Honey Heist is a simple yet fun TTRPG. The premise of the game is simple: that you are a bear trying to perform a heist. The game starts with participants creating their character (a bear). This character creation is intuitive, and the game directs players to roll a die to determine a descriptor, a bear type and corresponding skill, and the role that the player will engage with during gameplay.
Something that I appreciate about the game is the straightforward yet simple ways it overtly establishes the world and the character roles for the players. There is a line in the rule guide that explains “you’re not a talking bear, per se, but you can sort of mangle human speech through your bear mouth, maybe”. Below, the game clarifies that players are still able to speak to each other. In just this one line, the game establishes a casual tone while also providing information to players about how their characters exist (or don’t). While doing so, the casual tone preserves the ability for players to interpret the rules guide as they want, which I think goes a long way in making the gameplay creative and fun.
Players have two stats— bear and criminal— and each starts at 3 points. Without providing too much information about how to use the stats, there are short blurbs that explain when to use each stat during gameplay. The game also allows for players to modify their point values for each of the stats in creative ways. While some of the stat reallocation is dependent on gameplay and variables outside of a player’s control (if the plan fails), players can come up with a flashback scene or “eat a load of honey” to move points back and forth between bear and criminal. This allows for the game to extend for as long as players want, since it directly relates to how the game ends (the game ends if either stat value reaches 6 points).
The game has a GM, which I think is very influential for how the game turns out— and this is out of the control of the game designers. The game designers do, however, include mechanics that allow for the GM to flesh out the world and also create tension/conflict within the gameplay. Overall, I think this is a good introductory game to TTRPG. I hadn’t played a TTRPG before, and Honey Heist is intuitive and easily accessible to play. 10/10 would recommend.
