Tales of the Bizarre: The World of Synnibarr

I am pleased to say I own a copy of this game.

Not because its a good game. Not because it is a classic. But because it is an infamous example of a fantasy heartbreaker.

I came by this game quite by accident. The parents of a friend of mine called me, several years ago. The friend in question is now a professor of pure math, in Italy somewhere, if I recall correctly. Anyway, they were clearing out some of my friend's old gaming stuff, and gave me a call to see if I wanted to buy it. He had quite a collection, and I let his parents name their price ,and took the whole lot.

Among the many gems in his collection was this stinker. I can't bring myself to part with it, even though I am careful to keep it separate from all my other gaming materials, lest it pollute the rest of my collection.

A scathing review can be read here. I must admit I have not read the thing myself, so I cannot say that it is as bad as the reviewer says. It's reputation as a game design and setting disaster is well-established, however.

A cautionary tale, for us tinkerers.