Though I started GMing the wild post-apocalypse Gamma World RPG with the original edition, we quickly moved on to the 2nd edition box set. While the 1st edition is super compelling, I found second edition to be a more polished rules set, and easier to run at the table. (And that each of the classic GW beasties got a Larry Elmore sketch was very cool, but we’ll get to that later…)
Though probably like many gamers at the time, we used both sets side-by-side. 1e and 2e are broadly compatible and useful together.
See my posts on other GW editions:
GAMMA WORLD 1st ed (1978-82): The Original Post-Apoc RPG
GAMMA WORLD 3rd edition (1986-87): ACT Table Rules, Mutated Plants and Tech V devices
Got a pretty nice set in the shop, so it was time to start snapping photos!

Gamma World 2nd edition [BOX SET]
1983 … James M. Ward & David James Ritchie & Gary Jaquet … TSR 7010 … ISBN 0394531582
Ebay | DriveThruRPG (PDF)
Gamma World, all editions through 2000 detailed at my RPG reference site
Gamma World 2e, a very thorough review by Daniel Stack at Rolling Boxcars blog
Dyson rolls up a Mutant Trilobite in GW 2e

The Rulebook





The first 40 pages of the 64-page rulebook have almost no art. That suddenly changes in the Encounter section.






Adventure Booklet





The Map

The big campaign map is great. One side is entirely the ruins of Pitz Burke. On the reverse side is the Allegheny region around Pitz Burke, and when the party has exhausted all the adventure in the area, the whole former USA beckons.





See also: