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This is an excellent GM-less game; it feels very freeing, and the meta-roles (and the way that hazards *react* to player attacks to both deal and take damage) mean that the players don't flounder waiting for someone to take initiative to move the action along.

However, I wish it had just like, a spoonful less crunch - I don't like the Target Number table for the Flair checks/powers, it seems like a very numerical spreadsheet part of the game where other things feel much simpler (roll some dice, see what lands 5+.) It also seems like Boons and Loot could be combined to simplify things, but talking this over with some friends, I understand why they're separate - but it feels like some stuff could be stripped down to make this just a little leaner and simpler to play.

Hey! This is probably not the best way to report this, but there's a typo in the PDF - on page 18, in the last paragraph on the bottom right, it's misspelled as "Editoin", instead of "Edition".

My friends and I played this as part of a table-top book club, and we're having a post-game discussion about it next week! I'll try to take some notes and let you know what was confusing.

off the top of my head:

1. The chip system isn't very clear; there don't seem to be a lot of ways to get them, and I don't know if we *must* spend them on the next trick we play, or if we have to use them to get the bonuses afforded to our characters' suits? Do we still get those bonuses if we don't have any physical chips present? The rules on page 09 aren't very clear on it.

2. Do we get access to all of our abilities right off the bat, or do we have to spend points gained from sessions to purchase them?

3. The gameplay loop is a little vague; I understand that a trick is a little bit equivalent to a skill challenge in D&D, and seems to be the same thing as an action, but avoidances (and distresses (and composure)) are a little confusing. [Actually, re-reading the composure rules, it's a little clearer - throwing in means we lose a point of composure!]

4. Speaking of the gameplay loop, I think we mostly figured out the micro-loop, but the macro-loop is a little confusing. This game seems that it's mostly players-vs-matriarch, but it's not very clear if we're meant to be avoiding the thing the matriarch wants (e.g., she wants us to impress a lord; i'm guessing we're trying hard to _avoid_ impressing the lord, while staying within the bounds of what polite society expects, so we can't just throw bagels at him during dinner), but it also seems like it's player-vs-player because we want to take tricks ourselves so we can sort-of level up as sessions go on.  I'm guessing the players goals is to foil the matriarch's attempts so completely that she can't reach the fait accompli, while she attempts to reach that?

5. Minor kvetch, we talk about losing composure, but we mark it by coloring in a little spot, which feels like gaining something.

6. I'm not sure when there's ever any mechanical advantage to playing the joker; it's _great_ for roleplay to have someone come out of the woodwork and make things more awkward, but mechanically it seems weird.

Wow, that was a lot! I know it sounds like I'm complaining a lot, but this is a really great game, and if you were working on a 2.0 update to the rules, I'd love to help get them a bit more streamlined in any way I could!

The rules are a little vague, and I'm pretty sure we didn't play it quite right, but it was still one of the most fun games I've played this year! The role-playing aspect is tremendously fun.

I'd also recommend Five Year's Mission "The Cage":

This is cool; if you're a fan of scifi like Star Trek, this is a great journaling game. My first playthrough, I was expecting goofy adventures but ended up in a love triangle, suffered heartbreak, and eventually retired to start a farm.