# Purple Haze: Military RPGs Have More History Than They Know tags: #thoughts ![[Purple Haze (cover).png]] On the one hand, I really appreciate and like this kind of game, and I think Purple Haze is probably a fine example of the hybrid board/RPG design available for an underserved setting niche.  On the other hand, if you know me, you kind of saw this coming … This particular tweet demonstrates a ridiculous lack of knowledge and understanding of the modern RPG landscape, particularly with a focus on the last five years, but arguably for the last decade. The rise of solo and co-op RPG design outside of the singular icon of **D&D** and its close imitators is not something that you can handwave away by simply pretending it doesn't exist. But let's ignore a gaping gap in knowledge of modern solo RPG design and simply look at the assumption that all RPGs are **D&D**-derived fantasy. That's not only not true currently, but it hasn't been true for 40 years. **[[Traveller]]**, for example, is one of the first games you should think about if you know anything about non-high fantasy RPGs. It's had its own significant influence, not only on games and the gameplay loop, but fed back into the literature of science fiction in general. Hell, if we just want to talk about modern and near-future military games, we get to go back to **[[Advanced Squad Leader]]**, **[[The Morrow Project]]**, and **[[Twilight 2000]]**, just to pick three out of the massive pile. All of which involve playing at least one focal character who grows over time across multiple challenges and deal with fairly tactical gameplay. None of those are particularly *new* games, but all of them are influential in exactly this particular type of game style. It would have been nice to see the referent being one of them and **Purple Haze** elevating itself by positive comparison rather than trying to pull off denigrating a game it pointedly tries not to be like at all. Not that my opinion makes a difference here. Let me be clear: I'm aware of its value, but it seems a little cheap to criticize a game that isn't even your competitor and doesn't make sense in the context of the promotional arc when there are so many better games you could compare yourself with. Hell, I've literally even written a whole-ass article about games like this. - **[[Recommended Games About Wars and the Wages Thereof]]**