The best indie tabletop RPGs of 2021 include Wanderhome and .dungeon

The task of tracking the development of independent tabletop RPGs can seem daunting. There are new titles appearing every day and all of them live in obscure stores like Itch.io or DriveThruRPG. Those platforms’ curation and discoverability features are a far cry from something like Steam, and as a result, shopping for a new indie TTRPG can feel like a lottery system for both players and creators.

It’s worth the effort to keep an eye on indie TTRPG scenes. The design landscape that lies beyond the shadow of Dungeons & Dragons is exciting, weird, and seemingly limitless. Certain games can bend the existing conventions and create new routes, while other games will only reveal a vibrant environment that is full of inspiration.

The alphabetical listing of tabletop games aims to bring attention to five shining stars in a confusing sky. Some are the culmination of the last decade’s worth of trends, while others are standouts in emerging subgenres. Some others require the hobby to examine its Western roots and look at the possibilities of creating stories free from Western tropes.

Doom Tabletop RPG

What would you do if the Apocalypse was at your door? Would it be your first instinct to grab your weapon and curse your way into its presence? Would you be content to ignore the seconds ticking away towards your imminent doom, or would you fret about them? Doom Tabletop RPGDesigner momatoes has created a new game called. With its narrative-driven engine, the stories it tells are driven by urgency. They also build on precious moments.

ARCThis tension is mechanized with a real world timer, which counts down until the end of every game. ARC’s Doomsday Clock is set at the beginning of a campaign and advances in real time. It takes four hours to complete a campaign of four hours. Now players have an actual action economy. In other systems, short rests are a matter of seconds. This means that players have to spend five minutes at the table, as another crucial narrative moment slips past the event horizon.

Spells and abilities may also require players (not characters) to perform rituals, such as closing their eyes for three minutes to gain True Vision or agreeing to every request for half an hour in order to sway a guard’s mind. The perfect, genre-agnostic ruleset allows for this combination of perspectives and makes it easy to play. ARC feel like an ice bath — bracing and invigorating.

CBR+PNK

Image by Emanoel Meo

I’m as surprised as anyone else to find a cyberpunk game on my list in 2021, given the pop culture oversaturation that recently reached its zenith with the botched launch of Cyberpunk 2077. Emanoel Melo’s lean and mean CBR+PNKIt is not rude to extend its hand.

Two tri-fold pamphlets contain the entire collection. Blades in DarkA RPG inspired by dystopian gaming creates quick bursts full of exciting, futuristic gameplay. The action is centered on one last task that an intrepid group of hackers undertakes. The corporate oppressors push crews to the limits, or they may just be trying to win in desperate last-ditch attempts to get them to succeed. The players find the lowest point of their characters and then use cinematic action and film to discover the why and how.

Similar to other games of the same inspiration, CBR+PNKFlashbacks are used to give characters access to unexpected doors. Groups must be flexible and adapt to digital corruption that is slowly creeping into their gear. Choices won’t get easier, and there’s only so much gritting the group’s collective teeth can take before something breaks. But that’s the whole point. CBR+PNK simply doesn’t allow itself the time to navel gaze, making it my favorite way to engage with this particular style of genre fiction.

CBR+PNK

These prices were correct at the time of publication.

Playing .dungeonIt is an unique experience that challenges the traditional notion of role-playing and tries to capture a time in which rules were less important than playing with friends. Annwn is a world that evokes mid-2000s MMOs. Online connections and GameFAQs are a few phone calls away. File extensions are the end of everything, but you can slot in discrete adventures. .dungeon’s rules like mods.

Character avatars let your wildest high school daydreams run rampant, but it’s the game’s character classes that steal the show by tying real-world actions to in-game feats. The Hacker, for example, can conceal a roll of dice from the GM, or add the result of a d20 roll to their roll one per session. While the Mage, on the other hand, uses circles words and phrases taken from a book to create magic in the virtual world. Tattoos become summons, compliments become buffs, and the party’s bard can create a personalized mixtape for extra effect.

This charm will make you feel a sense of fleeting happiness. .dungeonSessions can feel like tapping into the best of halcyon childhood memories. After each campaign is over, the group will need to share their feelings about how they ended. This could be natural drifting apart or returning to school during summer break. Or showing up for the final day of play before servers shut down.

.dungeon

These prices were correct at the time of publication.

Gubat Banwa

Image by Makapatag

This is the elevator pitch Gubat BanwaThis is wuxia fiction based on classical Filipino folklore. It’s also infused with an abundance of Fire Emblem. And while that description alone makes it one of the best mashups I’ve read all year, it still doesn’t capture the loving attention to detail and the dedication with which designer Makapatag has crafted this rich and satisfying tabletop experience.

A love letter to the much-maligned 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons and the style of tactics video games that inspired its combat, Gubat BanwaA lot of the pages are dedicated to actions and positioning. It knows there’s an audience hungry for crunchy combat and it sets a mean buffet for that crowd. Those not inclined to eat the next XCOM’s XCOM will want to look over the dozens evocative character concepts, including swordfish-straddling soldiers, flower necromancers, or the dangerous Strifesingers.

It is not the game’s wheels, but its narrative engine. This allows for dramatic melodrama as well as politicking. The most dramatic actions are usually those most likely to succeed, and epic enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies storylines are its bread and butter. Gubat Banwa channeled his love for Filipino history through the elevated emotions of beautiful, well-dressed warriors in constant conflict. It defies any reductive framing of the Philippines and its folklore even as it provides player resources for depicting the game’s cultural ties with both accuracy and respect.

Wanderhome

Wanderhome respectfully demanded the attention of the indie RPG community in 2021 like a grandparent that wouldn’t let you visit without providing a hot meal. Jay Dragon of Possum Creek Games took a framework of wholesome traveling — using an adjective nearing dangerous levels of misapplication — and delivered a treatise on post-violent roleplay far deeper than its veneer of bee farmers and anthropomorphic animals would initially suggest.

Based on Avery Alder’s Belonging Outside Belonging principles, this project was created in Dream AskewAnd Dream Apart, WanderhomeIt eliminates both game masters and dice from the calculus of its play. Instead, the players ask straightforward questions to create characters that are equal parts melancholy and earnest. This allows them to be secure in their knowledge until another traveler stirs a deep desire within.

It is easy to get bored, as I mentioned in my review. Wanderhome as a cozytime simulator — not that such a tack is by any means wrong. The game’s reputation is built on its insistence that violence can take many forms and should never be forgotten. After all, a grandparent’s wisdom springs from experiences both fond and haunting.

Honorable mention