The book is digest sized, black and white, and relatively short (94 pages) but it uses that space well. The first quarter of the book is designed to be almost entirely read during game play acting as literal guide to memory treatment. This means that no one needs to have any experience with Penny before the game begins. No dice is required and instead the only mechanics are pennies. The mechanic basically acts a regulator to control the pace of the story for each player so that no one player gets terribly far ahead in their story then another. I found the gameplay easy to understand and the rules well written to support that understanding. The way the game works is roughly along these lines, each player contributes a bunch of triggers (short phrases) into a pile. As each player goes they use one of the triggers to set the scene along with a question that sets the mood. The outcome of each scene is determined by one of the other players. It's that simple and very much a collaborative effort.
All that being said reading beyond the initial guide is highly recommended. You do not need any of this but the tips provided in the support section help a great deal for setting the mood. The initial game I played in I hadn't read this yet and the mood suffered at times as players drifted a little off course. Later sections also give alternate premise for the memory lost to invoke games with a James Bond or Cthulhuesque feel in them if the players so desire.
Personally this game isn't completely up my alley but it's well written, well put together and the rules and play are solid. What I didn't like the most was essentially not getting to tell my own story (but rather telling the story of others). That is the nature of this game though. It does have the benefit of being a kind of game that you could pull non-gamers into which may be a plus if you're trying to pull in new people to the hobby. All in all for me this is a 7 out of 10.
Out in PDF and *physical copy
