I downloaded this because of the Save or Die Podcast but have to say I'm very disappointed in it. The podcast raves about the wonderful layout and charts but all I saw was a poorly written, badly laid out mess of a document. There are much better retro clones out there to read and get all nostalgic about. They must have some good incriminating pictures of the Ennie Awards panel. Avoid.

I cannot fathom why someone would play this over D&D when they've done nothing to differentiate themselves.

Looks like a standard 0e/1e port, fast reading gave no indication of much change. Rather bland presentation.

Too many things are left to DM's discretion. It might speed up the whole "story making" process but it creates room for pointless arguing.

It looks and reads like someone's drunk version of a late 1970's fantasy RPG. With Labyrinth Lord, Swords and Wizardry, OSRIC, etc. on the market is there any reason for this? No, there is not.

Mazes & Perils is a nice homage to the Holmes Basic D&D set of years past. The game compliments the original Holmes set as great additional material for those who wish to take their game beyond the low level cap of the original game. Art work is a bit sparse and a bit too cartoonish for my tastes, but with a free price point I can easily over-look this. There are a lot of retro-clones on the market, but none that integrate with the Holmes set so well. I would encourage in any future revisions to possibly make the game a bit more newb friendly... I think with its simplistic mechanical approach this game could be a great gateway drug for someone trying to introduce another gamer to the OSR style of play.

As an old school gamer who just recently got back into RPG gaming I thoroughly enjoyed discovering this product. It will definitely appeal to D&D 1E players but is also simple enough for a novice RPG'er to pick up, enjoy, and not feel overwhelmed by rules. Even if this product were not free it would be bargain for the amount of fun you can have with your gaming group. Thanks for making it available and can't wait to start a campaign!

Just was curious to download to check it out since it was nominated. It looks pretty cool! It's pretty basic so someone who is new to this kind of game can easily pick it up and play it. Has the whole DnD feel without being overwhelming.

NOTE: This is an updated review.

A while back I wrote a review for Mazes & Perils, a 2012 Holmes-Basic Retro-clone from Vincent Florio.

http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2012/09/review-mazes-perils-2012.html

The 3rd printing/edition is now out (or rather it has been out for a bit) and I promised then I would re-review it.

This new version is cleaned up considerably and it does look like it has been rewritten. It is still free and the idea here (I think) is to provide a means to play "D&D Basic" or provide a common ruleset to allow people to create Basic-era compatible works. As a goal, that is a pretty solid one really. At 61 pages it is also really tight and it is also free.

I do want to address some of the issues that plagued the previous editions, but only as a means to talk about the improvements on this edition. Like I said, the text has largely been rewritten. It now reads less like someone with a copy of Holmes Basic on their lap, but instead someone that played Holmes Basic for years and scribbled what they could from memory. The game now goes to 12th level, which is a good place to go to be honest. Yes, it is only 3 more levels than the previous version, but those are three levels that really make a difference in terms of end game play. Have a look of Adventurer Conquer King to see the same logic at work.

There are only the four basic classes (Cleric, Fighting Man, Magic-User, Thief) and the four basic races (Human, Elf, Dwarf Halfling).

I want to restate the things I did like about the previous versions. Obviously the name of the game is a nod to John Eric Holmes' book "The Maze of Peril" and I can respect that. If you are going to do a Holmes' homage or pastiche then that is a perfect name really. Clearly the author has done his research.

Others have complained about the art. I rather like it to be honest. The cover is very cool and the interior is no worse than what you would have seen in Holmes. In fact I was under the impression that the art was exactly what the author wanted. "Good" or "Bad" is subjective. To me it is perfect for this book.

What does this book do? OR What is it good for? Well if you do want a simple game to give you the feel of D&D Basic, then it works well. If you want an EASY book to create your own "Basic Era" products then it is also a good choice. If you want a game with lots of options, then maybe Basic Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord, ACKS or even D&D Basic/Expert will work better.

This newer version is cleaned up and is certainly an improvement over the previous versions.

Not very well done. Only looked at it because of the podcasts. Waste of my time.

I have the original 1st edition AD&D and D&D. Why would I need this. It's a poor copy.

This is a good solid retroclone. The ideas here are from the Holmes edition & are much tighter. This is no nonsense game. The layout is crisp & the are work very much in the old school tradition. The whole thing reads very well & works in a very tight way making combat a breeze. Very nice edition to the retroclone community. The author knows his D&D very well. Great product.

Much better! I downloaded this like a year ago, and the layout was rough on the eyes, but then I got an email the other day and it said it was updated. So I downloaded it and to my surprise, it was done well. The format is very nice, as well as the new surprise of 3 more levels! I was happy to see this change and happy Vincent Florio fixed what was wrong. I hope others see this and download it again for a review.

This game was not written well.

I had expected to have a retro-nostalgic experience of delving into an early version of D&D updated to make it relevant to the modern reader. The writing is extremely amateurish, making me wonder if the author had completed grade school, or if English were his second language.

As for the concepts and mechanics, it is too married to all of the "bad stuff" we have moved beyond. Instead of a nostalgic experience, it felt like a stifling, frustrating penning-in of creativity and free thinking.

For example, this system still imposes rules setting level limits for certain races depending on what class they take. Fighters are referred to as "Fighting Men". Elves can still do everything, and are pretty much better than everyone else. This game does little to add to or improve the existing body of work. It gets hung up on stupid gaming cliches in the most unoriginal, derivative way possible. It not only re-invents the wheel, but re-invents the bad, dysfunctional model that we all know doesn't work.

Did I mention the writing is eye-splittingly aweful?

Excellent product. I don't game much anymore, but what I do know, is what a game I would love to play looks and reads like. And this is it. The rules are simple enough, the WGP-team has put an awful lot of love and effort into this to make it feel like it is THE thing. Even down to the choice of font they've used throughout the PDF, you instantly get this "old school" feel. The rules themselves are light enough to pick up in a matter mayhaps 30 minutes, yet offers a flexibility that seems to have been completely forgotten and/or ignored, in later editions.

My only gripe with Mazes and Perils, is that each individaul chapter isn't marked very clearly, neither is there anything to mark the "Games Master Section" which would likely leave me to use a LOT of post-it markers to find what I want/need a bit quicker. I would give this 4.5 stars out of 5, but I'm not allowed to give a half star, and I feel that my personal gripe doesn't justify pulling off a full star. Therefore, 5/5 for Mazes&Perils from the Wild Games Productions.

Get it&Play It. Otherwise, you'll Regret it ;)