Hanukah Goblins is a game about goblins spreading the spirit of Hanukkah. It examines the problematic trope of fantasy evil races with harmful racial stereotypes, and flip it on its head by having Jewish goblins as the protagonists.

Hanukkah Goblins is a fantastic, lively, contemplative, spirited romp of an rpg about a gang of goblins spreading Hanukkah cheer and knowledge in a small village.

The PDF is 20 pages with absolutely extraordinary art and a cover that perfectly communicates its tone and contents. It's also got a super easy to read layout,and it organizes its information in a way that makes it very user friendly.

The game takes place over the 8 nights of Hanukkah, in the same village as in the story Hershel And The Hanukkah Goblins. You play as a squad of goblins looking to spread cheer and spirit to other goblins and humans, and to that end you have Goblin Types (Stealthy, Joyful, Mischievous, etc,) Special Items (which include a Sufganiyot launcher and I'm not sure how anyone resists its call long enough to take something else,) and Rituals.

The village isn't super detailed, and the group is free to give their own spin on it, but both goblins and humans live there, and both species have Jewish and non-Jewish members. There's potentially some cultural tension between the humans and the goblins due to the goblins' more chaotic attitudes, but individual groups are free to play that up or down as much as they wish.

The game's core resolution mechanic is extremely easy to learn, and it consists of a d6 plus a small bonus if your goblin type or item can be applied to the roll. Rolls are weighted towards success, sometimes without a consequence, but if your type and item both apply to a roll, the worst you can do is failure with a mild consequence.

There are some premade scenarios in the book, but while they're both interesting, complex, and family-friendly, they're more solid prompts than full adventures. Your GM (if you choose to have one) will need to be fairly proactive in laying out the tracks ahead of the squad and steering them towards the story.

Depending on how your scenario goes, the group may find themselves needing to perform a Ritual. These are prayers and activities, and they both provide specific mechanical bonuses and help to anchor the game in its central holiday.

Both in the Ritual section and elsewhere in the text, Hanukkah Goblins specifically calls out that non-Jewish players are invited to play it. There's also a glossary of terms at the back of the book, and *lots* of pointers to material where you can read or listen further scattered throughout.

Overall, this is a fantastic game with great art and a tone that, for me, is ultimately difficult to define. It's celebratory and thoughtful and energetic, and I'm super glad it exists. Check it out if you can.

Minor Issues:

-Page 1, Content Disclaimer, the last sentence cuts off

-Page 2, Introduction, "after the goblin king destroyed the temple" raises a bunch of questions. Admittedly, I haven't read Hershel And The Hanukkah Goblins since I was super young, so possibly this is answered in the text, but I wish I had further context here.

-Page 3, Goblin Type, "with townsperson" with a townsperson

-Page 4, Special Item, the second and third paragraphs both end with the same reminder to question everything.

-Page 5, Diverse celebrations of Hanukkah, the C in celebrations feels like it should be capitalized, also the second sentence ends as a fragment with "and others yet"