Indy Tabletop RPGs: Extremely Niche End-of-Year Lists
December 22, 2021 7:43 AM Subscribe
Table top roleplaying games are more popular than ever. A lot of interesting work is being done outside the confines of D&D. Polygon and Dicebreaker list their choices for the best games or supplements to have come out this year.
Own Wanderhome, but haven’t played yet. Such a pretty game, and so inventive.
posted by triage_lazarus at 8:31 AM on December 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by triage_lazarus at 8:31 AM on December 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
I just got my Raccoon Sky Pirates bundle from the Kickstarter, and I'm looking forward to The After Times when our group can finally get together again for some sessions. I've heard about Wanderhome and it looks 100% in my wheelhouse, but I've already got such a backlog of games I've picked up during the pandemic, most of which are still in shrink wrap, that I just cannot wait to get on the table. One day, hopefully soon.
posted by xedrik at 8:45 AM on December 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by xedrik at 8:45 AM on December 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
From these lists I've backed Bucket of Bolts and Hard Wired Island. There's just so much good stuff out there now, I can't back it all. On latest count I've backed 44 RPG projects on Kickstarter, and I guess I've played about 3 of them...
posted by Harald74 at 9:13 AM on December 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Harald74 at 9:13 AM on December 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
@Harald74 buying tabletop RPG's and playing them are two totally different hobbies :)
posted by Captain_Science at 9:18 AM on December 22, 2021 [13 favorites]
posted by Captain_Science at 9:18 AM on December 22, 2021 [13 favorites]
One of these TTRPG hobbyist sites ought to have a tournament for the person with the highest ratio of "games acquired" to "games actually played". I think I'd have a shot at going all the way.
posted by Ipsifendus at 9:30 AM on December 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Ipsifendus at 9:30 AM on December 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
We have been playing Good Society over Zoom as a fortnightly recovery from *gestures*.
Our first game was a light romcom which was set in Bath and stuck closely to Jane Austen, though with slightly more bears.
Our current game has shifted to more gothic setting with strange happenings in the abandoned mines near the clifftop castle, meanwhile romantic intrigue seems afoot with "accidental" meetings in the library, the Earl is obsessed with restoring the family reputation after that unfortunate business with the orphans, and the chef has taken to accidentally poisoning the more dissolute members of the family. Now, read on...
posted by fallingbadgers at 9:31 AM on December 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
Our first game was a light romcom which was set in Bath and stuck closely to Jane Austen, though with slightly more bears.
Our current game has shifted to more gothic setting with strange happenings in the abandoned mines near the clifftop castle, meanwhile romantic intrigue seems afoot with "accidental" meetings in the library, the Earl is obsessed with restoring the family reputation after that unfortunate business with the orphans, and the chef has taken to accidentally poisoning the more dissolute members of the family. Now, read on...
posted by fallingbadgers at 9:31 AM on December 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
Yay World Wide Wrestling! This game actually made me a fan of its subject matter.
posted by Sauce Trough at 11:00 AM on December 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Sauce Trough at 11:00 AM on December 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
One of these TTRPG hobbyist sites ought to have a tournament for the person with the highest ratio of "games acquired" to "games actually played". I think I'd have a shot at going all the way.
I don't think this acquisition is necessarily a useless thing. The real rules and structure of any RPG are always what you establish at the table, with the published rules contributing to this in varying degrees (with the relevance of the rules frequently inversely proportionate to their complexity, as Robin Laws always says). Every idea about or relevant to RPGs that you've ever had or been exposed to is part of the blend that determines what you actually end up playing, and those influences nearly always end up improving your skills, judgement and play experience. As a GM, I will frequently take a concept, character, place, mood or mechanic from a game I've only read and modify it to work in another system, mainly because it's a lot easier/less scary for most players to deal with that than learning another whole set of mechanics, but also because that sort of stretchy reciprocity between system and imagination is at the heart of what makes RPGs interesting and fun.
I hope this pep talk will be useful to you in preparing your run for the game acquisition syndrome championship. I'm sure your credit provider will thank me, at least.
posted by howfar at 11:12 AM on December 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
I don't think this acquisition is necessarily a useless thing. The real rules and structure of any RPG are always what you establish at the table, with the published rules contributing to this in varying degrees (with the relevance of the rules frequently inversely proportionate to their complexity, as Robin Laws always says). Every idea about or relevant to RPGs that you've ever had or been exposed to is part of the blend that determines what you actually end up playing, and those influences nearly always end up improving your skills, judgement and play experience. As a GM, I will frequently take a concept, character, place, mood or mechanic from a game I've only read and modify it to work in another system, mainly because it's a lot easier/less scary for most players to deal with that than learning another whole set of mechanics, but also because that sort of stretchy reciprocity between system and imagination is at the heart of what makes RPGs interesting and fun.
I hope this pep talk will be useful to you in preparing your run for the game acquisition syndrome championship. I'm sure your credit provider will thank me, at least.
posted by howfar at 11:12 AM on December 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
There's a number of indie RPGs that work well as 'minigames' in campaigns. Microscope is awesome for collectively setting down some world history, and I once used Penny for My Thoughts in a longer running campaign as a way to progressively add more backstory to the c=player characters.
