The Best Tabletop RPG Releases Of 2021

Like the prior year, 2021 turned out to be unusual for the tabletop role-playing hobby. Many groups played over the internet, and some made tentative attempts to return to local gaming events. Publishers continued to publish a wide range of new games, adventure books and other supporting products, despite the fact that weekly playgroups were affected by unforeseen circumstances.

Below are 10 of the very best RPG products of 2021. To discover more awesome tabletop games of all kinds, including lists featuring the best board games of this year or the top games from previous years, feel free to peruse our entire Top of the Table hub. Don’t forget to read the companion article that highlights the Best Board Games for 2021. 

Alice Is Missing
Publisher: Renegade Game Studios

Undoubtedly one of the most innovative and surprising role-playing games in recent memory, Alice Is Missing is a silent role-playing game for 3-5 players, meant to be experienced in a single gameplay session of two to three hours. This is an emotional story that demands its players accept and fulfill their roles. It’s a heartbreaking and memorable tale about Alice disappearing from high school.

Alice is Missing offers a different approach to traditional GM/players structures. It encourages players to assume the role of one of the major characters. One player must still be able to follow the rules in order for the game to progress. Instead of speaking to each other, the entire game is conducted via a group text message thread, where clues gradually come together, and players act out their character’s emotional arcs. To say much more would spoil the experience.

Alice Is Missing (which arrived in December last year, too late for consideration in that year’s list) is an incredible short-form RPG that tests the boundaries of the medium. And while it would likely win praise in any year because of its innovative format, it’s an especially appealing game for 2021, as its emotional core has a cathartic quality for anyone confronting loss, and its structure virtually encourages remote play.  

Dune: Adventures in the Imperium
Publisher: Modiphius

Modiphius repeatedly makes good use its adaptable 2d20 game system. Modiphius tweaks and overwrites notable features in order to tailor its playstyle for large licenses such as Star Trek and Conan. This year, the studio’s take on Frank Herbert’s Dune universe was especially impressive, offering a framework to play out games of open warfare, spycraft, political espionage, and more.

The role of a noble House of the Imperium member is to guide the players through the various conflicts that may arise and help your faction gain greater control and power. A unique dynamic in play is that players can control the macro-level decisions for steering their House but also dive into the details of combat and infiltrations.

Two d20 dice are used to solve most tasks in the 2d20 game system. However, additional wins can fuel momentum and increase threats. One of the most exciting additions this time is the focus on a character’s drive (think: motivation) on fueling their success or failure, which really helps to instill that inimitable “Dune” feeling of characters pushed forward by their own irresistible urges, honor, or motives.

Dune: Adventures in the Imperium has a lot of information about the setting and beautiful presentation. Whether as a longtime fan, or a new fan recently wowed by the latest film, you’re likely to enjoy the deep dive into lore. But this is also a complex and challenging game to navigate, so be ready for an uphill learning climb if you’re an RPG newcomer.

D&D Icons of the Realms Miniatures
Publisher: Wizkids

The list is not likely to focus on actual RPG games or adventures. WizKids should be commended for the incredible number of miniatures it has produced in pre-painted form. Although the Icons of the Realms series has been around for a while, this year saw a wide range of new miniatures. Numerous mini-lines were active to support individual products, such as The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Curse of Strahd and Curse of Strahd. However, we saw large premium sets, like the Yawning Portal Inn or even Tiamat, the five-headed Dragon Queen.

WizKids is a leader in paint application, detail, and gimmicks. In response to fan demand, we’ve seen some especially striking large-scale figures, including those ever-coveted dragon minis. WizKids also has great success mixing mainstay characters and monsters with unexpected surprises. This keeps each line fresh and interesting.

Some role-playing enthusiasts still enjoy theater-of the-mind, but without tactical miniatures. Others prefer miniature hobbyists who can paint their own minis (which WizKids also provides). But for the vast majority of players, plastic pre-painted line-ups hit the sweet spot for enhancing tabletop play, and WizKids’ recent work in that regard is simply excellent.

