History Horrible / TabletopGames

** The character system is ''also'' completely broken. It takes forever to draw up a character thanks to the aforementioned dice rolling, taking up a ''full third'' of a [[{{Doorstopper}} more than 900-page tome]]. Races are poorly thought out -- there are 16 of them, but they all [[FantasticRacism hate each other so much]] that it's totally implausible to form an adventuring party from them, and nearly all of them eat people and/or die in sunlight, leaving ordinary humans (which the manual states [[MonochromeCasting are all white]] for "historical accuracy") as the only remotely viable option. Classes are broken -- all earn experience in different ways, but some are incomplete, many are civilian jobs no player would want, and for some it's possible to die of old age before reaching ''Level 2''. Stats are complex and include things like head size, social and marital status, and [[{{Squick}} anal circumference]]. And given the broken nature of the rolling system, in early editions it was possible for "anal circumference" to be [[BodyHorror zero]] or [[AlienGeometries negative]]. Zigmenthotep has a [[https://youtu.be/P6vgSipYDCU four]] [[https://youtu.be/pd1E3Fm5oWA part]] [[https://youtu.be/SRTDWs7MqC0 video]] [[https://youtu.be/Mm0mf_cZhXs essay]] which demonstrates the process of making a character in full.

** The character system is ''also'' completely broken. It takes forever to draw up a character thanks to the aforementioned dice rolling, taking up a ''full third'' of a [[{{Doorstopper}} more than 900-page tome]]. Races are poorly thought out -- there are 16 of them, but they all [[FantasticRacism hate each other so much]] that it's totally implausible to form an adventuring party from them, and nearly all of them eat people and/or die in sunlight, leaving ordinary humans (which the manual states [[MonochromeCasting are all white]] for "historical accuracy") as the only remotely viable option. Classes are broken -- all earn experience in different ways, but some are incomplete, many are civilian jobs no player would want, and for some it's possible to die of old age before reaching ''Level 2''. Stats are complex and include things like head size, social and marital status, and [[{{Squick}} anal circumference]]. And given the broken nature of the rolling system, in early editions it was possible for "anal circumference" to be [[BodyHorror zero]] or [[AlienGeometries negative]].

* '''''Literature/{{Wraeththu}}: From Enchantment to Fulfilment''''' is an [[CanonDefilement "adaptation"]] of Creator/StormConstantine's fantasy series which began life as a fanfiction guide before blooming into an RPG homebrew that was sold for $40 USD. The series is already a [[AudienceAlienatingPremise hard sell for a casual audience]], but the game paints it in the absolute worst light possible; it casts the player characters as [[SmugSnake pretentious and glamorous sociopaths]], takes place in a dull and hopeless world, and, despite touting itself as LGBTQ+ friendly, skews heavily to the interests of a YaoiFangirl (despite being written by a man) in that it unintentionally presents queer men as a fantasy race unto themselves, complete with weird ideas about their sexuality and gender identities. Female characters and any potential for queer female sexuality are an afterthought at best; they can either join the ''one'' elusive tribe that allows them to become Wraeththu, or resign themselves to be human cannon fodder/breeding stock. As a game, the instructions go out of their way to be as unhelpful to a novice GameMaster as possible, leaving terms undefined ([[FanMyopia especially those from the books]]) and example quests cut off before they can begin. The game also suffers from poorly thought-out, gut-wrenching mechanics: among other transgressions, chain mail armor transfers a statistical immunity to ''flamethrowers''. A detailed review can be read [[https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/14/14347.phtml here.]]

* '''''Literature/{{Wraeththu}}: From Enchantment to Fulfilment''''' is an [[CanonDefilement "adaptation"]] of Creator/StormConstantine's fantasy series which began life as a fanfiction guide before blooming into an RPG homebrew that was sold for $40 USD. The series is already a [[AudienceAlienatingPremise hard sell for a casual audience]], but the game paints it in the absolute worst light possible; it casts the player characters as [[SmugSnake pretentious and glamorous sociopaths]], takes place in a dull and hopeless world, and, despite touting itself as LGBTQ+ friendly, skews heavily to the interests of a YaoiFangirl (despite allegedly being written by a man) in that it unintentionally presents queer men as a fantasy race unto themselves, with female characters and any potential for queer female sexuality being an afterthought at best. As a game, the instructions go out of their way to be as unhelpful to a novice GameMaster as possible, leaving terms undefined ([[FanMyopia especially those from the books]]). The game also suffers from poorly thought-out, gut-wrenching mechanics: among other transgressions, chain mail armor transfers a statistical immunity to ''flamethrowers''. A detailed review can be read [[https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/14/14347.phtml here.]]

