Pyramid Review
Edward Abbot Abbot's Flatland (Inflated) RPG
Published by Red Anvil Press
Written by T. Craig Drake
Edited by Julie Ricks
Art by Jeanette Naomi Ricks
33-page PDF; $3.55
If you've spent any amount of time in college, you've probably been exposed to all manner of cult phenomena. Admittedly Tolkien tops the list of genre faves, but for those who really want to show off their esoteric tastes, Edward Abbott's Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions has the inside track. Putting both resources into roleplaying format may level the playing field a bit, but Edward Abbot Abbot's Flatland (Inflated) RPG isn't such an obvious choice for tabletop fodder.
Backing up for a moment: The original Flatland is the story of a world that exists in two dimensions: height and width. A. Square relates what it's like to live in a place where your geometry determines your social standing, females are at the bottom of the totem pole, and talk of dimensions beyond the first two is akin to heresy (the existence of Lineland and Pointland is accepted fact). It's a satire that takes aim at the social mores of its Victorian contemporaries.
As for the roleplaying game: This is less a setting and more a general suggestion. It cleaves to its source material, right down to the politically incorrect views of women and triangles. Players take the roles of geometric shapes, usually fighting against the established pecking order. Ever-vigilant Priests will attempt . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: December 2, 2005
Copyright © 2005 by Steve Jackson Games. All rights reserved. Pyramid subscribers are permitted to read this article online, or download it and print out a single hardcopy for personal use. Copying this text to any other online system or BBS, or making more than one hardcopy, is strictly prohibited. So please don't. And if you encounter copies of this article elsewhere on the web, please report it to webmaster@sjgames.com.