And then there's the whole 'how to GM' section in Apocalypse World, which I think doesn't get nearly the appreciation that the rest of the system receives, but is full of great ideas for running a campaign in a more collaborative fashion, which requires a bit less raw pre-game work from the GM while also making it easier to give the players what they're interested in.
posted by kaibutsu at 11:57 AM on December 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
And then there's the whole 'how to GM' section in Apocalypse World, which I think doesn't get nearly the appreciation that the rest of the system receives, but is full of great ideas for running a campaign in a more collaborative fashion, which requires a bit less raw pre-game work from the GM while also making it easier to give the players what they're interested in.
posted by kaibutsu at 11:57 AM on December 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
We've been kind of slowly working our way through the Grant Howitt oeuvre when we need to do oneshots from our regular totally basic D&D game. We had a lot of fun with The Witch is Dead last summer----a Disney film gone feral.
The reality is that we're far past the point of there being more excellent games out there than any one person/group could realistically run in a lifetime. So I don't fret about missing out anymore. I am delighted however, to live in a time of such wealth and plenty, most of it individual labours of love and care.
posted by bonehead at 12:01 PM on December 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
The reality is that we're far past the point of there being more excellent games out there than any one person/group could realistically run in a lifetime. So I don't fret about missing out anymore. I am delighted however, to live in a time of such wealth and plenty, most of it individual labours of love and care.
posted by bonehead at 12:01 PM on December 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
If "Heart: The City Beneath" had come out in 2021 Howitt definitely would have made my personal best-of list. As it stands, I give the number one spot on my list to "Wanderhome", which is just a gorgeous game...fun to play, engrossing to read, a pleasure to look at...everything I want from an rpg. "World Wide Wrestling" is indeed a great game as well, the 2nd edition improving upon the first in terms of explaining how to play. I also really really liked "Flames of Freedom", which has a bibliography that would put most doctoral dissertations to shame.
bonehead is right, though: there's more stuff out there than any person could make time to play. We may be at the point where there's even more really good stuff than any person could get to. It's pretty close, anyhow. When I started playing D&D back in 5th grade, I couldn't have imagined the landscape today.
posted by Ipsifendus at 12:21 PM on December 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
bonehead is right, though: there's more stuff out there than any person could make time to play. We may be at the point where there's even more really good stuff than any person could get to. It's pretty close, anyhow. When I started playing D&D back in 5th grade, I couldn't have imagined the landscape today.
posted by Ipsifendus at 12:21 PM on December 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
Yay World Wide Wrestling! This game actually made me a fan of its subject matter.
I like wrestling a lot more in theory than in practice (the only wrestling show I've ever really been a serious fan of was the late, lamented Lucha Underground) and WWW is a great game that really captures a lot of what I like about the subject matter
posted by Pope Guilty at 12:52 PM on December 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
I like wrestling a lot more in theory than in practice (the only wrestling show I've ever really been a serious fan of was the late, lamented Lucha Underground) and WWW is a great game that really captures a lot of what I like about the subject matter
posted by Pope Guilty at 12:52 PM on December 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
I’ve been out of gaming for a while (not a lot of chances these days) but ARC, Wanderhome, and CBR PNK really caught my attention. I might not get a chance to play them any time soon, but I think I know what I might be buying myself for the holidays.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:29 AM on December 23, 2021
posted by Ghidorah at 5:29 AM on December 23, 2021
itch.io is having their winter sale right now. Just picked up .dungeon!
posted by tofu_crouton at 6:41 AM on December 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by tofu_crouton at 6:41 AM on December 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
I don't know if Trophy counts (PDFs delivered this year, I think), but my online group has found that very useful, both "out of the box" and as hacks, giving more options than Cthulhu Dark. ARC looks interesting, but I haven't really dug into it, and I am modestly excited about Good Strong Hands. I would love to play Our Traveling Home, if I could find the right group of people, and Hearts of Wulin is the first playable Wuxia game, like ever.
I just got my physical copy of Haunted West today, and... it is shockingly large. I will probably never play it, since it's way too crunchy for me and my group, but it's a monumental piece of work and a great source book for anyone who wants to play an Old West or Weird West game of any system who wants to avoid some of the... really really racist assumptions of most OW/WW games. Also, listen to the podcast Black Cowboys; it's amazing.
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:03 AM on December 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
I just got my physical copy of Haunted West today, and... it is shockingly large. I will probably never play it, since it's way too crunchy for me and my group, but it's a monumental piece of work and a great source book for anyone who wants to play an Old West or Weird West game of any system who wants to avoid some of the... really really racist assumptions of most OW/WW games. Also, listen to the podcast Black Cowboys; it's amazing.
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:03 AM on December 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
I bought Raccoon Sky Pirates on a whim, partly because it looks fun and whimsical, and partly because a crew of half-competent trash pandas cobbling together a makeshift device that will maybe accomplish important tasks and maybe self-destruct spectacularly is an especially on-the-nose metaphor for my job.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 8:36 AM on December 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 8:36 AM on December 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
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posted by kaibutsu at 8:30 AM on December 22, 2021 [3 favorites]