Best Solo RPGs to Play
And Still Have a Lot of Fun by Yourself
TTRPGs are games that have been around since the 1970s, but most people that are not hobby enthusiasts will only hear about half a dozen of those, max. Those games are still niche, but the indie side of Table Top Role Playing has been growing exponentially in the last two decades. From hacker bears to sentient steampunk cats, you can roleplay with the oddest adventure party ever in a lot of game systems. But what if you find group roleplaying overwhelming or your current lifestyle or schedules don’t allow you to gather friends on gaming-compatible hours? Well, aside from the good old choose your own adventure books, we gathered a selection of the best solo RPGs to make sure you can play even when no one else is around. And you can always print minis to represent your characters and stories, and help set the mood.
Create, Build, Feel, Explore in Space
RPG experiences are about creating and living stories, and in the solo RPGs that can sometimes mean a worldbuilding exercise that is a game in itself. One of those titles is Alone Among The Stars. In this game you explore the universe and create by documenting what you find and how you feel by the human condition in a vast and unfathomable greatness. If you are a fan of Star Trek The New Generation, Firefly, Outer Wilds or No Man’s Sky, this can be your next favorite game. The act of journaling and thinking about how you would deal with ethical dilemmas in a space setting and how loneliness and the idea of the unknown play a part in our worldview is as enchanting as it is eerie.
Fight Hard, Grieve Hard, Quest hard
If you are a medieval fantasy enthusiast and love the somber tones of games like Dark Souls and other soulslike or similar games, Ironsworn might be a good choice. A sword and sorcery TTRPG set in a dark fantasy world, Ironsworn focuses on quests and achievements that make the bulk of the story of epic characters. If you have some experience with the Pendragon RPG, or are a fan of Elric, Conan and stuff that was illustrated by Brom in the 90s, you can get a grasp of the mood. Explore the grim and bloody world, kill beasts, save people, save yourself and try to keep going, with a complex system that lets you do much but without the same burden of math and rules checking as in a D&D or HeroSystem traditional game.
Boast, Lie, Rhyme, Blunder and Die
Have you ever felt like you could live a great life as a scoundrel cheating at poker, seducing people and robbing banks? The idea of living in a western movie with six shooters and being the adorable scumbag that we love to hate, like the main character in Maverick (1994) is very interesting, but scamming people and going at it with the law won’t make for a long life. Gentleman Bandit is a game about dying after a life of crimes and leaving behind poetry in which you probably tell everyone why you have no regrets. It’s a great way to get your poetry muscles in action and experiment.
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