 There's definitely some good stuff happening here. The example setting bits that are sprinkled throughout are very evocative and compelling. The relationship mechanics, measured in "hands" (as in what you lend someone) is very clever, perhaps the most interesting mechanic in the game. Unfortunately, the mancala-based resolution mechanic, while neat in its own right, seems more like a gimmick than something specifically tied into the game. Plus, as the text acknowledges, I wonder if mancala is ideal for resolution since player skill can matter a great deal in the outcome. Overall, I like the idea of a "star" protagonist character a great deal, but there's very little description of how to treat them or play them in relation to the other character types. Additionally, in a contrast to my comments on Chronicles of Skin (00), I find the example settings in this case to be much more compelling than the setting-less structure the rules offer you. There just doesn't seem to be enough flavor to the rules, on their own, to give the players a sense of what to actually do in the game, and because there's no fixed setting, it's impossible to look to the narrative to provide structure ("You're guards and your job is to protect the king" or whatever). Picking a particularly compelling setting concept - and there are plenty of them here  -  and basing the entire game around it would have led to a stronger result, perhaps.  There's definitely some good stuff happening here. The example setting bits that are sprinkled throughout are very evocative and compelling. The relationship mechanics, measured in "hands" (as in what you lend someone) is very clever, perhaps the most interesting mechanic in the game. Unfortunately, the mancala-based resolution mechanic, while neat in its own right, seems more like a gimmick than something specifically tied into the game. Plus, as the text acknowledges, I wonder if mancala is ideal for resolution since player skill can matter a great deal in the outcome. Overall, I like the idea of a "star" protagonist character a great deal, but there's very little description of how to treat them or play them in relation to the other character types. Additionally, in a contrast to my comments on Chronicles of Skin (00), I find the example settings in this case to be much more compelling than the setting-less structure the rules offer you. There just doesn't seem to be enough flavor to the rules, on their own, to give the players a sense of what to actually do in the game, and because there's no fixed setting, it's impossible to look to the narrative to provide structure ("You're guards and your job is to protect the king" or whatever). Picking a particularly compelling setting concept - and there are plenty of them here  -  and basing the entire game around it would have led to a stronger result, perhaps. 