{"product_id":"apollo-47-the-thinner-one-the-big-one-is-elsewhere","title":"Apollo 47, Condensed","description":"\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn a somewhat alternate Earth in a rather different 1987 you will explore the Moon on the 47th Apollo Mission! The Moon! Where forty-six other moon missions have gone before. Forty-six. That's an awful lot of successful Moon missions.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd that's the point:  Apollo 47 imagines a future where walking the surface of the Moon is a little bit boring.  You engage in workaday astronaut activities using a simple improvisatory rules set to play in a quiet world of technobabble and the slow progression of science.  If something exciting happens please stop play immediately and go do something else–you are in the wrong game.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis zero-prep game of improvisatory radio chatter can be played through just about any communications medium for any length of time.  Five minutes to spare?  Spend it recalibrating a JLDO unit that's gone out of alignment.  Tighten the tamping line using the three baseline screws.  The blue screen torques the focus to the left, the green screw adjusts the dust pan height.  You should have a yellow-handled size 20 tamping gun and a slot puller in your work bag.  Got them?  Okay, so next...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne astronaut is supported by a team of voices on the radio.  Work, banter, and cause gentle problems for each other.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI... I just can't explain this game any better than that.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eHere, have \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/963563ls813t4mz4spxbt\/Apollo47_JustRules_6.pdf?rlkey=c0j3adx7ek8l71rw6j6dobv8d\u0026amp;dl=0\"\u003ea PDF of the first 20ish pages\u003c\/a\u003e. It's all you need to play, the rest are prompt type things and really aren't necessary.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003eWhat you're getting: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e*An 8.5 x 11 softcover book with 120 pages that contains 1 page of game, about 22 pages of prompts and advice on how to play the game, and a little less than a hundred pages of doubled up NASA imagery which will help prompt you along in play if you need it. The is 'soft touch' treated and has some foil on it.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e*A PDF of the 1200 page version of the game. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e*A PDF of the condensed version of the game. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/www.drivethrurpg.com\/images\/5844\/_product_images\/246241\/Screen_Shot_2022-04-17_at_10.05.58_PM.png\" alt=\"Cover of the book, a moonscape\" style=\"float: none;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/tabletop-games\/23125685\/apollo-47-tim-hutchings-interview\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"\u003cspan\u003eYou\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e know those scenes in movies where people are talking very urgently into a headset? Maybe it’s a heist film and someone’s crawling through an air duct, or it’s a science fiction film and a lonely astronaut is hurtling toward their doom. Whatever the context, that’s the vibe that game designer \u003c\/span\u003eTim Hutchings\u003cspan\u003e is trying to recreate with his latest project, \u003c\/span\u003eApollo 47 Technical Handbook\u003cspan\u003e, a one-page tabletop role-playing game with 1,199 additional pages of largely superfluous flavor text. It’s ... a bold choice, to say the least.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e-Charlie Hall, Polygon\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\" class=\"x_elementToProof\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"x_elementToProof\"\u003eThe condensed \u003cem\u003eApollo 47\u003c\/em\u003e not only looks beautiful, but is the best 2-5 minute RPG I've ever played. And while I'm not a content creator or game designer, I am a human and have actually played this game...a lot.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: right;\" class=\"x_elementToProof\"\u003e-\u003cspan data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\"\u003eKrys B\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"Apollo 47 asks you to sit with boredom and stupidity in a way that boring, stupid games cannot come close to. When you play Apollo 47 there is a constant tension around wanting things to happen - interesting things, dramatic things - and every time they don't the game just gets better. Apollo 47 is easily one of my favorite games, ever.\"\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e-Jason Morningstar\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"Apollo 47\u003cspan\u003e does not play like the majority of other space RPGs, which tend to default to serious and high-stakes conflicts in a sci-fi setting. The \u003c\/span\u003eTechnical Handbook’s \u003cspan\u003esingle paragraph of lore sums up the game’s tone and situation well: in an alternate-history 1986, moon missions are so regular and routine that they’ve become downright mundane for everyone involved.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e-Līber Lūdōrum\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"Apollo 47 makes the mundane enveloping. You start playing, and soon you'll have a crowd listening in to the latest issues with the RCU cable. It's a chill vibe of tech-speak improv that just makes my brain buzz pleasantly.\"\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e-James Stuart\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9Dz-Mf5Kfp0?si=3zIO5OF_Xz6nSRU2\" title=\"YouTube video player\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e---\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003ePublication History:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eThe 1200 page version was released in 2022. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.drivethrurpg.com\/en\/product\/246241\/apollo-47-technical-handbook\"\u003eIt's still available over here\u003c\/a\u003e. You can get cards there, too, but they aren't necessary.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eThe condensed version, which is what this page is selling you, was released at the end of 2025. It was printed through 48 Hour Books in an edition of 525. The next printing will have some tweaks on some the layered prompt pages that had a slight layering problem. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Tim Hutchings Makes Games","offers":[{"title":"Print + PDF","offer_id":51289052479808,"sku":"AP47","price":27.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"PDF Only","offer_id":51289052512576,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0519\/6598\/4952\/files\/Screenshot2025-11-17at1.58.12PM.png?v=1763416711","url":"https:\/\/thousandyearoldvampire.com\/products\/apollo-47-the-thinner-one-the-big-one-is-elsewhere","provider":"Tim Hutchings Makes Games","version":"1.0","type":"link"}