Atomic Robo RPG vs Heartbeats in Perfect Sync

Compare Atomic Robo RPG and Heartbeats in Perfect Sync side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.

	Atomic Robo RPG	Heartbeats in Perfect Sync
Genre	Sci-Fi, Modern, Historical	Modern, Fantasy
Tags	Pulp Action, Licensed IP, Investigation, Cinematic, Tag-Based, Fiction-First, Narrative, Collaborative, Improvisation, Superpowers	Anime, Character-Driven, Cinematic, Collaborative, Drama, Fast-Paced, Rules-Light, Superpowers, Tag-Based, Urban Fantasy
Core Mechanic	Roll four Fate dice and add a skill rating, then compare the total against a fixed difficulty or an opponent's roll on the adjective ladder. Matching the opposition is a tie, beating it by one or two shifts is a success, and beating it by three or more is a success with style. Spend a fate point to invoke an aspect for +2 or a reroll. Accepting a compel earns a fate point in exchange for a complication.	When an outcome is uncertain, the GM sets a target number of hits. The player rolls a d6 pool equal to their current Heart Rate, and each 5 or 6 counts as a hit. Meeting or beating the target succeeds and lets the player shift their own Heart Rate by one. Beating the target by two or more also lets the player shift other characters' Heart Rates by one per extra hit. Before rolling, a player can invoke an aspect to add two dice, once per session per aspect.
Dice	4dF (Fudge dice)	d6 dice pool
Complexity	Medium	Low
Availability	Paid	Paid
Runnability	5 of 5 book tools	3 of 5 book tools
License	CC BY 3.0 or OGL 1.0a (SRD); core book All Rights Reserved	Proprietary
Third-Party Publishing	Commercial publishing allowed — Open license	No verified route found
Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing.
Publisher	Evil Hat Productions	Nathan Blades
Year	2014	2024
Languages	English	English
Best For	Groups who want to play Action Scientists in pulp adventures against super-science conspiracies, jumping between eras of a century-long secret history. Its Brainstorms suit tables that like solving mysteries together during play.	Groups who want episodic urban-fantasy action centered on emotional escalation, relationship drama, and coordinated anime-style set pieces.
Highlights	Brainstorms turn a mystery into a group procedure: each winning roll adds a fact as an aspect, and the final hypothesis must build on every fact. Invention rules build a gadget from a function aspect, a flaw aspect, and stunt benefits, then charge for it in narrative catches like rare materials rather than money. E-Z No-Math creation starts a character from a concept and three rated modes, so players can make characters on the fly and fill in aspects and stunts during play.	Heart Rate is both the dice pool and an emotional track, so every roll can change how many dice a character brings to the next one. Perfect Sync lets characters on the same Heart Rate combine their pools into one roll, at the cost of their spotlight turns for that round. Heartbreak turns a character into a dark version with a reusable fighting-style aspect that lasts until their Heart Rate climbs back above the maximum.
Considerations	Custom weird characters take longer to build, because modes and skill improvements are bought from a 30-point budget instead of picked from the E-Z options. The campaign rules assume the PCs belong to a faction, so a group playing freelancers has to build its own organization or run without the faction support and advancement rules. A Brainstorm's winning hypothesis becomes the truth of the situation, so a GM cannot count on a planned explanation for a mystery surviving play.	The default City is deliberately sparse, so groups build most setting detail themselves or begin from the included scenario. The GM sets target hits and decides when a roll is called, so difficulty comes from table judgment rather than a fixed ladder. Perfect Sync requires matching Heart Rates, though optional special moves can align or bypass that requirement.