The Secret Lives of Gingerbread Men
Little cookies... Big secrets...
What began on a 2004 road trip as a challenge between friends has become a sweet, fully published, little storytelling game played among friends and families.
Everyone agrees that Christmas is a magical time... but the jolly holidays are even more enchanted than you might expect!
During those twelve special days, Gingerbread Men awaken, given life by the magic of the Oven and Mother Baker. They rush around your home, sneaking peeks at presents, having adventures, bringing cheer to the downhearted, getting in and out of trouble.
And aside from the fact that each crispy cookie has a secret, there is a lot of trouble...
There's the nasty cat who loves to torment Gingerbread Men, the helpful (but hungry) dog who's doing his best not to gobble up his new-found little friends, and the King of the Rats who steals the family's presents. The Oracle atop the refrigerator dispenses dangerous wisdom and the Cookiesmith repairs damaged cookies... but always needs a favor first.
Don't forget there's that persistent rumor about a man named "Santa" who shows up on Christmas Eve - just when Gingerbread Magic is about to expire - and takes good Cookies to the North Pole where it's Christmas all year round.
And did I mention the secrets? Christmas is the best time for secrets. Whether you know a surprise that's coming, or have a hidden ambition, or simply love vegetables, even though they aren't good for a cookie, every Gingerbread Man has something that he won't admit to just anyone.
A little about the rules
Gingerbread Men puts a premium on imagination, encouraging players to think about the situations their characters face. Gameplay does involve rolling dice and adding up the result, but difficulty can be scaled so a newer player who sees two advantages in a situation has as much ability to succeed as a more experienced player who sees five.
Built with a system with only a handful of rules, this game invites you to tell stories about cookies running around your home; no need for a special map! Also, using a recipe that has been my family for generations, characters (full size models, not miniatures!) are be created by mixing dough instead of rolling dice!
And a little bit more of the same... in someone else's words
The Secret Lives of Gingerbread Men is about -- well, it's about the secret lives of gingerbread men! (How cool is that?) Both feature a detailed resource-allocation character creation system, adding systems to the robots or candy decorations to the cookies to gain power, which adds flavor to the fun. SLGM uses the Advantage system, and is strongest in the story and concept area. Although the dreaded "what do we do now?" problem looms ominously, on the other hand, if you didn't know what kind of game you'd play about gingerbread men coming to life, why [...] did you buy a game about gingerbread men coming to life? And you can eat the miniatures, when all else fails.
-- Ken Hite, Out of the Box, GamingReport.com, 31 December 2004