Apocalypse World vs Blades in the Dark
Compare Apocalypse World and Blades in the Dark side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Apocalypse World | Blades in the Dark | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Post-Apocalyptic | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Narrative, Rules-Light, Collaborative, Improvisation, Low-Prep, Drama, Theater of the Mind, Roleplay-Heavy, Playbook-Driven | Narrative, Fiction-First, Heist, Playbook-Driven, Collaborative, Low-Prep, Improvisation, Drama, Dark Fantasy, Faction Play, Mission-Based, Character-Driven, Roleplay-Heavy, Cinematic, Open Source |
| Core Mechanic | Roll 2d6 + stat. 6−: MC makes a hard move, 7–9: succeed with cost or complication, 10+: full success. Playbook moves trigger from the fiction. The MC follows Agendas and Principles instead of plotting. | Roll a pool of d6s equal to your action rating; keep the highest. 1–3 is a bad outcome, 4–5 is a partial success with consequences, 6 is a full success, and multiple 6s are a critical with additional advantage. Before rolling, the GM sets position (controlled, risky, or desperate) and effect level, which determine the severity of consequences and the impact of success. Players can spend stress to resist consequences or trigger flashbacks to retroactively establish preparation. |
| Dice | 2d6 | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Low | Low |
| Accessibility | Medium | High |
| Community | Medium | High |
| License | CC BY 4.0 (Powered by the Apocalypse) | CC BY 3.0 |
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | lumpley games | Evil Hat Productions |
| Year | 2016 | 2017 |
| Best For | Groups who want raw, character-driven post-apocalyptic drama where the fiction leads and the MC never plans ahead. | Groups who want structured criminal heists with shared narrative authority, where the crew's reputation and entanglements matter as much as individual characters. |
| Highlights | Genre-defining design that launched the entire PbtA movement, playbooks with built-in dramatic hooks, MC framework provides detailed GM guidance, highly hackable | Flashback system lets players establish preparations retroactively instead of planning before a score. Position and effect framework gives the GM a structured way to set stakes on every roll. Detailed faction game tracks rival gangs, noble families, and institutions with their own agendas and territory. |
| Considerations | Can feel directionless without strong character flags, 2nd edition layout is dense and hard to reference, move trigger ambiguity requires frequent MC judgment calls, harm mechanics can cascade quickly | Stress is the currency for flashbacks, resistance rolls, and special abilities, so characters who use these tools heavily accumulate trauma faster. The faction tracking layer between sessions requires more GM bookkeeping than the score phase itself. Downtime phase has several interlocking subsystems (payoff, heat, entanglements, vice, projects) that take time to internalize. |