* '''''[[https://index.rpg.net/display-entry.phtml?mainid=4345 HYBRID]]''''', which first appeared on the UsefulNotes/{{Usenet}} group [=rec.games.frp.super-heroes=] as a series of posts by the author "C++", purports to be a RolePlayingGame that "accurately models physical reality". Instead, it's a disjointed jumble of mathematical equations with undefined variables; allusions to social and political issues and pop culture; misogynistic and other offensive statements; and much more. But the worst are the rules, which are numerous, ever-expanding, and veer off into tangents -- even "Rule Zero", an explanation of how C++ numbers his version histories, is a 1500-word diatribe about [[ConspiracyTheorist conspiracy theories]] and ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' canon. And there are tons of cross-references, some to non-existent rules or even rules from other games. It is virtually impossible to make any kind of sense of the rules (even C++ himself broke his Rule Zero), much less actually create a character and play the game. [=RPG.net=] ranks this as the second-worst game of all time, with only ''FATAL'' ranking worse.

** The character system is ''also'' completely broken. It takes forever to draw up a character thanks to the aforementioned dice rolling, taking up a ''full third'' of a [[{{Doorstopper}} more than 900-page tome]]. Races are poorly thought out -- they all hate each other so much that it's totally implausible to form an adventuring party from them, and the vast majority of races eat people and/or die in sunlight. Classes are broken -- all earn experience in different ways, but some are incomplete, many are civilian jobs no player would want, and for some it's possible to die of old age before reaching ''Level 2''. Stats are complex and include things like head size, social and marital status, and [[{{Squick}} anal circumference]]. And given the broken nature of the rolling system, in early editions it was possible for "anal circumference" to be [[BodyHorror zero]] or [[AlienGeometries negative]].

* '''''Oneupmanship: Mine's Bigger''''' is a 2013 roll-and-move game. The goal is to be the first player to get $100,000 by investing in real estate, playing the stock market, gambling, and acquiring valuable items. That doesn't sound too bad, but there's a good reason Tom Vasel of ''WebVideo/TheDiceTower'' subtitled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18b0XYf05tA his review]] "How NOT to design a game". It plays like a demented, low-rate ''TabletopGame/{{Monopoly}}'' clone; one space forces you to pay 20% of everything you have (this is a pain to calculate, which may be why ''Monopoly'' uses fixed amounts), and the "Free Parking Jackpot" {{House Rule|s}} is codified in the game (when in ''Monopoly'' it's not a rule because it causes severe EndingFatigue). You can ignore paying for any of your other buildings if you own the tallest on the board. The random mechanics can be cruel, with the worst being the "Do or Die" space in which you force another player into betting ''all your properties'' on a single roll. The Chance card equivalents have weird requirements like playing a thumb war with an opponent or standing on one foot singing "The Star-Spangled Banner". If one player declares bankruptcy, ''every other player'' must do so as well, and the game ends in a draw. And the components are lazily designed and cheap, especially the paper money, which looks like it was just printed out on computer paper. And to top it all off, there's a TakingYouWithMe mechanic that can turn it into an EndlessGame -- if any player declares victory, any other player can take a "bitter pill" -- with the game coming with bitterly-flavored breath mints to act as said pills, with no ingredients list -- to bring both themselves and the would-be victor back down to zero, with no limit to how many times this can be done. It was apparently designed to be a parody of the nonsensical lifestyles of the rich, but its execution was just lacking.

