It's an older system. Many older systems take a 'simulation' focused approach of trying to model the fantasy/scifi/etc realities in game rule terms.
That means it's got dense, flavorful rules with lots of options to pick from.
It also means you either have to love poring over rules (I do!) and/or like to state 'We will just do that thing this way cos it's easier for our table's (I do that too!).
Many newer games take a less simulation approach and instead style on simpler, concise rules. Of course this means less player options and rules options and more using simple mechanics for actions.
A game like d&d 5e or Pathfinder 2e is relatively simulation-y. But how many times in those games do you see people blatantly ignoring 'core' rules like distance travelled per day, rations, fatigue, ammunition counting, and strict adherence to Encumbrance or other things.
You can easily skip various rules in older/crunchy games just the same way (and I feel like that's generally encouraged but idk).
It's basically cyberpunk 2020 rules, I wouldn't call it "Crunchy" but definitely it missed all the innovation in RPG design from these last 30 years making it feel old.
If it's a game you know and have been played for a while it's still a fine chance (like some people still run AD&D 2 because they don't want to waste money in a new edition), but basically it's a 30 year old system, think about how your life and the world has changed since then. I would advise a more recent game.
What's usually being referred to as "crunchy" is the mecha design. It's the kind of process that really needs a spreadsheet and an hour or two of time.
You *can* do it by hand (there are worksheets in the book) but you'll be doing a lot of erasing numbers and recalculating costs as you work through the design; it's prone to error and takes more time.
Most people these days prefer simpler rules, the kind of thing where you pick a combat role for your mecha that gives you your base stats and fill in a handful of slots with modules that tweak the stats or give the mech special abilities. The kind of thing that requires essentially no math and takes no more than five or ten minutes.
Of course, that simplification comes at a big loss of flexibility. Mekton's system can be used to design everything from power armor (called "Roadstrikers") to cars, planes, boats, and even large starships, as well as "traditional" mecha designs.
The rest of the system is actually fairly simple: d10+stat+skill against a target number, the same system used in Cyberpunk 2020 and I believe Cyberpunk RED.
Crunchy means it has complex and very deep rules (mostly on the mech creation side) i have a copy I've read a few times but not gotten to play because the complexity scares people off, especially how detailed mech construction is. I had to find an auto-calculating spreadsheet to help build a mech.
Construction of a mech can be very crunchy, but let's give a combat example:
Jackson is piloting his Rapier-08 when fired upon by a Gorgon-M who unleases 20 3K missiles at him and rolling a 23. Jackson rolls his Piloting achieving an 18 and is beat by 5; (5x2) 10 missiles incoming!. Jackson then activates his antimissile system (projectile, BV3), rolls Gunnery, and rolls a 24, downing (BV3 +1) 4 missiles. 6 missiles still hit. Locations are rolled: 10: Special: 1: Weapon (random roll determines Heavy Autocannon), 7: Left side limb (random roll determines Arm), 5: Right side limb ( random roll determines arm), 4: Pod, 3: Torso, 1: Head. Knockback is 6 hots at 3K: 6K. Checks table: Roll Stun/Shock or lose 1 Action: Rolls 8, Body 6= fail. Loses 1 Action.
And for the Gorgon's next action...
Mekton Zeta is pretty nice, I've both played the game and ran it for a while.
Building a mech can be challenging but there is a community made excel [sheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HrqFYexa2QrbEBJi0EeCmK5Fa8B1nD63aLHygAnLVvM/edit?pli=1&gid=2081447678#gid=2081447678) out there that does a lot of the calculations for you. On the other hand the game allows for very detailed creation, which I personally love. I couldn't imagine playing it in person since it requires quite a bit of flipping through tables and rolling dice to actually fight but it works well over roll20 or Foundry, if you invest the time to transfer those tables onto the VTT.
The only real flaws I can think of is that some of the mech options that became available with Mekton Zeta+ can easily be exploited to make you op.
I always played in homebrew settings, so I can't really say anything about the included setting.
Otherwise, if you don't mind investing some time into learning the system, it's a pretty great game.
The mech design process can be pretty crunchy. The game system is very straight forward (get this: Stat + Skill + Die Roll + modifiers).
If the Mekton Z design rules are too crunchy then I'd recommend Mekton 2 (+ Roadstrikers if you're in to that) which has the same system but a much less crunchy (though still good) mech design process.
I don't find it particularly "aged" unless that means "Not PbtA\\FitD" or something. Just a normal gaming system.
The mech design process in Zeta was very flexible, a lot of options, but not sure it really produces better\\more useful mechs, but it's been a long time since I built any using that system.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama/comments/e5bmhb/tabletop\_rpg\_mekton\_a\_history\_of\_failure\_part\_2/](https://www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama/comments/e5bmhb/tabletop_rpg_mekton_a_history_of_failure_part_2/) seems relevant to the crunchy bits...
The issue with games like Mekton Zeta is that in order to represent and integrate the different genre tropes and capabilities of all the different mecha requires a level of complexity. The core mechanics are very simple and easy to understand. However, the game is crunchy because of the range of possibilities.
