Pyramid Review
MAID The Roleplaying Game
Written by Ryo Kamiya & Team Maid with Ewen Cluney & Diamond Sutra
Translated by Ewen Cluney with Diamond Sutra
Illustrated by Luis Guaragna & Stan!
Cover Illustrated by IWAKO
Illustrated by IWAKO, Tsurubi Nanten , Chizuru Kyoujo , Satoshi Muranishi , Babayan , Hamochan , Paul, & BON
212-page b&w softcover with color inserts; $26
All right, let's get it out of the way. This game is bloody weird. You roleplay Maids serving the household of their Master, attempting to follow his instructions to the best of their abilities and so gain his favor. If your rival maids lose or gain less favor than you do, then so much the better. This, as I said, is bloody weird.
The game in question is MAID The Roleplaying Game, the very first Japanese RPG to be translated for the English speaking market. It comes from Otaku culture's maid fetish, seen in both their special maid cafes and in Manga titles like Emma and They Are My Noble Masters. Since it comes out of Otaku culture, the Japanese also think that the whole maid thing is weird. So it really must be so . . .
A Western audience will find MAID The Roleplaying Game weird because they are being asked to roleplay a fantasy version of the maid. In other words, they are not members of the housekeeping staff at a hotel. For the primarily male hobby, the cross gender (and possibly transgender) roleplaying required here will be an uncomfortable area to get into, essentially because the role of the fantasy maid is fraught . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: October 3, 2008
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