* '''''Oneupmanship: Mine's Bigger''''' is a 2013 roll-and-move game. The goal is to be the first player to get $100,000 by investing in real estate, playing the stock market, gambling, and acquiring valuable items. That doesn't sound too bad, but there's a good reason Tom Vasel of ''WebVideo/TheDiceTower'' subtitled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18b0XYf05tA his review]] "How NOT to design a game". It plays like a demented, low-rate ''TabletopGame/{{Monopoly}}'' clone; one space forces you to pay 20% of everything you have (this is a pain to calculate, which may be why ''Monopoly'' uses fixed amounts), and the "Free Parking Jackpot" {{House Rule|s}} is codified in the game (when in ''Monopoly'' it's not a rule because it causes severe EndingFatigue). You can ignore paying for any of your other buildings if you own the tallest on the board. The random mechanics can be cruel, with the worst being the "Do or Die" space in which you force another player into betting ''all your properties'' on a single roll. The Chance card equivalents have weird requirements like playing a thumb war with an opponent or standing on one foot singing "The Star-Spangled Banner". If one player declares bankruptcy, ''every other player'' must do so as well, and the game ends in a draw. And the components are lazily designed and cheap, especially the paper money, which looks like it was just printed out on computer paper. It was apparently designed to be a parody of the nonsensical lifestyles of the rich, but its execution was just lacking.

* '''''Literature/{{Wraeththu}}: From Enchantment to Fulfilment''''' is an [[CanonDefilement "adaptation"]] of Creator/StormConstantine's fantasy series which began life as a fanfiction guide before blooming into an RPG homebrew that was sold for $40 USD. The series is already a [[AudienceAlienatingPremise hard sell for a casual audience]], but the game paints it in the absolute worst light possible; it casts the player characters as [[SmugSnake pretentious and glamorous sociopaths]], takes place in a dull and hopeless world, and, despite touting itself as LGBTQ+ friendly, skews heavily to the interests of a YaoiFangirl (despite allegedly being written by a man). As a game, the instructions go out of their way to be as unhelpful to a novice GameMaster as possible, leaving terms undefined ([[FanMyopia especially those from the books]]). The game also suffers from poorly thought-out, gut-wrenching mechanics: among other transgressions, chain mail armor transfers a statistical immunity to ''flamethrowers''. A detailed review can be read [[https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/14/14347.phtml here.]]

* '''''Redakai''''' was an attempt by [=SpinMaster=] to [[FollowTheLeader capitalize on the popularity]] of ''TabletopGame/{{Bakugan}}'', and wound up being a prime example of every design flaw a CollectibleCardGame can have. Cards were made of clear plastic with lithographic designs that would "animate" when moved, allowing the cards to layer their effects by being stacked on each other. This was a DancingBear at best, but in execution was a ''massive'' detriment, because it was impossible to make a unified card back, and the specialized black container (sold separately of course) didn't even work -- in other words, you could recognize cards from the back. The extra material costs made the starter decks and boosters far more expensive than its competitors. Both of the game's expansions reprinted cards from the first set as Rares, meaning many boosters contained [[JunkRare nothing of value]]. Marketing failures aside, game balance was atrocious and clearly untested; there were many examples of power creep, several cards gave you an ExtraTurn at no cost, and some one-sided floodgates would lock the opponent out of the game. There was even an infinite loop one-turn-kill that could be executed as early as the third turn, all the pieces of which could be found in ''one starter deck''. Throw in low-quality action figures, oodles of overpriced peripherals, and a SoOkayItsAverage tie-in [[WesternAnimation/{{Redakai}} cartoon]], and you have an utter flop. Despite the huge marketing push, ''Redakai'' floundered around for only six months before being cancelled entirely. WebVideo/{{Kohdok}} discusses it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quOjWWfvFGI here]].

