What game do you think captures best the overall feel and style inherent to steampunk?

I know that “feel and style” can be a bit subjective, and I am open to most interpretations, but I mostly mean the generic/cliché feel of airships, giant steam engines powering giant clockwork automatons and bizarre inventions. They don’t need to be strictly tied to a “realistic” setting, and so some more gaslight fantasy games could fall in this category.

Some Steampunk games I know would be:

  • Space 1889 (more toned down steampunk, alternate history, but ticks most of the boxes. Also the one I have the most experience with)
  • Airship Pirates (Read it, but never played it)
  • Castle Falkenstein (Read it, does have magic and Steampunk, unusual card mechanics, never played it)
  • Tephra (fantasy and steampunk, I don’t know much about it) - Victoriana (steam fantasy, like above: don’t know much)
  • Thyria (quite old and only in German, again steam fantasy, played it once and it was fun)
  • Victoriana (steam fantasy)

Those are the ones I run/played/found that would fit the bill. Honorable mentions could be Deadlands or Cthulhu by gaslight, which may count if you are willing to stretch the term steampunk a bit (in case of Cthulhu you would need to stretch it big bit, but nevertheless)

Alright. Now that I have rambled on for way too long: What do you think is the best one, included in my list or not, steampunk game? Not just by setting, but also by rules and how flawless they match with their specific flavor of steampunk.

Preferably games that aren’t too hard on the DM work-wise, but that’s just a bonus.

  • tegs_terry@feddit.uk
    1·
    1 year ago

    Thief: The Dark Project was my first experience of the genre. It’s heavy on the fantasy, so I wouldn’t call it the epitome of the genre, but it was early days for the idea as far as widespread exposure is concerned so the novelty really stuck with me. I didn’t much like it at first, being a fantasy purist, because all the anachronism seemed like fault over style, but once it gained a bit of credence in my head as a genre in its own right I grew on me big time.

    • EmperorOfDucks@feddit.deOP
      2·
      1 year ago

      That is a video game, isn’t it? Maybe I am too stupid to google (wouldn’t be the first time), and there is a ttrpg of the same name I cannot find. Or you mean the video game, then it is not really what I meant ( I am looking for ttrpgs, maybe I should have clarified that in the post) but the game is on my list of games I need to play someday anyway, so thanks for reminding me.