LIFTS vs VRBS

Compare LIFTS and VRBS side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.

	LIFTS	VRBS
Genre	Universal	Universal
Tags	Experimental, Diceless, Comedy, Gonzo, Rules-Light, One-Shot Friendly, Narrative, GM-Less, Collaborative, Mission-Based	Toolkit, Rules-Light, GM-Less, Solo-Friendly, Hackable, CC-Licensed Rules, Classless, Mission-Based, Collaborative, Family-Friendly
Core Mechanic	Resolution is diceless and varies by the included game. In Roboflex, a disagreement with the Muscle Master becomes an exercise challenge. Minor conflicts set an easy, moderate, or hard target (5, 10, or 20 sit-ups in a social conflict), multiplied by the player's self-chosen fitness level of one to three. Major conflicts pit the player directly against the Muscle Master, such as a sprint to the end of the block and back. A relevant skill or profession grants a small edge, such as crunches instead of sit-ups or a head start. The winner is right about the disputed outcome. Several Volume 2 games instead attach an exercise to each move, with a 0 Flex failure and a list of selectable Flex effects. The Moon game grades success against both the Muscle Master and the player's previous rep count. Vegetables: The Recommended has each move spend a day from the player's logged meal planner, and that day's Flex rating sets the result.	To try something interesting, roll 1d6 and add the tally marks (up to 3) on the matching verb, or nothing if your sheet lacks that verb. On 1–4 you get what you want with a complication and the team loses one energy. On 5–6 you get what you want. On 7+ you get what you want and the team gains one energy.
Dice	Diceless	d6
Complexity	Low	Very Low
Availability	Paid	Free core rules
Runnability	3 of 5 book tools	1 of 5 book tools
License	All Rights Reserved	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Third-Party Publishing	No verified route found	Commercial publishing allowed — Open license
Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing.
Publisher	Korvidae Games	Amalara Game Studio
Year	2019	2022
Languages	English	English
Best For	Groups who want to turn game night into a workout, playing short comedic parodies of familiar RPG genres where push-ups, planks, and runs decide outcomes instead of dice.	Groups who want a tiny, open d6 engine to build their own short GM-less game, or who are happy to invent verbs and mission prompts together at the table.
Highlights	Roboflex lets each player pick a fitness level from one to three that multiplies minor-conflict targets, so mixed-fitness groups face individually scaled exercise counts. Several games tie in-game power to real habits between sessions, such as vampire Vitae earned from gym visits and healthy meals. Eliminated Muscle of the Week players can still change a survivor's conflict outcome by holding a wall sit, though they cannot defeat the monster this way.	The roll sets how much energy an action costs rather than whether it works, so a mission is lost only when the team's shared energy pool runs out. A roll of 1–4 adds a tally to the verb used (up to three) or writes a new verb onto the sheet, so characters improve by attempting what they are bad at. A mission aims for three scenes plus one per player, so the story's length scales with the group.
Considerations	Most games require real exertion and open space: ShadowRunning missions are group runs of 30 to 90 minutes, and The Forest Gymn & Picnic recommends a two to four mile hike. For players who cannot perform an exercise, the exercise-based games say only to find an alternative and give no structured adaptation list. Some games draw on players' real lives: the Moon game invites each player to share a personal problem for group advice, and Vegetables expects a week of logged meals, with a preset Flex fallback for players who cannot log.	Mission and scene d6 tables are left blank for the group to write, so play needs that content invented beforehand or improvised prompt by prompt. The book has no rules for combat, harm, equipment or opposition beyond the single roll, so the table decides what complications and antagonists do. Rolls have no task-difficulty adjustment, so rolled actions with the same verb bonus use the same outcome odds.