* '''''TabletopGame/SpawnOfFashan''''' is a [[https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/classic/rev_6157.phtml classic]] example from 1981 that has become the standard by which bad tabletop [=RPGs=] are measured. For starters, the rulebook is a poorly-organized mess with rules that constantly reference other rules (and those other rules often reference ''other rules''), forcing you to jump around a monstrous ninety-six pages without any index to help direct you. Things aren't much better if you can actually start playing, as the game is quite literally unfinished. There are many cases where the rules are too vague or outright missing, and only about a third of all enemies have a stat block. Combat is tedious, requiring an excessive number of charts and math equations to determine the outcome of every action. Not to mention, ''Spawn of Fashan'' features one of the most ridiculous instances of GameFavoredGender ever: female characters have all stats but Charisma ''halved'', which is so bad the rulebook has a disclaimer from the creator [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial saying that he's not sexist]]. The game reportedly only sold a dozen or so copies on release, and would've faded into obscurity had it not ended up in an AprilFoolsDay review from ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}''.
* '''''Literature/{{Wraeththu}}: From Enchantment to Fulfilment''''' is an [[CanonDefilement "adaptation"]] of Creator/StormConstantine's fantasy series which began life as a fanfiction guide before blooming into an RPG homebrew that was sold for $40 USD. The series is already a [[AudienceAlienatingPremise hard sell for a casual audience]], but the game paints in the absolute worst light possible; it casts the player characters as [[SmugSnake pretentious and glamorous sociopaths]], takes place in a dull and hopeless world, and, despite touting itself as LGBTQ+ friendly, skews heavily to the interests of a YaoiFangirl (despite allegedly being written by a man). As a game, the instructions go out of their way to be as unhelpful to a novice GameMaster as possible, leaving terms undefined ([[FanMyopia especially those from the books]]). The game also suffers from poorly thought-out, gut-wrenching mechanics: among other transgressions, chain mail armor transfers a statistical immunity to ''flamethrowers''. A detailed review can be read [[https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/14/14347.phtml here.]]

** The rolling system is completely broken. One of the game's most basic rolls is [=4d100/2-1=] -- to break that down, you take a hundred-sided die, roll it four times, sum the results, divide in half, and subtract one. You do this for anything requiring a bell curve, including all 17 of your character's stats. Later versions "improved" it -- to [=10d100/5-1=], which is rolling a hundred-sided die ''ten'' times, sum the results, divide by five, and subtract one. Granted, you won't actually ''need'' a hundred-sided die, but if you used a 20-sided die, you'd have to roll it fifty times. The first edition even included a ridiculous [=1d10,000,000=] roll -- either you'd have to find a ten-million-sided die, or you'd have to roll a ten-sided die seven times (once per digit).
** The character system is ''also'' completely broken. It takes forever to draw up a character thanks to the aforementioned dice rolling, taking up a ''full third'' of a [[{{Doorstopper}} more than 900-page tome]]. Races are poorly thought out -- they all hate each other so much that it's totally implausible to form an adventuring party from them. Classes are broken -- all earn experience in different ways, but some are incomplete, many are civilian jobs no player would want, and for some it's possible to die of old age before reaching ''Level 2''. Stats are complex and include things like head size, social and marital status, and [[{{Squick}} anal circumference]]. And given the broken nature of the rolling system, in early editions it was possible for "anal circumference" to be [[BodyHorror zero]] or [[AlienGeometries negative]].
** The magic system is [[RuleOfThree completely broken]]. Spells are either useless in normal play, pointlessly situational, time-consuming and impractical, needlessly risky, or useful only for sexual situations. Magical items tend to consist of sophomoric, racist jokes. Its highlight is the [[TitleDrop namesake spell]], which [[ApocalypseHow kills everything in the world]] -- and is part of the miscast table.
** But the biggest problem with the game is its [[VulgarHumor all-around contempt for basic human decency]] -- it's horrifyingly racist and sexist, with the odd bit of queerphobia thrown in. Those races no one wants to play as are mostly bizarre ethnic stereotypes. Sex happens ''all the time'' in this game, to the point where it's possible to accidentally[[labelnote:*]]on part of the human players; the game would consider this your player characters working as intended[[/labelnote]] rape an opponent to death ''during combat''. (But to determine the results of sex, the player must solve quadratic equations, which grinds the pace of the game to a crawl.) The overall tone is especially cruel toward women -- the most fleshed-out thing in the whole game is prostitution, and women are either [[StayInTheKitchen housewives]], whores, or victims of sexual violence and ritual sacrifice (that is itself disturbingly sexualized). Female player characters suffer arbitrary penalties in just about every aspect of their existence, from naturally-reduced stats to being more vulnerable to mind-control spells (that explicitly ''only'' work on women). The game seems to assume you'll be playing as an asshole rapist, and if you aren't, it tries to push you towards it at every opportunity.
** The definitive review of this game, by [=RPG.net=] reviewers Darren [=MacLennan=] and Jason Sartin, is [[https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/14/14567.phtml a very detailed, horrific, NSFW ordeal]] that laid out its case meticulously (and got a rise out of the game's authors, who proved they CantTakeCriticism). The game also has a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy8hjxHuRHk theme song]], which is [[SoBadItsGood pure comedy gold]].

