Gamedec
GAME OVER
GAMEDEC is a cybersleuth RPG that wastes its great premise
By Fraser Brown
In the days before the ubiquity of the internet, stumped gamers would sometimes phone a tip line for a bit of life-saving advice. Nintendo’s ‘game counsellors’ in particular had a near-mythical status, and a gig that every kid dreamed of having. The reality was less impressive, less glamorous, but the idealised version – encyclopaedic knowledge of games, completed Battletoads blindfolded – lives on in Gamedec, where they serve as fixers in virtual worlds.
The childhood fantasies that most RPGs trade in are long established, but Gamedec’s setup is a more modern brand of wish fulfilment. As one of the titular gamedecs, you’re a gamer who is just so good at games that you can hop between virtual worlds fixing problems and solving crimes. It’s silly, but also grounded, creating a web of themes that feel much more relevant than any demonic invasion.