🚨 8 new solo & co-op RPGs, 500 games for $5, and the Inquiracle
Welcome to The Soloist, a newsletter for players, creators, and curious explorers of solo and GM-less tabletop RPGs. You can read previous issues here. “Getting Started with Solo RPGs” is perfect for new folks. Subscribe for free to get new issues in your inbox every two weeks.
1. New solo RPG releases
👁️ Chiron's Doom is a solo/co-op RPG about an ill-fated expedition to a mysterious monument. Inspired by stories like Alastair Reynolds’ Diamond Dogs and movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Annihilation, Chiron’s Doom challenges players to uncover the secrets of a structure that has baffled countless explorers. The game’s 2nd edition includes comprehensive rules, optional multiplayer guidelines, and 4 beautifully illustrated monument playsets.
🏴☠️ Captain & Crew is a name-your-own-price solo rule set for Pirate Borg. It has everything you need explained clearly: a simple gameplay loop, rules for abbreviated combat and acquiring crewmates, the “Pirate’s Code” oracle, and a dice-drop adventure generator.
🕵️ Death in Berlin is a solo RPG where you unravel conspiracies for your intelligence service during the Cold War.
🤖 Overpowered V3, a solo framework for speedrunning tabletop RPGs, is available now in Early Access. It’s NOT a GM-emulator. Think of it as a stand-alone video game that uses RPG adventures like levels. The goal is to complete the adventure with the highest score. Sound strange and interesting? Check out the free demo.
2. Crowdfunding games
⚔️ Ashes is a Souls-like solo RPG from Crossed Paths Press, launching its crowdfunding campaign on June 4. In it you play one of four Scions, each with their own abilities, exploring the final resting place of the gods. Ashes uses a standard deck of cards to determine dungeon layout, enemies, and more, while using dice for combat and checks. This one is going to be big and I’ll be covering it more once the campaign launches.
🛡️ Troves, a lighthearted and beginner-friendly solo/co-op adventure RPG, is coming to Kickstarter on May 31. The core loop involves choosing a Delve to explore, facing a Finale, and Returning to upgrade skills and equipment. It’s from Sleepy Sasquach Games, creator of Glide and other enjoyable solo games.
☢️ Detritus is a solo journaling adventure game where you travel a wasteland to find a better life a decade after “the bomb” fell. You journey through ten detailed scenes and dilemmas for you to react to. Your responses determine how events unfold and what items you discover along the way. The Kickstarter campaign is closing very soon.
👩🚀 The Edge of Survival is a solo journaling RPG about a spacewalk gone wrong. As an untethered astronaut and depleting oxygen, your only hope is that your crewmates can rescue you during the space station’s orbits. Using a 100-sided die, you’ll balance dwindling vitals with desperate actions.
3. Fresh solo resources
Draw your own RPGs: JP Coovert has such an encouraging and friendly tone to all of his how-to videos. Illustration is a great way to imbelish your solo journals and his approach to maps, buildings, and characters is newbie-friendly. This video caught my eye because it reminded me of Traveller starship deck plans. In it, though, JP announces that he’s teaming up with another friendly and encouraging illustrator and game maker Kyle Latino (of Map Crow) to work on Star Borg, a Star Wars inspired hack of Mork Borg!
Build your own RPG: If you’ve considered creating your own story-focused solo/co-op RPG, check-out Penflower Ink’s Passkey System. Released under a Creative Commons license, Passkey provides a core mechanic where players choose between spending points for guaranteed success or rolling dice for uncertain outcomes. It’s compact and customizable.
I added to The Soloist’s recommended list. It’s relatively new, but there has been something great in each issue.
4. 🔮 The Inquiracle
The Inquiracle is The Soloist’s self-interview microgame where creators roll a 20-sided die to determine a “theme” and a “subject” to make a question they answer.
M. Allen Hall
🎲 Designer of all-ages RPG Sprinkles is Missing and solo adventure Godspark
Theme: (3) disappointing | Subject: (18) idea
Q: What is the TTRPG game design idea that turned out to be the most disappointing?
A: “When I was first designing my solo adventure game Godspark, I adapted the Carta system of building a map with playing cards so that each god you explored had a unique arrangement of cards to make the maps feel fresh and interesting each time. After a couple of tests, it turned out that the maps took up too much space on a table, were tedious to construct, and contributed almost nothing to the play experience. I adapted, and the game is certainly better for it, but I miss those maps.”
Matt Gomez
🎲 Designer of Detritus and Escape the Iron Dungeon
Theme: (1) unexpected | Subject: (2) character
Q: What unexpected realization have you had about a character you've written?
The villain of my solo journaling game, Detritus, developed in ways I didn't anticipate. I knew I wanted a strong antagonist to increase tension and push the player toward more interesting discoveries in their journaling, but the villain ended up revealing a complex set of motivations that took me by surprise. It was a great reminder that no one is one-dimensional; even the most twisted villain has some relatable aspect to their personality or experience.
5. Last Roll
⚧️ Over 500 tabletop RPGs for $5 to support trans rights
For the third year running, TTRPGs for Trans Rights is back—this time, benefitting LGBTQ+ folks in West Virginia and Appalachia. All proceeds from the bundle will be donated to Project Rainbow — West Virginia’s only LGBTQ+ shelter and advocacy center that helps queer and trans people throughout Appalachia.
👀 I’m watching: Delicious in Dungeon
Delicious in Dungeon, a new anime on Netflix, is comfort food for dungeon delvers. The characters and situations come right out of your favorite tabletop RPG. A party of adventures must rescue their friend who has been eaten by a Red Dragon. Out of money, they forgo buying rations and decide to eat what they kill as they descend deeper. The characters are funny, tropey, and charming:
Marcille is an elf magic-user appaled by the idea of eating monsters,
Laios Laios is a young knight obsessed with dungeon cuisine,
Senshi is a warrior and chef, and
Chilchuck is a halfling thief with a chip on his shoulder.
DinD’s worldbuilding is wonderful. The mega-dungeon supports a busy adventuring economy and logical monster ecosystem. But it’s the detailed recepies, like the first episode’s Huge Scorpion and Walking Mushroom Hotpot, that will leave you hungry for more!
Also, check out the manga series the anime is based on.
This is such a great pool of news, thank you for the hard work it takes to put this together. I would love to connect with the many creators mentioned, is there any way to aggregate their socials to a section at the end?
Based on your recommendation, tried Delicious in Dungeon. Against all expectations...wonderful! Somehow the combination of Oshinbo, Pokemon, and D&D worked!