How to Start Solo RPGs: 5 Games Anyone Can Play



I made a Solo Guide for Daggerheart. It’s PWYW: https://tinyurl.com/sh8ts853

Are you wondering how to get started with Solo RPGs? Personally I found it very overwhelming in the beginning.
Here are my Top 5 Solo RPGs for Beginners.

Games Mentioned
Call of Cthulhu – Alone Against the Flames
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/230023/alone-against-the-flames
The Reckoning
https://wbd-gaming.itch.io/the-reckoning
Ronin
https://coisinhaverde.itch.io/ronin
2D6 Dungeon
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/455846/2d6-dungeon-a-solo-dungeon-crawler
Tricube Tales
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/294202/tricube-tales

Honorable Mentions
Ironsworn
Shadowdark

0:00 Why Solo RPGs Almost Made Me Quit
0:43 Why I Didn’t Pick the Popular Games
1:53 What These 5 Games Have in Common
2:27 A Deadly Classic That’s Perfect for Beginners
4:27 Fast to Learn, Hard to Survive
6:28 Can a Game Make You a Storyteller?
8:30 Classic Dungeon Crawling, Solo Style
9:40 The Game Made for a 5-Year-Old (That Taught Me Narrative Play)
11:31 What This Game Really Teaches You
12:35 Where I’m Headed Next

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12 thought on “How to Start Solo RPGs: 5 Games Anyone Can Play”

  1. I can recommend ENTITY. The rulebook is just 40 sites long it is fast to prepare (5 minutes) and it is fun. It also has two expansions and a week ago MONSTROSITY got released which is also a solo rpg of the same author using the ENTITY system but its so much better

  2. Huge fan of ANYTHING Cthulhu games,and I have played Against The Flame and I absolutely love the CYOA Cthulhu series.Rpg,LCG, Board games….even the 5 minute Cthulhu Dice( which I did a home brew),it doesn't matter.Arkham Horror is Classic Cthulhu. I'm getting into this hobby and your channel seems to be my go to.Thank you.It's a Journey.

  3. I haven't reinvented the wheel. Nope, I have simply stopped ignoring an obvious truth. When you play solo, it's just you. Dice rolls, why roll dice at all? No one is watching. Stats, why have stats at all? You have realized you don't need dice, now you don't need stats.

    Solo gaming is the same as pretending. You are simply playing by yourself. You might as well be playing with a GI Joe or a Barbie. There is no one there to comment.

    I have shopped for a lot of good solo designs, some are impressive. Four Against Darkness is hard to beat. D100 Dungeon is another great example. Ker Nethalas if you want something more dark.

    But once it is just you sitting there pretending, it no longer matters what the design is or the stats are or if it is level based or whatever.
    So I have decided to play something like Warhammer 4th edition FRP
    I can roll the stats, but then not be limited by them. Ok I rolled a great heroic Dwarf fighter and his human rogue and their elf magic user. And the human rogue is going to be 'me'.
    Then I get the compilation of adventures books.
    All that's left is to just pretend to play it.

    I read the gist of the current situation, and then I lead my group of brave adventurers.
    And proceed to 'play'.
    I'm going to win of course
    Of course I win
    What fun is 'pretend' if I lose?
    But I can leave a bit of chance
    The dwarf is fighting some orcs, 3 of them
    He will win of course, but, how well does he win?
    I roll a dice, a d20 (because it has a larger numerical range than a d6). I roll a 12 kinda middle of the road, so he succeeds, but nothing awesome.

    Rules? Rules are for when you are playing with others and you need consistent and fair
    I'm sitting here at my desk and I am playing. Just me, and maybe my teddy bear Frank. He can be the dawrf. I don't really have a toy suitable for the elf.

    I of course will be keeping notes. Because otherwise it gets hard to remember details.
    Was that trader's name Bart?
    What street is the target on?
    What was the deal for shield of sunlight?

    I'm 63 by the way, not 6 🙂
    My gang from the 70s is long gone. And I just can't relate to anyone under 50 and they just can't turn off their friggin cellphones for a couple of hours of gaming.
    So no, I don't want to play online.

    I have settled for being young again, and I will just settle for playing the game on my own.

    Today's young can have that abomination they still call D&D if they wish.
    I'll maybe play 2nd edition Forgotten Realms, or perhaps Mystara.
    I also have so many other nice settings.
    Ravenland of the Forbidden Lands is cool
    D12 RPG has a setting
    Barebones Fantasy has a setting

    But the best part, is I don't need to fuss over the rules

    I will be sharing this notion elsewhere.

  4. I just started with Scarlet Heroes after a few months playing Vaesen solo, and then Loner (most lite rules game ever), and I am enjoying Scarlet Heroes so far, is well thought to play Solo with just 1 character, no parties.

  5. Ironsworn's books are made with quarter page sized pages. That 200 pages is really closer to 50 printed pages. It impossible to get more RPG lite than ironsworn.

  6. For those who like solo games where you keep a journal and like to write at least a little, there are many excellent ones out there. Thousand year-old vampire explores ideas of losing yourself as you age, artifact is taken on the persona of an intelligent weapon built for a war that is over and trying to find purpose, my personal favorite is Koriko a magical year, which is for all intensive purposes playing Kiki‘s delivery service. There are dozens of these excellent games for those with the writers bent.

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