🔭 2024 Games Preview Issue (Part 1)
24 Game Creators Reveal Projects Coming Soon, Deep Dive with David Blandy, and more!
1. 🪙 The Golden Age of TTRPGs
The author of D&D history book Slaying the Dragon, Ben Riggs, declared The Golden Age of TTRPGs is Dead in a post on X. He argued that fallout from the 2023 OGL Crisis ✅ motivated creators to abandon D&D 5th Edition. Without the 5E rule set at the center of the hobby, Ben believes creators will struggle to make money and the RPG community will be fractured.
✅ Lingo Check: The "2023 OGL Crisis" was sparked by Wizards of the Coast's attempt to revise the Open Gaming License (OGL) which governs third-party creation of D&D content. Proposed changes included royalty payments and restrictions, inciting fan and creator backlash and leading to the company’s retreat.I agree with Ben that the shift from 5E is happening, but I prefer a more optimistic view of the outcome. We’re in a diverse, dynamic era for tabletop gaming with more content, more flexible rule systems, and games that welcome more people. This preview issue is just a sample of fresh ideas we’ll be seeing soon. So forget “Golden Ages”; we’re living in a time of wild possibilities and that’s awesome!
2. 🔜 The Preview List (Part 1)
The Soloist asked creators of tabletop games and supporting content to explain what they’re working on in 2024. There were more responses than we can fit in one issue! Here are the first 24, in the order they were received, with a link for more information or to the creator.
For Small Creatures Such As We by Anna Blackwell: A Small Way to a Long Angry Planet-inspired solo RPG that provides 240 pages of content.
ETA: June 2024The Agent (working title) by Nicolas “Gulix” Ronvel: You’re a clandestine agent in a foreign country. Who will you burn? How will they burn you back?
ETA: TBDNone Can Deliver From My Hand by Côme Martin: Play a Messenger of Death who gets more human with every soul it takes. You’ll be cutting-up playing cards and pasting them on your own card, representing how your character changes over time.
Available nowGodspark by M. Allen Hall: A solo adventure game where you play a reborn saint exploring the bodies of dead gods for the energy you need to ascend and leave this fleeting afterlife behind.
Crowdfunding on Kickstarter January 23 to February 6Master of Sword by Jason Morningstar: A game about teaching, learning, and aging through the lens of a combat instructor in the 14th century.
ETA: Spring👀The Soloist note: Jason Morningstar may be best known for Fiasco, but Grey Ranks and Night Witches are not to be missed. They are mini-time travel machines to little moments in history. I can't wait to explore the 14th century with Master of Sword!Ghost + Human by Dan Bronson-Lowe: An all-ages, GM-less RPG for two about a ghost and a human working together to investigate Mad Libs-style mysteries.
ETA: January 30Courier - Repacked by Sleepy Sasquatch Games: Return to the post-apocalyptic wastes as a Courier, ready to deliver no matter the challenge or danger.
ETA: 2024Advanced Rules by Violet Ballard: A compendium of house rules to support solo and wardenless play for Mothership.
Cowdfunding on BackerKit January 16 - February 13Wyze and Snarl: Sands of the Aamsk by Howler: A solo RPG experiment and love letter to emergent storytelling.
ETA: TBDNight Terror by Croaker RPGs: A daydream sketch book solo dungeon crawl compatible with Mork Borg.
ETA: February for ZiMo ‘24A Tribute to Oda (working title) by dan qui dam: Illustrations and oracle to use in your games, somewhat based on the work of Eiichiro Oda (king of the pirat’s king manga).
ETA: 2024Alone at the Table Season 2 by Audrey Stolze: Audrey plays solo RPGs and brings listeners along for the experience in a podcast that’s half actual play, half analysis.
Thursdays weekly starting January 11Crawling Out of the Abyss by Randy Vernon: A reverse dungeon crawl with player-facing mechanics (solo journaling or group play without a GM) where the player’s characters start with no knowledge of who they are or how they got sent to the Abyss. They slowly build their past, present, and future stories through their interactions while trying to escape.
ETA: Digital Open Beta in 2024Celestial Bodies by Binary Star and Charlotte Laskowski: A tactical mecha game about humanity’s survival on the edges of space.
ETA: Terrestrial edition available now, final edition in late 2024Kaiju Don't Care About You physical release by Cicada Human: A solo inspired Dread game influenced by Japanese kaiju movies.
ETA: Q3 2024
Field Agent Handbooks: Observancy Department 1924–28 by Luke Earl: Sharpen your ESP skills and seek out suspicious activity as a pendulum-dowsing Field Agent with these four handbooks when out-and-about.
ETA: February 6God’s Gonna Cut You Down by Keith Stetson: A melancholic Western roleplaying game for one inspired by the traditional folk song.
ETA: Q1 2024Liaison by Merrilee Bufkin: A tumbling tower game where you play as two ladies in love trying to escape their marriages and run away together.
ETA: January 19
Peacemakers: Horrors of War by Sami Laakso: Stop wars between animalfolk nations in this cooperative board game for 1 to 4 players.
ETA: SummerChicago's Kitchen by Jérôme Mioso: A single-player RPG that lets you experience the rise and fall of a small restaurant in the city of Chicago.
ETA: FebruaryThe Perilous Void by Jason Lutes: System-neutral tools for generating a sci-fi galaxy from interstellar civilizations to microbial lifeforms and everything in between; The Perilous Wilds in space.
