Rules-Light Gems: Complete Games in Under 50 Pages
Lasers & Feelings (one page, free). Honey Heist (one page, you are a bear). Mausritter (20 pages, you are a mouse with a sword).
Mausritter is the best introduction to OSR play for new players. You play as mice with tiny swords, and the entire game (rules, setting, adventure) fits in a 20-page zine. Inventory is physical — you place item cards on your character sheet, and encumbrance is literally "does this card fit in this slot?" It is a masterclass in rules communicating theme through mechanics.
Troika! is science-fantasy through a psychedelic lens. Character creation involves rolling on tables that might make you a "Fellow of the Sublime Society of Beefsteaks" or a "Lonesome Monarch of a Dead Kingdom." The initiative system (tokens in a bag) creates chaotic combat where turn order is never predictable. Troika is not balanced. It is not fair. It is unforgettable.
Licensed Games That Actually Work
The One Ring (Tolkien done right). Alien RPG (stress mechanics that make sense). Marvel Multiverse (d616 system, better than it should be).
Most licensed RPGs are cash grabs. These are the exceptions. The One Ring 2nd Edition captures the tone of Tolkien better than any previous Middle-earth game — combat is deadly, travel matters, and the Shadow mechanic (corruption from encountering evil) makes moral choices mechanically meaningful. Alien RPG's stress system (you roll more dice when stressed, increasing both success chance and panic chance) is the best integration of theme and mechanic in licensed gaming.
The community's test for whether a licensed RPG is good: would anyone play this game if it did not have the license attached? The One Ring and Alien RPG pass this test. The Dragon Prince RPG and the Dark Souls RPG do not.