* '''''TabletopGame/SpawnOfFashan''''' is a [[https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/classic/rev_6157.phtml classic]] example from 1981 that has become the standard by which bad tabletop [=RPGs=] are measured. For starters, the rulebook is a poorly-organized mess with rules that constantly reference other rules (and those other rules often reference ''other rules''), forcing you to jump around a monstrous ninety-six pages without any index to help direct you. Things aren't much better if you can actually start playing, as the game is quite literally unfinished. There are many cases where the rules are too vague or outright missing, and only about a third of all enemies have a stat block. Combat is tedious, requiring an excessive number of charts and math equations to determine the outcome of every action. Not to mention, ''Spawn of Fashan'' features one of the most ridiculous instances of GameFavoredGender ever: female characters have all stats but Charisma ''halved'', which is so bad the rulebook has a disclaimer from the creator [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial saying that he's not sexist]]. The game reportedly only sold a dozen or so copies on release and would've faded into obscurity, had it not ended up in an AprilFoolsDay review from ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}''.
* '''''Literature/{{Wraeththu}}: From Enchantment to Fulfilment''''': The RPG [[CanonDefilement "adaptation"]] of Creator/StormConstantine's fantasy series about post-apocalyptic mystical monoecious mutants with flower-like genitalia (no, seriously) ended up not realistically portraying the setting of the books at all, casting the player characters as [[SmugSnake pretentious and glamorous sociopaths]], and going out of its way to be as unhelpful to the novice GameMaster as possible. Of note are the gut-wrenching mechanics: among other transgressions, chain mail transfers a statistical immunity to flamethrowers. Details [[https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/this-is-the-wraeththu-review-youve-been-waiting-for.244590/ here]] and [[https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/14/14347.phtml here.]]

* '''''Redakai''''' was an attempt by [=SpinMaster=] to [[FollowTheLeader capitalize on the popularity]] of ''TabletopGame/{{Bakugan}}'', and wound up being a prime example of every design flaw a CollectibleCardGame can have. Cards were made of clear plastic with lithographic designs that would "animate" when moved, allowing the cards to layer their effects by being stacked on each other. This was a DancingBear at best, but in execution was a ''massive'' detriment, because it was impossible to make a unified card back, and the specialized black container (sold separately of course) didn't even work -- in other words, you could recognize cards from the back. The extra material costs made the starter decks and boosters far more expensive than its competitors. Both of the game's expansions reprinted cards from the first set as Rares, meaning many boosters contained [[JunkRare nothing of value]]. Marketing failures aside, game balance was atrocious and clearly untested; several cards gave you an ExtraTurn at no cost, and some one-sided floodgates would lock the opponent out of the game. There was even an infinite loop one-turn-kill that could be executed as early as the third turn, all the pieces of which could be found in ''one starter deck''. Throw in low-quality action figures, oodles of overpriced peripherals, and a SoOkayItsAverage tie-in [[WesternAnimation/{{Redakai}} cartoon]], and you have an utter flop. Despite the huge marketing push, ''Redakai'' floundered around for only six months before being cancelled entirely. WebVideo/{{Kohdok}} discusses it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quOjWWfvFGI here]].

