.

A Collection of Improving Exercises by Tim Hutchings. I'm always a fan of a solo RPG that isn't really about playing in a traditional sense. This looks gorgeous and slightly strange, which is right up my street. Also, Tim Hutchings' games are a nightmare to get hold of outside of conventions so I bought it rather than regret my decision, like I did before with his Thousand Year Old Vampire.

Death in Berlin by Jérôme Mioso. This is the first time Critical Kit have published something by an author other than Tim. I trust his judgement so bought this on his recommendation. Had a quick flick through and the gameplay looks really interesting.

The Almanac of Sanguine Paths by Rori Montford. When I found out this existed, I was so excited to buy it. Dead Letter Society but with werewolves?! Incredible, can't wait to play.

Artefact and Bucket of Bolts by Jack Harrison (PDFs). I love Mousehole Press and am waiting on my copy of Koriko to arrive in the post, so had to swing by to say hi. I didn't have either of these RPGs already so picked them up while I could.

Food Chain Island and Fishing Lessons by Scott Almes. Wanted to pick up at least something from Buttonshy as they can be tricky to get in the UK. picked up both on a bit of a whim but they're delightful.

Dice sets by Dice Goblin. I had my eye on the new baker set and was so glad they had them available. Also grabbed the Apostle set as a sneaky little treat.

Have you played LOW STAKES ?

By Craig Campbell and NerdBurger Games

Heavily inspired by What We Do In The Shadows, Low Stakes is a rules lite TTRPG where players take on the roles of monster roommates living in a house together going about daily life. As monsters, you all have your own powers that could come in handy but also your own personal issues that could get you into trouble. Sessions play out like episodes in a TV show complete with a documentary crew , characters gain confidence in their decisions and clout to sway their fellow roommates. Complete with “offscreen confessionals” where players talk to the film crew recording their house party or roadtrip.

Have you played CHANGELING THE DREAMING ?

By White wolf

You’ve never really fit in, people often say you’re too busy daydreaming, that you have your head in the clouds, that you should be focusing on working instead of dreaming. This world is choked with banality, war and famines destroying anything it touches. Churches demanding your belief in them and them alone. All the while you are expected to live the rest of your life working in a cubicle and using your off time managing your side hustles all in order to survive. That is banality, when the mundanity and darkness that has infested the beautiful world forces dreamers not to hope and dream, but survive and suffer. This world no longer has the time to dream.

You thought it horrific, as others were far too gone to notice their blood is greasing the gears to the machine of banality. You knew something was wrong and then the realization dawns on you, in an explosion of glamour. You were at one point, a Faerie, a creature of hopes and dreams. The very same entities that taught humanity to hope, to dream, to fear and to fight. You have been reborn as a human in an effort to survive in this banal world. You are a changeling. While your memories of your Fae heritage may be fuzzy, the world has become more clear. You see the chimerical world hiding in the mundane. Dragons patrol the sky, the tree in the way to work has a smiling face and loud mouth and your reflection shows a Fae where once a regular person once was.

Mundane humans don’t see the chimerical, to them you still look the same but others of your kind see the truth. The Fae never left, they walk among you in human shells all trying to not just survive this banal world, but to fight it back. Changelings have complex kingdoms and courts as well as a divide between the Noble and the commoner Fae. Faeries from different cultures and folklore could be found all over along with their strange magics and treasures. You are part of this new world set before you, will you survive banality? Or fight it back and inspire humanity to dream again?

Have you played OUR QUEEN CRUMBLES ?

By Jason Brown

weird fantasy tragedy about avenging the assassination of your queen

Have you played THE MACHINE ?

By Fen and Adira Slattery

The curse snuck up on you, and now you can’t escape. You’re not sure how or when it began, but every waking moment, you feel the machine call to you.

Behind its words are music, beckoning you to build. The impossible notes echo in your mind, and you know what you must do. You can see it now, this manifold instrument.

You will complete this infernal machine or die trying.

A serial journal roleplaying game for as many players as you wish by Adira Slattery and Fen Slattery. Gameplay happens across days, weeks, or even months. Only one person plays this game at a time, but many people play it in sequence.

