I saw someone describe this as ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles meets The Dirty Dozen… in space’, and I don’t think any reasonable human could pass up the opportunity to take a quick peek at something like that. Come on, it’s got your inquisi-whiskers tingling, hasn’t it? (I don’t have to explain what inquisi-whiskers are: deep down you know.) Untamed Worlds from Osprey Publishing, and written by Jack Norris and illustrated by Logan Stahl, is an action-packed anthropomorphic roleplaying game of animals uplifted to serve as humanity’s agents among the stars.
The backstory for this may well be fiction, but considering the kind of people we are as a whole, it kind-of rings true (and there are certain ultra-rich types who really are holes). Considering there’s a large number of us who think climate change isn’t a thing (therefore stating that fundamentals of physics are somehow untrue) and are happy to believe the trash spouted by oil and gas companies (seriously, why do you think that fossil fuel companies would insist that green policies are bad?), are we the kind of people who would send animals into space ahead of us, just in case it all goes wrong? Yes. Yes we are.
Here’s the storyline direct from the publisher: Welcome to space, the last great wilderness. While humanity has reached the stars, most humans live on Earth and other developed worlds, relying on the brave – or desperate – few to tame this dangerous new frontier. After disastrous experiments with human and AI operatives, the collected nations and mega-corporations of Earth turned to the animal kingdom, genetically modifying and enhancing various species to protect their off-world interests. As humanity extends its reach into Untamed Space, the elite, if expendable, animals of the United Expeditionary Force are the tip of the spear.
Roleplay is arguably about getting a good distance away from yourself, and the chance to play as an intergalactic giraffe with an attitude problem seems too good to resist (subtle hint about the kind of character I would build there). Think about it, though. A space giraffe called Arnoldo. What effect would the gravity of different planets have on him? Where’s he getting a suitable helmet from? Get thinking, DMs, I’ve got these questions and many more!
Untamed Worlds is scheduled to take off in September 2025, and Osprey Publishing have a couple of more new releases coming out towards the end of the year, so head on over to take a look!
About the author:
Steve is currently a freelance board game blogger, but often dreams of life as a pirate, or as a ghost herder in the Lake District, or as an evil estate agent who sells haunted houses for his own dark pleasure. Instead of figuring out how to do these jobs in real life like a normal lunatic, he tries to write about them instead, and releases the resultant books upon the unsuspecting world via famous digital bookstores. More books are bound to follow. Find this peculiar entity here!
