FUDGE is a freeform RPG engine. This means that the rules are guidelines, not unbreakable laws. Each GM must do a certain amount of work customizing the rules to her tastes, supplying the body of the gaming vehicle - FUDGE is just the engine. This is unavoidable in a freeform game that is trying to appeal to a wide variety of gamers. Fortunately, this also means that supplements from any game company are compatible with FUDGE!
FUDGE is specifically for people who want a good bedrock to build their own system on. If every commercial RPG details certain things in ways you don't like, then FUDGE may be what you're looking for. If you have created a great game setting (or translated one from fiction), but no other game system's rules seem to do it justice, perhaps FUDGE can help you.
If, on the other hand, you demand fully fleshed-out rules or a world background detailed by a game designer, then you may wish to read no further . . .
In its current edition, FUDGE is intended for experienced Game Masters. That is, at this time there is no introductory What Is Role-Playing section, nor detailed explanations of how to handle any given situation. However, a glossary of FUDGE-specific terms is presented at the beginning of each new major topic. The game can work with novice players, as long as the GM is experienced. Note: the word freeform in this game has nothing to do with the live role-playing style known in Australia as free-form. In FUDGE, the word simply means a flexible, simple, casual set of RPG rules, requiring much to be filled in and improvised by the GM.