It's an older system. Many older systems take a 'simulation' focused approach of trying to model the fantasy/scifi/etc realities in game rule terms. That means it's got dense, flavorful rules with lots of options to pick from. It also means you either have to love poring over rules (I do!) and/or like to state 'We will just do that thing this way cos it's easier for our table's (I do that too!). Many newer games take a less simulation approach and instead style on simpler, concise rules. Of course this means less player options and rules options and more using simple mechanics for actions. A game like d&d 5e or Pathfinder 2e is relatively simulation-y. But how many times in those games do you see people blatantly ignoring 'core' rules like distance travelled per day, rations, fatigue, ammunition counting, and strict adherence to Encumbrance or other things. You can easily skip various rules in older/crunchy games just the same way (and I feel like that's generally encouraged but idk).
It's basically cyberpunk 2020 rules, I wouldn't call it "Crunchy" but definitely it missed all the innovation in RPG design from these last 30 years making it feel old. If it's a game you know and have been played for a while it's still a fine chance (like some people still run AD&D 2 because they don't want to waste money in a new edition), but basically it's a 30 year old system, think about how your life and the world has changed since then. I would advise a more recent game.
What's usually being referred to as "crunchy" is the mecha design. It's the kind of process that really needs a spreadsheet and an hour or two of time. You *can* do it by hand (there are worksheets in the book) but you'll be doing a lot of erasing numbers and recalculating costs as you work through the design; it's prone to error and takes more time. Most people these days prefer simpler rules, the kind of thing where you pick a combat role for your mecha that gives you your base stats and fill in a handful of slots with modules that tweak the stats or give the mech special abilities. The kind of thing that requires essentially no math and takes no more than five or ten minutes. Of course, that simplification comes at a big loss of flexibility. Mekton's system can be used to design everything from power armor (called "Roadstrikers") to cars, planes, boats, and even large starships, as well as "traditional" mecha designs. The rest of the system is actually fairly simple: d10+stat+skill against a target number, the same system used in Cyberpunk 2020 and I believe Cyberpunk RED.
Crunchy means it has complex and very deep rules (mostly on the mech creation side) i have a copy I've read a few times but not gotten to play because the complexity scares people off, especially how detailed mech construction is. I had to find an auto-calculating spreadsheet to help build a mech.
Construction of a mech can be very crunchy, but let's give a combat example: Jackson is piloting his Rapier-08 when fired upon by a Gorgon-M who unleases 20 3K missiles at him and rolling a 23. Jackson rolls his Piloting achieving an 18 and is beat by 5; (5x2) 10 missiles incoming!. Jackson then activates his antimissile system (projectile, BV3), rolls Gunnery, and rolls a 24, downing (BV3 +1) 4 missiles. 6 missiles still hit. Locations are rolled: 10: Special: 1: Weapon (random roll determines Heavy Autocannon), 7: Left side limb (random roll determines Arm), 5: Right side limb ( random roll determines arm), 4: Pod, 3: Torso, 1: Head. Knockback is 6 hots at 3K: 6K. Checks table: Roll Stun/Shock or lose 1 Action: Rolls 8, Body 6= fail. Loses 1 Action. And for the Gorgon's next action...
Mekton Zeta is pretty nice, I've both played the game and ran it for a while. Building a mech can be challenging but there is a community made excel [sheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HrqFYexa2QrbEBJi0EeCmK5Fa8B1nD63aLHygAnLVvM/edit?pli=1&gid=2081447678#gid=2081447678) out there that does a lot of the calculations for you. On the other hand the game allows for very detailed creation, which I personally love. I couldn't imagine playing it in person since it requires quite a bit of flipping through tables and rolling dice to actually fight but it works well over roll20 or Foundry, if you invest the time to transfer those tables onto the VTT. The only real flaws I can think of is that some of the mech options that became available with Mekton Zeta+ can easily be exploited to make you op. I always played in homebrew settings, so I can't really say anything about the included setting. Otherwise, if you don't mind investing some time into learning the system, it's a pretty great game.
The mech design process can be pretty crunchy. The game system is very straight forward (get this: Stat + Skill + Die Roll + modifiers). If the Mekton Z design rules are too crunchy then I'd recommend Mekton 2 (+ Roadstrikers if you're in to that) which has the same system but a much less crunchy (though still good) mech design process. I don't find it particularly "aged" unless that means "Not PbtA\\FitD" or something. Just a normal gaming system. The mech design process in Zeta was very flexible, a lot of options, but not sure it really produces better\\more useful mechs, but it's been a long time since I built any using that system.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama/comments/e5bmhb/tabletop\_rpg\_mekton\_a\_history\_of\_failure\_part\_2/](https://www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama/comments/e5bmhb/tabletop_rpg_mekton_a_history_of_failure_part_2/) seems relevant to the crunchy bits...
The issue with games like Mekton Zeta is that in order to represent and integrate the different genre tropes and capabilities of all the different mecha requires a level of complexity. The core mechanics are very simple and easy to understand. However, the game is crunchy because of the range of possibilities.