🚀 Launching The Soloist

5 GM-less games crowdfunding today

Hi, I’m Patrick. Welcome to The Soloist, a newsletter for players, creators and curious explorers of single-player and cooperative tabletop games. My goal with the newsletter is to:

• promote GM-less games and gaming,

• provide resources, advice, and news to players, and

• inspire and inform designers.

This is one of the most creative, fastest growing, and most accessible segments of tabletop gaming. I’d like to help tell the stories of the people and games in it. This first issue starts with five new solo and co-op games launching crowdfunding campaigns today.

🎨 Before we jump in, I want to thank Torben for the newsletter’s logo and illustrations. You may know him for his work on Bucket of Bolts and the recently released Notorious (both games which I highly recommend). I can’t wait to work with Torben again. Check out his full portfolio.

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5 GM-less games crowdfunding Feb 1

It’s February which means it’s Zine Month! Dozens of game designers are crowdfunding new projects through Kickstarter, Crowfundr, and Itch.io. The ZIMO community showcase currently has 65 Zine Month projects. I’m tracking more than a dozen solo and co-op games seeking support in February. Here are five campaigns launching today.

🧙 Tangled Blessings - rivalry at the magic academy

You’ve been accepted to a wizarding college for adults, but what horror, drama, and rivalry awaits? Craft a story of your four years at Brackroot Academy complete with wandering specters, assigned houses, curses, and more. 

• Solo and 2-player options

• Created by Cassi Mothwin

• Crowdfundr Feb 1 🔗 link

🔫 Derelict Delvers - scavenge and fight to save humanity 

Monstrous aliens threaten humanity. As a solo scavenger or elite team, plunder space hulks for supplies and hunt an array of alien creatures. Create a one-of-a kind specialist with unique powers and motivations. 

• Solo or GM-less group play

• Designed by Cezar Capacle

• Crowdfundr Feb 1 🔗 link

🗺️ Four Kingdoms - create cultures, make maps

Create the story of four distinct societies and the people who live there over four eras of time. Build kingdoms, uncover mysteries, and overcome crises. At the end you will have an enchanted map of imaginary lands full of extraordinary history.

• Play as a stand-alone game or to create a setting for other RPGs

• Created by Tanuki Games

• Kickstarter Feb 1 🔗 link

📻 Dead Air - run a post-apoc radio station

As one of the survivors of a nuclear exchange, you’ve been issued a remit to broadcast radio programs to nearby settlements. You’ll need to maintain your equipment and develop content to air. You “win” by fulfilling your remit and surviving just a little bit longer.

• Prompts to write and produce your broadcast content

• Graphic design inspired by Cold War government propaganda

• Created by Fiona Ruthven

• Kickstarter Feb 1  🔗 link

💃🏿 Strictly Between Us - a blues dance LARP

Explore a changing relationship through in-person partner dancing. Players develop characters and narrative with their partners, then put their sentiments in motion for a live audience. 

• Emotional and physical safety tools; curated music list

• Created by Eli Seitz and Kristen Dabney

• Kickstarter Feb 1 🔗 link

There are several more campaigns launching later this month. I’ll bring those to you in the next issue. See one that I missed? Drop me a note at patrick.buechner@gmail.com

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Solo bundle supports suicide prevention

For a third year, solo game creators have come together to support Jasper's Game Day and their mission to prevent suicides by funding education, outreach, and support. 

Organizer and game designer Cat McDonald said that the first bundle raised over $31,000 and the second over $29,000. “Of course our goal this year is to beat those records,” she said.

None of the games in this bundle were included in the earlier ones.

• “This year it's an all-new lineup,” she added.

She said she discovered solo games at the start of the pandemic and are a major source of comfort for her.

• “You can play them without having to make plans or reach out. Hence the title - even when you play by yourself, you're not alone.”

A few of the games you’ll find in the bundle:

• DELVE by Anna Blackwell - A map drawing game where you create, control and defend a dwarven fortress. One of my favorite city building games.

• Bloodess by Ennio - Play as a vampire trying to make it to their haven before the sun rises.

• So Long, Mom! By Robin Small - Play a fighter pilot who sets out to drop a nuclear bomb on a country.

Check out the whole bundle hosted on itch.io.

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⚒️Tools: Hex Kit

I recently ran across this map posted on the Ironsworn Discord by Briana (aka Big Bad Banana), and immediately added it to my “RPG inspirations” folder. There is something about a hex map that draws you into a world of possible adventures. I asked Briana about her it and she introduced me to a couple great resources.

• Joseph Manola’s Against The Wicked City blog inspired the map. Over a series of posts he condenses several Pathfinder Adventure Paths into one massive hexcrawl.

Lingo check: Hexcrawl is a type of adventure where players navigate an outdoor map made of hexagons for different regions

• “It's a great philosophy for adventure writing, especially for solo play,” Briana said. “Taking all of the linear connections out leaves you with a bunch of interesting encounters and nothing but time and geography to contain them.”

To bring her map to life, Briana used Hex Kit, a simple to use, art-forward desktop program for creating hex maps developed by Cone of Negative Energy. It comes with a base set of hex tiles, but artists have published additional asset packs for the tool. Briana used the Pixel Hex Tileset created by Zeshio to build hers.

• “It's versatile enough that I've used it for Index Card RPG games as well as Ironsworn/Starforged solo or in small groups,” she said.

Hex Kit is very easy to use and produces great-looking results in no time. I’ve used it for creating sector maps for sci-fi games that I’ve GMed, but now I’m thinking about using it to slowly map out my next solo game.

• Have favorite tools to recommend or want to share a solo journal or map? Drop me a note at patrick.buechner@gmail.com