In light of the recent cancellation of the Dicebreaker Tabletop Creator’s Summit, we're teaming up with the UK Tabletop Industry Network to organising a last minute replacement for the event, bringing together friends and peers in tabletop.

We’ll be meeting from 2pm in the upstairs bar at the Commercial Tavern near Spitalfields (142-144 Commercial Street, London, E1 6NU), a 20 minute train ride from the Excel Centre for folks who’d like to spend the morning at MCM Comic Con.

The event will run until 6pm, with talks and opportunities to network, before moving downstairs for drinks in the evening. 

Look forward to seeing you there!

Someone asked over on our Discord how Paint The Town Red is different to other already existing Vampire TTRPGs.

Here's what creator Zach Cox has to say:

The elephant in the room is certainly World of Darkness games like Masquerade and Requiem. Any vampire game is forced to compare itself to VtM, in the same way any fantasy game is forced to compare itself to D&D.

This means a lot of the classic vampire TTRPGs have a real focus on occult power and combat. At its worst times, World of Darkness games can feel more like a superhero RPG with vampires in it rather than a vampire game. WoD also has a lot of focus on Covenants and Clans, and your character often appears as part of a complicated political organisation in their domain. Your characters are tremendously powerful, sexy, connected and treat humans like prey. Ultimately, the defining feature of a Paint The Town Red vampire is that you’re pathetic. Not always deserving of pity per se (many of them are awful people), but more that they are small, strange and emotionally damaged by centuries of death. The propensity of “weird little guys” in this game is off the charts.

This is a game about being sad. You are relentlessly traumatised by your death and every moment since it. Any joy you have is fleeting and won by the point of a sword in moments of passion and hedonist excess. You will be sad again soon. Your heart is stopped and your blood is cold, but you're here to party until the sun rises.

It is possible to be cool and sexy and smart and confident, but only as a thin veneer over what you really are, and only while you're neck deep in dopamine and "living your best life". You might be able to get around it by finding friends, family and lovers, but that is a hard battle fought over centuries. To be a vampire is to feel alone, even when you are not.

With Paint The Town Red, we've taken the subtexts of vampire fiction and just make it the text. We want you to have fun being dead (inside).

Have you played GLITTER HEARTS ?

By Greg Leatherman

Glitter Hearts is an action-packed RPG in a fun filled world of everyday people who transform into powerful super heroes that fight off the forces of evil. Your character will try to find the balance between their everyday life needs and heeding the call to save the world. You and your friends will create your own hero, your own team, and even your own special mascot. With over 150 different moves to choose from, you can build your ideal magical hero that is uniquely you!

Glitter Hearts rules are easy to learn and building your own character is a simple process of making choices that fit your vision. When building a character, you will choose:

•Your everyday identity – who you are when you aren’t your heroic alter ego. •Your magical archetype – what type of hero are you? A warrior, witch, idol, defender, or tactician. •Your mystical connection – which element or emotion do you draw your power from?

And then choose your actions from there until you’ve built your hero.

While based off many popular magical girls shows, Glitter Hearts can be set in any time, place, or world that you can imagine. All you need to play is 3-6 players, a pair of six-sided dice, and a few hours to play.

So hop in, transform yourself into the hero of your dreams, and explore the world of Glitter Hearts !

Have you played THE POOL ?

By James V. West

The Pool is a very simple game system that promotes player and GM creative collaboration through an easy dice pool gambling mechanic.

A "universal" system

Inspired by @haveyouplayedthisttrpg, we thought it could be fun to ask folk which of our games they've played / read / heard of! So...

A roleplaying love-letter to off-beat sci-fi, vintage music, and cooperative old-school styled roleplay, Orbital Blues allows you to play out rules-light tabletop adventures in the style of your favourite space westerns.

Stepping into the shoes of Interstellar Outlaws, players band together to form Crews, and navigate a hard-going, gig-economy living on the fringes of a space-faring society.

Have you played SAPPHIC SPACE PIRATES ?