** But the biggest problem with the game is its [[VulgarHumor all-around contempt for basic human decency]] -- it's horrifyingly racist and sexist. Those races no one wants to play as are mostly bizarre ethnic stereotypes. Sex happens ''all the time'' in this game, to the point where it's possible to accidentally[[labelnote:*]]on part of the human players; the game would consider this your player characters working as intended[[/labelnote]] rape an opponent to death ''during combat''. (But to determine the results of sex, the player must solve quadratic equations, which grinds the pace of the game to a crawl.) The overall tone is especially cruel toward women -- the most fleshed-out thing in the whole game is prostitution, and women are either [[StayInTheKitchen housewives]] or whores. The game seems to assume you'll be playing as an asshole rapist, and if you aren't, it tries to push you towards it at every opportunity.

* '''''TabletopGame/SpawnOfFashan''''' is a [[https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/classic/rev_6157.phtml classic]] example from the early 1980s that has become one of the standards by which execrably-bad [[TabletopGames tabletop]] [=RPGs=] are measured. It was an incomplete release -- even though it had an example world, it didn't include enough in that sample for full use of the system. It took a long time to create characters and run combat because the stat tables were poorly organized and poorly labeled.

* The original version of the '''''Space Phenomena''''' set of ''Top Trumps'' cards is embarrassingly bad. The parent game is well-respected and has had a ton of expansions, mostly from its simplicity; you compare statistics on each card, whoever had the better one wins the round, and you learn about various things in the process. ''Space Phenomena'', however, is filled with cards that have statistics that are uselessly low or have almost every category listed as "N/A", use incompatible units like displaying the speed of some objects in kilometers per hour but others relative to the speed of Earth's orbit in Earth years, have many identical statistics due to the objects being located on Earth, use misleading statistics such as suggesting that Venus wasn't discovered until 1990 or the Moon wasn't discovered until 1651[[note]]the "year of discovery" for objects with no traceable discovery date is instead the year of important discoveries around them, although this leads to absurd things like Ganymede being known for longer than '''the Sun'''[[/note]], or are just plain incorrect like Halley's Comet being -6,000,000 Earth masses as if it somehow weighed a negative amount. All of this combined to make a game that was dubiously educational and no fun to actually play. A year after its release, ''Top Trumps'' apologized and reprinted the set with better objects and more consistent stats. You can watch [[Creator/StuartAshen Ashens]] rip the original version apart [[http://youtu.be/1Us3iSgixRI here]].

* '''''[=BreaKeys=]''''' was a collectible trading game whose main gimmick was literally breaking your opponent's game piece when they lost. The point was to clip two pieces together and twist them until one snapped, and go until only one key was left standing. ''[=BreaKeys=]'' pieces apparently came in bags of 20 for $20, which could be wasted in less than a minute in a game. Because the weaker pieces would always be the first ones to break, the law of collectible games -- the rarer the game piece, the stronger it is -- does not apply here, as the stronger keys would inevitably be all anyone had left. Furthermore, the broken plastic pieces were fairly sharp and could cause messes and small injuries. And the icing on the cake: you could just feel, with your fingers, how strong each key was before using it. Watch [[WebVideo/FamiliarFaces CR]] review it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu6Vqco4rpk here]].

You know those old board games, card games, and roleplaying games you keep in your closet or attic? Yeah... you might want to ''keep'' a few of those in your closet, lest somebody sees them and tries to use it against you in court... especially if it's one of these.

* '''''TabletopGame/RapRat''''' is a board game for kids made in 1992 which used [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW5m3ix8KuI a VHS tape]] as part of the game. You would put in the tape, roll a color-coded die, and move around the board. Every time you land on a space in your color, you would get a MacGuffin piece; you get ten, and you win. Except the board is an infinite loop, making it pretty much useless[[note]]although not in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkSx9Sd83PI the PAL version]], which uses a numbered die[[/note]]. Instead, the TV was used for Rap Rat, an insufferable and [[NightmareFuel frankly creepy]] cartoon, to interrupt the players to [[ContinueYourMissionDammit tell them to do things]], rap (or rather talk while skipping over the same word several times), or eat a block of cheese for 10 minutes -- with all players losing if he finishes before a player wins, which is extremely difficult to do because the whole game is a LuckBasedMission. It says something when Rap Rat has a [[http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/Rap_Rat creepypasta]], which is pretty much the only reason why anyone nowadays has heard of it. Most damningly, its publisher was already known for the much better horror-themed VHS board game ''TabletopGame/{{Atmosfear}}'', suggesting it was a matter of just trying to market to kids and failing miserably. Matt Sall of the website ''Bell of Lost Souls'' reviews it [[https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2020/04/board-games-retro-rap-rat-is-pure-nightmare-fuel.html here]].

