This game takes the very ripe and ready genre of "High School Supernatural Romance" and run with it. And yes I do mean things like "Twilight" and many other books and TV shows like "Vampire Diaries". Set it all in some small town where the girls are super smart and beautiful, the boys are all emo and everyone is trying to date the local supernatural populace.

The hard core horror gamer in me wants to rebel, saying that this is what is so wrong with the genre today. That last generations monsters are this generations would be dates. But in truth I just can't get worked up about it. The games are fun, there is a bit of tongue in cheek here (ok, maybe more than a bit) and if these games can capture just a fraction of the "Teen Angst" market that sells the books and TV shows, then they will be the ones laughing at us hard core horror types. ;)

So what is this games? Well if you have ever listened to a Smiths song, then that is what you have here. Take those high school kids, mix in a supernatural and let wackiness ensue. It goes for very rules-light presentations and instead focus on the relationships and interactions with the characters. In fact the rules are so light that an enterprising GM could add these games to any current modern supernatural game (or even supers) for another level of play.

Written by RPG demi-god John Wick, Byron Falls focuses more on the human side of the equation. The town of Byron Falls is full of beautiful, highly intelligent girls and women that only have eyes for the supernatural creatures in town. And the town has more than their fair share. Character generation is also very simple. You have Interests, up to five Friends, an Enemy (or not) and your Grade. All characters start out as High School Freshman (Grade 9). The mechanic is a very simple one. If you want to do something and it relevant to your interests or friends then you roll the number of dice that you have points in that area. Evens mean a success. No success and your enemy gets to decide what the outcome of your actions are. Again here it is not whether or not you have enough points in a area to beat someone up, but rather what is most dramatic for the game. The supernatural creatures of BF also have to be agreed on. Do Werewolves and Vampires hate each other? How do witches react around humans? The game is designed with playing humans in mind, and female high schoolers in particular. But over time more supernaturals can be added and even some characters may discover they are supernatural themselves (like becoming a witch on your 16th birthday). The town is fleshed out and situations are given for role-playing.

The game simultaneously poke fun at and respect their source material, which I think is about right. You can see the silly side of this but at the same time understand that to the people in this situation it is all seriousness. It is high school, where all drama in Big Drama and every choice is Life and Death.

If you are fan of the source material then this game will be fun. If you are not a fan then this games can also still be a lot of fun if taken in the right mindset.