ETA: Q2 2024👀 The Soloist note: Jason Lutes is one of my favorite designers, illustrators, and humans. His The Perilous Wilds is a great book for solo and GM-led fantasy worldbuilding. Now he's heading to space and I couldn't be more excited!Tel Ulysse (Like Ulysses) by Jean Marc 'Tolkraft' Choserot: Tel Ulysse is both a single-player and multi-player role-playing game, with board game mechanics and the possibility of playing remotely.
ETA: FebruaryForever Land TTRPG Campaign Setting by DeaconsTable: Play solo, collaborative, or with a GM.
ETA: TBD currently in Open BetaEx Novo 1.0 by Konstantinos Dimopoulos: The updated and hopefully definitive version of city-building game Ex Novo.
ETA: TBD
We’ll include Part 2 in the next issue and I’ll be going into more detail on many of these later this year. Kickstarter’s ZineQuest is next month, and that means we’ll be getting even more new game announcements shortly.
3. Deep Dive on 2024 with David Blandy
I’ve been speaking with some favorite game creators about what they’re working on in 2024 and will be featuring these interviews over the next few months. The first is with David Blandy.
David Blandy is an artist who makes games. You may be familiar with Lost Eons, his solarpunk tabletop RPG. David's Eco Mofos, coming this year, is set two centuries after society’s collapse, where you and other punks try to survive and create a better future. More in The Soloist's May 1 Sci-Fi issue.Next year for me is all about releasing the finished version of Eco Mofos into the world, packed with Daniel Locke‘s art, and getting the extra adventures formatted, looking lovely, and out to people.
Copy/Paste Press with Daniel Locke has become an actual thing, and alongside Eco Mofos we’ve been making a couple of things for the Outer Rim: Uprising setting for Mothership. (The Soloist note: Outer Rim Uprising is a mega bundle published by IKO, head of The Lost Bay Studio.)
It’s been so good getting to know all the other designers involved in that, and inspiring both to see how IKO works, but also hear his thoughts about gaming.
The thing that’s occupying my mind right now is a full setting for Eco Mofos, a semi-hat tip to Keep on the Borderlands called Commune on the Wildlands.
And there’s a bunch of little solo games that I’ve got half formed that would be nice to get out into the world.
Cairn 2e is going to be a big highlight of next year I think, and whatever Zedeck Siew, Luke Gearing and Chris Bissette come up with. (The Soloist note: the Kickstarter for Cairn 2e by Yochai Gal is expected in March).
And then there’s the TTRPG symposium that I’m helping organise in London — 9th March at Arebyte Gallery. That’s going to be great!
4. Last Roll
Game Jams to Start the Year
The Grande TROIKA! Spherical Faire & Exhibition: Unleash your wildest art and inventions for the weird and wonderful TROIKA! tabletop RPG.
Gaming Like It’s 1928: Create a game based on content entering into the public domain this year. For tabletop games, the organizers encourage designs that are quickly playable.
ttRPG JAMuary: General jam for RPG content: adventure, resource, mechanic, toolbox, or whatever you want.
24-Word RPG Jam: Experiment with rules-lite mechanics.
Zine Jam: The Zines and Zinesters Discord is hosting a jam to encourage the creation of self-published booklets of all sorts. The theme is “growth”.
New Solo Tabletop RPG Releases
Against the Wind by Cezar Capacle is a solo/coop fantasy-adventure sandbox game in a land ravaged by fierce winds and biting cold, all infused with a subtle pinch of fairy tale ambiance. In this world, players step into the roles of magical nomad heroes, confronting a relentless climate, traversing diverse landscapes, and following their own unique paths.
The Sneeze by Paul Czege will help you discover what characters you know from your previous journaling games are saying about you to someone you don’t know.
Bundles and Sales
Lost Eons Bundle: A huge bundle from David Blandy (featured above), including mapmaking game Gathering Storm and solo games Babel and Lone Eons.
Call of Cthulu Bundle: Humble Bundle is hosting a Call of Cthulhu bundle with over 25 books including solo adventures. Supporting the World Wildlife Fund.
Sleepy Sasquatch Relief Fund: The creator of one of my favorite solo RPGs, Glide, has lost his day job and is offering 35% off his games.
Open Hearth Games of the Year
Open Hearth (previously The Gauntlet) annually releases a special podcast where community members share their top tabletop RPGs of the year. These picks aren’t limited to new releases, but include any game played, read, or watched that made a lasting impression. This episode features 32 members discussing several dozen games.
🚨 Attention Creators: If you are working on a solo or cooperative tabletop game coming or adjacent content (art, tools, APs, etc) in 2024 and would like to be included in Part 2 of The Preview List, please fill out the short Google Forms survey here. Thanks!
Patrick, you are a precious resource. Maybe the "golden era" is over - if golden era is defined as the hobby being monopolized and defined by one game system and one company. (I don't actually think it is; WotC rebounded quite nicely after the "crisis.")
But, the next tier publishers seem to be doing pretty well consistently putting out and selling quality products: Monte Cook, Pinnacle, Top Hat, and others. I think we will see another positive shift as MCDM and Critical Role's systems filter into the market.
But, as your Substack always makes clear, creatively, the TTRPG world is thriving. For one, I am eternally grateful to all of those indie creators who are focused on expanding the possibilities of our hobby.
Very interested in the ttrpg inspired by Becky Chambers books!