Apocalypse World vs Gamma World
Compare Apocalypse World and Gamma World side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Apocalypse World | Gamma World | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Post-Apocalyptic | Post-Apocalyptic, Scifi |
| Tags | Narrative, Rules-Light, Collaborative, Improvisation, Low-Prep, Drama, Theater of the Mind, Roleplay-Heavy, Playbook-Driven | Superpowers, Random Character Creation, Classless, Gonzo, Comedy, Tactical, Grid-Based, Combat-Heavy, Beginner-Friendly, Deadly |
| 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 d20 and add a modifier, then compare the total to a target number or one of four defenses: Armor Class, Fortitude, Reflex, or Will. Two randomly rolled character origins combine to set starting ability scores, skills, and powers instead of a chosen race and class. Alpha Mutation and Omega Tech cards drawn from a shared deck grant each character's most powerful and unpredictable abilities for the session. |
| Dice | 2d6 | d20 |
| Complexity | Low | Medium |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Runnability | High | Very High |
| License | CC BY 4.0 (Powered by the Apocalypse) | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Not yet researched |
| Cost | $$ | $ |
| Publisher | lumpley games | Wizards of the Coast |
| Year | 2016 | 2010 |
| Best For | Groups who want raw, character-driven post-apocalyptic drama where the fiction leads and the MC never plans ahead. | Groups who want a silly, fast-paced pickup game with randomly generated mutant heroes rather than a long-term character build. |
| Highlights | Genre-defining design that launched the entire PbtA movement, playbooks with built-in dramatic hooks, MC framework provides detailed GM guidance, highly hackable | Alpha Mutation and Omega Tech cards replace a fixed power list, so a character's abilities shift unpredictably as cards are drawn, used, and discarded between encounters. Rolling two random character origins instead of choosing a race and class produces unplanned combinations that push players toward improvised character concepts. A hundred-item Ancient Junk table turns ordinary scavenging into a steady stream of small, flavorful rewards between the rarer Omega Tech finds. |
| 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 | Character origins are rolled randomly from a fixed table, so a player who wants a specific concept must ask the Game Master for permission to choose origins instead. The starter box's 80 cards are the only power pool for groups without the two out-of-print expansion kits, capping how many distinct Alpha Mutations and Omega Tech items a table can draw. Running combat means tracking multiple readied and discarded card piles for each character in addition to the four defenses, conditions, and forced movement of the underlying 4th Edition engine. |