By Natalie Pudim

Queer space pirates on a journey, Belonging-Outside-Belonging rules

"Sapphic Space Pirates is a tabletop roleplaying game about the warm bonds that form between women who love other women while stuck in fragile spaceships moving through the cold void. It's about the moments between the action, where you find comfort in each other. It's also a game about the monstrous women of Greek mythology - or maybe that's a metaphor. Maybe the void and the ship are metaphors, too. The queerness is not a metaphor."

Have you played NIGHTHAWKS ?

by Lex Kim Bobrow

Nighthawks is a game for 3-6 players based on the painting of the same title by Edward Hopper.

You and your friends will play lonely people. What you do about it, if anything, is entirely up to you.

Together, you'll decide on what form The Diner takes, what relationships you all have, and what you'll do each Night. Will you succumb to isolation, with salvation right there? Or will you risk rejection and grab at happiness with both hands?

I think a lot of folks in indie RPG spaces misunderstand what's going on when people who've only ever played Dungeons & Dragons claim that indie RPGs are categorically "too complicated". Yes, it's sometimes the case that they're making the unjustified assumption that all games are as complicated as Dungeons & Dragons and shying away from the possibility of having to brave a steep learning cure a second time, but that's not the whole picture.

A big part of it is that there's a substantial chunk of the D&D fandom – not a majority by any means, but certainly a very significant minority – who are into D&D because they like its vibes or they enjoy its default setting or whatever, but they have no interest in actually playing the kind of game that D&D is... so they don't.

Oh, they'll show up at your table, and if you're very lucky they might even provide their own character sheet (though whether it adheres to the character creation guidelines is anyone's guess!), but their actual engagement with the process of play consists of dicking around until the GM tells them to roll some dice, then reporting what number they rolled and letting the GM figure out what that means.

Basically, they're putting the GM in the position of acting as their personal assistant, onto whom they can offload any parts of the process of play that they're not interested in – and for some players, that's essentially everything except the physical act of rolling the dice, made possible by the fact most of D&D's mechanics are either GM-facing or amenable to being treated as such.*

Now, let's take this player and present them with a game whose design is informed by a culture of play where mechanics are strongly player facing, often to the extent that the GM doesn't need to familiarise themselves with the players' character sheets and never rolls any dice, and... well, you can see where the wires get crossed, right?

And the worst part is that it's not these players' fault – not really. Heck, it's not even a problem with D&D as a system. The problem is D&D's marketing-decreed position as a universal entry-level game means that neither the text nor the culture of play are ever allowed to admit that it might be a bad fit for any player, so total disengagement from the processes of play has to be framed as a personal preference and not a sign of basic incompatibility between the kind of game a player wants to be playing and the kind of game they're actually playing.

(Of course, from the GM's perspective, having even one player who expects you to do all the work represents a huge increase to the GM's workload, let alone a whole group full of them – but we can't admit that, either, so we're left with a culture of play whose received wisdom holds that it's just normal for GMs to be constantly riding the ragged edge of creative burnout. Fun!)

* Which, to be clear, is not a flaw in itself; a rules-heavy game ideally needs a mechanism for introducing its processes of play gradually.

Have you played UPRIVER, DOWNRIVER

By Ella Watts

All you’ve ever known is the Great River.

Gather your crew and swear a magical Oath — to each other, to your ship, and to your goal to reach the Source of the River or cross the horizon of the Sea. No one has ever found the Source and no one has ever come back from the Sea. Journey to four locations along the River, each tied to one of the major arcana, never moving backwards and never lingering for more than 72 hours, but impacting life on the River all the same.

Your time on the River is short, but that it is insignificant.

Upriver, Downriver uses a combination of polyhedral dice and tarot cards to guide the narrative through four to twelve 3-4 hour sessions.

Have you played HIERONYMUS ?

By Laurie O'Connel

Hieronymus: Garden of Earthly Delights Edition is a hex-crawling RPG unlike any other. In it, you will play a group of refugees fleeing an astral terror known only as the Follower. As it pursues you, you rip your way through reality into strange worldscapes inspired by the paintings of the mediaeval artist Hieronymus Bosch, the Follower only a few steps behind.

Have you played WOMEN ARE WEREWOLVES ?

By C.A.S. Taylor, Yeonsoo Julian Kim

Women are Werewolves is a game about being nonbinary in a family where only women are werewolves.