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The first full review of Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork is in, and for many Terry Pratchett fans it may feel like a wizard’s firework that fizzles early. Writing for Wargamer, critic Mollie Russell praises the new tabletop RPG’s affectionate writing and art, but argues the game offers barely ten pages of rules wrapped in more than 200 pages of flavorful setting material.
The result, she says, is a gorgeous collector’s item that smells of roses on the first read, but plays more like the murky river Ankh at the table.
Pratchett’s world shines, but the game play stumbles
Developed by Modiphius in partnership with the Terry Pratchett Estate, Adventures in Ankh-Morpork is the first major Discworld RPG since the GURPS Discworld line wrapped in the 2010s. The new game focuses tightly on the city of Ankh-Morpork around the Century of the Anchovy, before novels like Thud! and Going Postal.
Russell describes the book as a “lovingly crafted” lore primer that carefully introduces major factions, locations, and familiar faces. For newcomers, it’s an accessible tour; for long-time readers, she likens it to “slipping on a pair of gloves knitted with love by your grandmother.” That warm nostalgia mirrors other recent Pratchett projects, from upcoming Discworld graphic novels like Thief of Time and Wee Free Men to Modiphius’ own live immersive Discworld show, covered in our look at Modiphius’ expanding Discworld plans.
Where the new RPG falters, Russell argues, is structure. Players build characters from free-form “traits” such as “Wizard at Unseen University” or “Bottomless Pockets,” then argue why a specific trait should solve each problem, rolling anything from a d4 to a d12 depending on how convincing the pitch is. There’s even a “million-to-one” rule that turns wildly improbable schemes into automatic successes, a neat nod to Pratchett’s running joke about odds and miracles.
But beyond that, the game offers almost no guidance. There are no distinct combat, investigation, or social systems, and only the thinnest sketch of how scenes should escalate. Russell suggests that, unlike Dungeons & Dragons—which quietly teaches players how adventures are structured—the Discworld RPG leaves new groups stranded in a wide-open narrative desert.
A hit Kickstarter, a divided fanbase
Despite those concerns, demand for the game has been huge. The Adventures in Ankh-Morpork Kickstarter reportedly pulled in around $1 million in pledges and is currently slated for August 2025 fulfillment, according to early coverage at Destructoid. It’s part of a broader push to keep Discworld alive across media, from the planned graphic novel “universe” outlined by the estate in Polygon’s reporting to screen projects like 2022’s Oscar-nominated adaptation The Amazing Maurice.
Russell notes that her test group did enjoy their Ankh-Morpork session—but she questions whether that fun came from the system itself or simply from friends “mucking about” with beloved characters and in-jokes. The strongest of the three included scenarios, a City Watch case, leans into Discworld’s political satire and detective storytelling; a looser Unseen University romp, she says, quickly lost momentum because the book offered so little direction.
For Pratchett fans, the review will land differently depending on what you’re looking for. Those who mainly want a beautiful tour of Ankh-Morpork and a light excuse to improvise jokes in character may be quite happy, especially alongside other playful, Pratchett-adjacent projects like the satirical heist game we recently covered in Better Than Us. Readers hoping for a robust, beginner-friendly RPG framework, however, may find themselves wishing Discworld’s newest game had a bit more iron—and a few more rules—under all that Boffo.
