The Culture: Macris Talks Intuitive Simulationism in RPGs

Last night, Macris had on game designer and Youtuber Daniel Jones of Primaeval Fantasy.

Let's make it clear: this is a Me & The Boys doing the Get Along Gang product, and thus it is not intended to be run as a proper Fantastic Adventure Game in a Clubhouse environment.

The style of play described here has a High Trust and Low Time Preference environment as a necessary pre-requistive, both of which were always in short supply and fast fading away by the day, and the irony of it is that this is exactly one step away from Actor School/Writer's Room exercises that I've witnessed or heard testimony about by industry pros over the years.

That doesn't mean it doesn't work. If you have that necessary environment, it does. That, as I just described, it is one step off professional Narrative media practices in the more competent training and working environments is proof that yes this can and does work- both for the stated aim, and for the Narrative aim that is right next door.

Ultimately, however, this is not viable beyond You & The Boys. It is not viable for a wider hobby; if it were, it would already be the norm.

The divide between the casual gamer and the dedicated hobbyist is subtle at a glance, but wide on inspection.

— Alan MacCrae | Firmatus (@WorldofFirmatus) August 5, 2025

This matters for one big reason: people move around.

A hobby's standardization matters when it is beyond You & The Boys. Gygax, ultimately, had to bow to that necessity and people still gainsay that to this day.

That's why, as much as I appreciate the sentiment, this entire position is a non-starter and a dead-end. It doesn't look like a game to Normies, and it doesn't look like a game to Hobbyists; it sure doesn't play like one either, but instead feels too close to Mother May I for comfort for the majority. It is the mirror image of the clout-chasing Tourist darlings like Daggerheart; it will have its small cult appeal (like Mork Borg or Burning Wheel), so if you like that sort of cultural cul-de-sac, have at it. I'll still to the think that's proven to work at scale, and so will 90% of the hobby.

On the other hand, when it's time to look for a Writer's Toolbox addition, this gets added to it right away.