'''''Important Note:''''' Merely being offensive in its subject matter is not enough to justify a work as Horrible. Hard as it is to imagine at times, there is a market for all types of deviancy (no matter how small a niche it is). It has to ''fail to appeal even to that niche'' to qualify as this. Additionally, to ensure that the work is judged with a clear mind and the hatred isn't just a knee-jerk reaction, as well as to allow opinions to properly form, '''[[Administrivia/NoRecentExamplesPlease examples should not be added until at least one month after release]]'''.

'''''Important Note:''''' Merely being offensive in its subject matter is not enough to justify a work as Horrible. Hard as it is to imagine at times, there is a market for all types of deviancy (no matter how small a niche it is). It has to ''fail to appeal even to that niche'' to qualify as this.

* The original version of the '''''Space Phenomena''''' set of ''Top Trumps'' cards is embarrassingly bad. The parent game is well-respected and has had a ton of expansions, mostly from its simplicity; you compare statistics on each card, whoever had the better one wins the round, and you learn about various things in the process. ''Space Phenomena'', however, is filled with cards that have statistics that are uselessly low or have almost every category listed as "N/A", use incompatible units like displaying the speed of some objects in kilometers per hour but others relative to the speed of Earth's orbit in Earth years, have many identical statistics due to the objects being located on Earth, use misleading statistics such as suggesting that Venus wasn't discovered until 1990 or the Moon wasn't discovered until 1651[[note]]the "year of discovery" for objects with no traceable discovery date is instead the year of important discoveries around them, although this leads to absurd things like Ganymede being known for longer than '''the Sun'''[[/note]], or just plain incorrect like Halley's Comet being -6,000,000 Earth masses as if it somehow weighed a negative amount. All of this combined to make a game that was dubiously educational and no fun to actually play. A year after its release, ''Top Trumps'' apologized and reprinted the set with better objects and more consistent stats. You can watch [[Creator/StuartAshen Ashens]] rip the original version apart [[http://youtu.be/1Us3iSgixRI here]].

* '''''[=BreaKeys=]''''' was a collectible trading game whose main gimmick was literally breaking your opponent's game piece when they lost. ''[=BreaKeys=]'' pieces apparently came in bags of 20 for $20, which could be wasted in less than a minute in a game. Because the weaker pieces would always be the first ones to break, the law of collectible games -- the rarer the game piece, the stronger it is -- does not apply here. Furthermore, the broken plastic pieces were fairly sharp and could cause messes and small injuries. And the icing on the cake: you could just feel, with your fingers, how strong each key was before using it. Watch [[WebVideo/FamiliarFaces CR]] review it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu6Vqco4rpk here]].

* '''''TabletopGame/RacialHolyWar''''' was made by a white supremacist group called The Creativity Movement, and it's pretty clear that pushing their ideology was more important to them than making a good RPG. The plot is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin right there in the title]]: set in the future, the Jews have taken over the world, and you play as the plucky white LaResistance who will overthrow them. It reads like an over-the-top parody of neo-Nazism, or like someone read ''Literature/TheProtocolsOfTheEldersOfZion'' but didn't feel quite up to tackling ''Literature/MeinKampf''. The game's most ridiculous feature is that every enemy race has a SpecialAttack based on racial stereotypes, which ends up making the whites look far less badass than what the writers intended; Jews can [[GreedyJew bribe them not to attack]], and Black people can debilitate them with their body odor. Even if you're not offended by its hateful premise, there's no fun to be had with this game, as the rules are horrible, broken, and unfinished, including complete omission of rules regarding player-character attack resolution -- put simply, the game forgot to tell you how to attack things. The Intimidation mechanic is the most broken, adding up the score of every combatant on each side, meaning a handful of heavily armed White Warriors could be scared shitless by a hundred Jewish babies. And the game's cover is outright stolen from ''Film/TheHillsHaveEyes1977'' with almost no changes. It's so bad, [[Website/FourChan 1d4chan]] [[https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Racial_Holy_War considers the game]] worse than ''TabletopGame/{{FATAL}}'' -- the material lacks shock value, doesn't [[CrossesTheLineTwice cross the line twice]], and is too reprehensible and pitiful to be enjoyed ironically. More info [[http://web.archive.org/web/20080212094700/http://atrocities.primaryerror.net/rahowasucks.html here]].

