The pages of the books are written by hand, and the authors freely take stabs at other popular role-playing games, particularly Vampire: The Masquerade and Dungeons & Dragons, and those who play them.

In the 2011 book Designers & Dragons, Shannon Appelcline commented that the game was "funny and profane – even offensive – and it went against the tropes of many RPGs.

[3] The game was published as a 140-page perfect-bound softcover book, with design by Todd Shaughnessy, Daniel Thron, and Chris Elliot, and cover art by Simon Kono.

[4] HoL is a science fiction game set in the very distant future where mankind has colonized the entire galaxy.

Characters in the game have been either trapped or imprisoned on the planet HoL (The Human Occupied Landfill), which is located outside the galaxy as far away as possible from everyone else.

Over the centuries, mankind has colonized space through the use of the Quazi-Dimensional stardrive, which is powered by energy produced through the mating rituals of Jumpslugs, giant slugs that feed on human corpses and are tended by social rejects in full-body containment suits.

also uses HoL as a dumping ground for trash, so the entire landscape is covered with mountains of rotting debris, from candy bar wrappers and starship hulls to toxic nuclear waste and used medical syringes.

HoL is a breeding ground for cute little bulbous creatures called "Wastems", which characters can capture as pets, eat as tasty pudding snacks, or use for target practice.

who like to spend their free time watching holographic channels dedicated to the viewing of the non-stop slaughter via explosive robotic cameras called Crickets.

The concept of HoL derived from a conversation Thron had with Cape Cod Community College classmate Duane Waters while driving to school in the winter of 1990–1991.

The HoL core rulebook does not provide a system of character generation, instead offering a set of pre-generated characters, including a young boy with an oversized plasma gun whose survival is completely inexplicable, a pedophile priest, a gamer geek, Elvis Presley, and parodies of two Marvel Comics superheroes: the Silver Surfer and the Incredible Hulk.

Die rolls of 2, "Snake Eyes", are always a very, very bad thing (regardless of bonuses), and results in whatever horrors the twisted mind of the HoLmeister decides to inflict upon the character.

Rerolls also add a point to the "Grace of God" Pool (see below) which can save a character in moments of certain, otherwise unavoidable death.

This sets into action a series of seemingly random and freakish events that prove to be the character's salvation from their current predicament.

The example given in the core rulebook depicts a space station's re-entry into HoL's atmosphere being broken by a fruitfly, thus saving the character.

These situations are clearly defined as "worse than any snake-eyes roll" and the section explaining the WoG reminds the players once again that "the HoLmeister is allowed to cheat.

In the November 1994 edition of Pyramid (Issue #10), Derek Pearcy recommended the game, saying, "Enter Hol, you won't be sorry.

"[5] In the May 1995 edition of Dragon (Issue 217), Lester Smith called the game "a shockingly, breath-takingly hilarious read."

Editor Paul Pettengale commented: "People often buy game books purely to read, but with Hol that's pretty much the point, although there is supposed to be a rules system in there.