Apocalypse Engine 4

In April 2020 we presented the Apocalypse Engine Bundle 4, our fourth collection of RPGs Powered by the Apocalypse — that is, based on Vincent and Meguey Baker’s landmark indie game Apocalypse World. The Bundle of Holding’s first Apocalypse Engine offer appeared to great success in September 2015; the second, September 2016. After our third Apocalypse in June 2018, many new PbtA games debuted. Sometimes it’s a little hard to keep up!

There were three complete games in our Starter Collection (retail value $35) as DRM-free .PDF ebooks, including the bestselling cyberpunk RPG from Fraser Simons, The Veil; a game of thron– er, of cutthroat fantasy intrigue, The Sword, The Crown, and the Unspeakable Power, aka SCUP; and an instructive game about organizing on the job and in the community, Beat the Boss.

(How closely does SCUP model Game of Thrones? Check the list from this February 2018 Cannibal Halfling review: “For your reference, Tyrion is The Voice, Cersei is The Crown, Jon Snow is The Spur, Varys is The Lyre, Melisandre is The Hex, Ramsey is The Screw, Arya is The Black Hood, Bran is The Adept, Danaerys is The Beloved, Jamie is The Gauntlet, and Sam is The Bloodletter.”)

Those who paid more than the threshold (average) price also got our entire Bonus Collection with five more titles worth an additional $60, including Cascade, a full-length campaign supplement for The Veil (plus the quickstart rules for the forthcoming The Veil: Inheritance); an intense game of wildlife survival, The Warren, along with its Predator Cards print-and-play deck; Comrades: A Revolutionary RPG; and a big collection of linked one-episode games, Uncanny Echo: 10 Supernatural Games.

Ten percent of each payment (after gateway fees) went to this offer’s pandemic-related charity, Heart to Heart International. Heart to Heart improves health access and administers crisis relief worldwide. HHI provides medicines, supplies, and equipment to safety-net clinics in the US and to international medical teams. HHI delivered urgently needed equipment to providers fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.