* '''''Myfarog''''' (which stands for "Mythic Fantasy Role-Playing Game") was made by former Music/{{Mayhem}} bassist Varg Vikernes, who is infamous for murdering one of his bandmates and taking part in multiple church burnings in Norway, but also for his racist political beliefs. Set in the world of Thule (which is the name of a German occultist organization that counted people who would later join the Nazi party among its members), the game only lets people play as white characters, whereas the "Copper Men", who are meant to represent people of Middle Eastern or African descent, are unplayable and described by the rulebook as "vulgar", "poorly educated" and "ruining the lifestyle and culture of Thule". Not only is its premise racist, it is also horrible to play, due to its mechanics : Vikernes tried to make the game as "realistic" as possible,which apparently means it needed [[https://www.metalsucks.net/2015/08/21/advanced-discrimination-dragons-critical-look-varg-vikernes-myfarog-rpg/ an extremely complex rule set that makes an action as simple as swimming extremely difficult to roll]].

* '''''Myfarog''''' (which stands for "Mythic Fantasy Role-Playing Game") was made by former bass player of Music/{{Mayhem}} Varg Vikernes, who is infamous for murdering one of his bandmates and taking part in multiple arsons that targeted churches in Norway, but also for his racist political beliefs. Set in the world of Thule (which is the name of a German occultist organization that counted people who would later join the Nazi party among its members), the game only lets people play as white characters, whereas the "Copper Men", who are meant to represent people of Middle Eastern or African descent, are unplayable and described by the rulebook as "vulgar", "poorly educated" and "ruining the lifestyle and culture of Thule". Not only is its premise racist, it is also horrible to play, due to its mechanics : Vikernes tried to make the game as "realistic" as possible,which apparently means it needed [[https://www.metalsucks.net/2015/08/21/advanced-discrimination-dragons-critical-look-varg-vikernes-myfarog-rpg/ an extremely complex rule set that makes an action as simple as swimming extremely difficult to roll]].

* Myfarog (which stands for "Mythic Fantasy Role-Playing Game") was made by former bass player of Music/{{Mayhem}} Varg Vikernes, who is infamous for murdering one of his bandmates and taking part in multiple arsons that targeted churches in Norway, but also for his racist political beliefs. Set in the world of Thule (which is the name of a German occultist organization that counted people who would later join the Nazi party among its members), the game only lets people play as white characters, whereas the "Copper Men", who are meant to represent people of Middle Eastern or African descent, are unplayable and described by the rulebook as "vulgar", "poorly educated" and "ruining the lifestyle and culture of Thule". Not only is its premise racist, it is also horrible to play, due to its mechanics : Vikernes tried to make the game as "realistic" as possible,which apparently means it needed [[https://www.metalsucks.net/2015/08/21/advanced-discrimination-dragons-critical-look-varg-vikernes-myfarog-rpg/ an extremely complex rule set that makes an action as simple as swimming extremely difficult to roll]].

* '''''Spellfire''''' is a CCG based on ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' made in the FollowTheLeader rush after ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' popularized the concept of collectible card games. Unfortunately, several factors helped kill the game. They had bad rules, artwork recycled from ''Dragon Magazine'' and old book covers, and horrendous craftsmanship -- rare and powerful figures were depicted as ''photographs'' of dressed-up employees, mundane household items, or poorly-made models. When your cards being printed on flimsy photo paper is the least of your concerns, you know you're in trouble.