Stefano Buonocore
In this review we are pleased to talk to you about Cose Preziose, a roleplaying game by Andrea “De Mauris” Cristoni. First of all, we would like to thank Full Metal Games, a collective of independent authors of which Andrea is a part, for giving us this volume, the first of the FMG One Shot series, dedicated to games with simple rules, easy to play and requiring minimal preparation.
Cose Preziose is available on main e-stores at a cost of 25.00 euros, only in Italian and in physical format.
Review of Cose Preziose: Small but Well Made
As you might expect from a manual designed for quick sessions, Cose Preziose is a compact volume. Pocket-sized format, just eighty pages. Yet the hard cover is solid and sturdy, and the paper is thick and pleasantly rough. It is an extremely practical manual with large, easily legible printed font, which nevertheless is pleasant both to the touch and to the sight. Excellent editorial work.
The artwork is then the big surprise. Given the type of game, the references to the old school genre and to the movement Old School Renaissance are quite evident, with a volume entirely in black and white. Yet the illustrations have an extremely modern line in their simplicity. At the same time, the layout integrates great readability and strongly stylistic choices. The manual may be small in size, but it is a work that betrays all the care with which it was created.
Toy Life
Cose Preziose puts players in the shoes of the toys that accompany a child’s life. Toys of all types and shapes, which, due to the bond that develops with the owner, absorb a kind of spark, something that makes them “alive”. In fact, the protagonists of the game are not simply animated, but are alive, and they have one goal: to protect “their” child from the Fiends. The lore is left deliberately vague. Depicting a specific setting isn’t the game’s goal, so it doesn’t even try. The Fiends are simply negative entities, perhaps old, corrupted toys, whose goal is to kidnap children and destroy their spirits.
The toys have a mission: to protect them. They will do everything they can to oppose the Fiends, even entering their world and openly challenging them. They hope to maintain their integrity and not be absorbed by their ranks. The game is strongly focused on action, and the rules are indeed as basic as they are combat-based. However, in their simplicity, they also allow for internal conflict and the fight against corruption to be brought into play, as you try to do your job with a pencil used as an arrow and a laser pistol built into a mechanical arm.
Review of the Mechanics of Cose Preziose
Character creation is a particularly fast and streamlined process. Peculiarities of Cose Preziose start from the type of toy (articulated, motorized, invented, disassembled, transformable, or whole) that tries to cover every type of toy. From the most expensive ones to simple balls, up to those assembled by a child with pieces of other games. Then 6 points are distributed among the characteristics of Hardness, Flexibility, Cunning and Presence. From these also derive the values of Integrity, essentially the equivalent of hit points, and of Getting Lost, the “psychological” resistance of the toy. Finally the Advantages, the Disadvantages and the Objective of the character have a purely interpretative value, but allow you to color and customize it as best as possible.
As anticipated, the game system is extremely simple. You roll two d6 and add the results obtained to the chosen Ability score. Equaling or exceeding a 7 or rolling two 6s means success. Rolling below this threshold or rolling two 1s means failure. There are rules for opposed tests and how to manage Integrity and Getting Lost, but that’s the gist of the game. As per the One Shot philosophy, a session can be started in no time, and learning the rules takes even less time.
Extra Contents
Despite its simplicity, Cose Preziose is a very well-crafted work, both from a content and editorial point of view. The game offers a decent bestiary of the Fiends, accompanied by their features to challenge the toys. There is also a section of special abilities which can be used as optional rules if the master wants more complexity and the group of players more options. Finally, we also find a series of pre-made characters for a plug’n play approach.
A series of very useful ideas for carrying on the sessions. Nothing overly elaborate, it’s a sort of post-it (even the print effect evokes this impression) with a few meaningful sentences that can spark a session, or a short campaign. Or give new life to an already existing story. A few words on which to develop the narrative. After all, the setting itself is a stimulus to the imagination.
Conclusions of the Review of Cose Preziose
Cose Preziose is a game with a particularly significant name. A simple concept, a classic that many gaming tables have already developed on their own in the past, but it offers a dedicated structure that is precisely what makes it such a good idea. Furthermore, it adds a set of effective yet very simple rules, giving it a very specific identity.
It’s probably not a game for those who prefer extremely complex plots that unfold over years. It’s certainly not for those who enjoy min-maxing or an extremely tactical approach to the game. Cose Preziose is a small game designed for a very specific niche, but it allows you to quickly put together an adventure that recalls the childhood memories that every roleplayer has inside themself, and spend a carefree evening around the gaming table.
