If it is even possible to pick one!
I think if I had to pick one, it would be Escape From Dino Island - a Jurassic Park inspired game where you are dealing with dinosaurs on an island! It has some great world and adventure building mechanics to kick off the game, and I think one of its best features is a mechanic called “Tell a Story”. When you take an action when you’re not in danger, you pick from a list of story prompts your character would tell, and tell a story as you complete the action. It’s a really nice cinematic action/downtime split built directly into the mechanics, and really gives you a helping hand with structure. It’s probably my favourite PbtA game to introduce new players to the system!
Next would be:
Girl Underground - inspired by Alice in Wonderland, and Labyrinth. You collectively play a girl and her fantastic companions, figuring out how you interpret or reject the expectations and rules imposed on young girls. A beautiful and thought-provoking game!
Monster of the Week - think Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, X-Files, Fringe etc. Modern monster hunting and mystery solving!
I like the OG Apocalypse World the most, but I do love the Forged in the Dark spinoffs too.
I love Apocalypse World as a game - and as a fantastic framework - but oddly I have never been able to get past the tone it is written in! I really do not like reading it, at all. I can never put my finger on why, because it’s fantastic and the groundwork for all my favourite games!
I’ve heard the same complaints levelled at Wanderhome which is a game I adore, but some people struggle with the tone of the book!
That’s so funny, I’ve heard the same criticism before. I think the guys on System Mastery agreed, but I didn’t find it distracting or a turn-off. On the contrary, I think the writing style helped me pinpoint the tone that the game was going for.
I can see how one could find it off-putting (different strokes and all) but I love reading anything the Bakers put out. I think “fanboy” is the words the kids are using these days?
Ha, weirdly enough I also found Under Hollow Hills to be a bit of a slog although it looks like an awesome game - I don’t really know why I find that with either, I don’t have problems with a lot of TTRPG books. And these are cornerstones of design!
Definitely agree the style of writing in a lot of books helps with the tone, and Apocalypse World is amazing for that - you know exactly what you are aiming for.