Review: Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons: Deluxe Edition
By EricMesa
- 2 minutes read - 424 wordsRick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons: Deluxe Edition by Patrick Rothfuss
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book is the definition of a niche product. The only people I think would enjoy this are the intersection in the Venn diagram of D&D fans and Rick and Morty fans. I know I’ve been watching Rick and Morty since the first season and I can’t imagine that I would find this collection if my kids hadn’t gotten me into D&D a year or so ago. Almost all of the humor comes from D&D jokes and Easter Eggs.
This collection covers 3 story arcs. The first, and longest, story is about Morty trying to learn how to play D&D because all the cool kids are doing it (what a difference from when I was a kid!) and a hot girl at the local games shop invited him to a game. (One of the few times in R&M where Rick is going after a girl who isn’t Jessica) Part of the meta-joke of this series is that Rick takes Morty seequentialy through each version of the D&D ruleset. Eventually the whole family gets involved and, since Rick is leading things, the D&D gets “real”. In a lot of ways the plot is a a look at different ways to play the game and how some folks focus on min-maxing to the detriment of the roleplaying.
The second story is a weird, surreal story about how D&D has leaked into the real world such that everything in the world - from the TV shows to the shopping - revolves around D&D. Rick goes investigating and has a bit of character growth.
The final story involves the Meeseeks box. Meeseeks are probably the best thing the show ever invented. If you only ever see one episode of Rick and Morty, seek out the episode called Meeseeks and Destroy. Essentially, they are creates that are poofed into existence to solve a problem and then they cease existing. Existence is pain and so they want to solve the problem as quickly and efficiently as possible. Somehow a Meeseeks box ends up in a D&D-like universe and all kinds of hijinks ensue. It turned out to be my favorite of the stories - perhaps because it leaned the least on D&D tropes for the humor.
So if you’re into both D&D and Rick and Morty, you’ll probably enjoy the collection. If you’re only into one or the other (or neither), I’d say it’s probably a hard pass.