2021’s Icons of the Realms line-up gets a nod for the sheer breadth of amazing individual miniatures on offer, but it’s worth noting that WizKids’ other pre-painted miniature lines, including their Pathfinder Battles, Starfinder Battles, and Warlock dungeon tiles, all offer similar levels of quality and polish. It’s an excellent time to be a miniature enthusiast.

D&D: Van Richten’s Guide To Ravenloft
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast

The booming popularity of the world’s original role-playing game continues to astound, especially for longtime fans who remember the days when admitting to being a player was tantamount to social exile. But there’s no denying that the 5th Edition of D&D is going strong, appealing in equal measure to weekend gaming groups and massive streaming entertainment options.

Wizards of the Coast has continued to grow its success through some excellent rules and expansions. The most exciting addition of 2021 was Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. A very old D&D campaign setting brought to new life, Ravenloft offers everything players need to tell stories of horror, gothic adventure, paranormal investigation, and tense monster hunts.

The most enjoyable part for many fans will be the descriptions of the different Domains of Dread. These locations act as a kind of walled garden that is themed around certain horror tropes. These can be thought of as a collection of smaller settings under Ravenloft’s umbrella, where characters are able to travel between them.

But there’s also some exciting other content to discover, including new player options like the dhampir lineage, new monsters such as the delightfully creepy and doll-like carrionettes, and a haunted house-themed mini adventure to get you started. In a year filled with some tremendous new D&D supplements, Ravenloft brought the well-deserved return of one of the oldest and best.

The One Ring, 2nd Edition
Free League Publishing

The triumphant, new version of the beloved Lord of the Rings role playing game has been a long time in the making. There have been many disappointments and years of waiting. Following in the tradition of decades of RPGs attempting to adapt Tolkien’s setting, this new version of the excellent The One Ring hits some very high notes, balancing the narrative richness of Tolkien storytelling with the need for some concrete structure to ground play. This unique system captures a part of the magic that has captivated fans over the decades. It is set within a time frame that tells the story of what happened after the events of.The Hobbit but before Frodo’s journey begins in The Lord of the Rings.

Even after all these years, there’s a distinct style to Tolkien’s writing that sets itself apart from other fantasy novels, and it’s clear that the game designers recognize that distinction and are trying to capture it here. There’s a focus on the journey and the small moments of wonder and discovery between big battles or encounters. This is manifested in two phases. Adventure is a series of exciting adventures that involves exploration and encounters. In contrast, the Fellowship phase focuses on the characters’ lives in moments between the big adventure, but are nonetheless important to the story – think the Fellowship’s time resting in Rivendell.  

A simplified set of rules allows for abstracted combat, other encounters, and uses clever dice resolution systems (optionally with custom-themed dice). A wonderful character creation system focuses on distinct cultures and backgrounds and how they come together to face the Enemy’s looming threat.

The One Ring 2nd Edition captures something unique about Tolkien’s storytelling. For fans of the books or movies, it’s a refreshing and rewarding game.

Ptolus: Monte Cook’s City By The Spire
Publisher: Monte Cook Games

Monte Cook Games’ RPG books have been produced in two different formats over the years. This is a new strategy that Monte Cook Games adopted. One utilizes its internal (and excellent) Cypher System ruleset, and the other capitalizes on the popularity of the familiar 5E D&D rules. Ptolus, in whatever format you like it is, offers the richest and most detailed settings and adventures. You can explore a large city and all its surroundings with this enormous tome.

These two new versions of Ptolus are reworks and rewrites of a popular experience by the same name from back in 2006 after Ptolus came to life as the setting for Monte Cook’s home game, played by several other RPG luminaries of the time. Now, with years more reflection and refinement, it’s a sort of master class in RPG city and adventure design.

At nearly 700 pages (plus another 300 pages of included downloadable content), you’re unlikely to run out of material to run with your gaming group. Ptolus has a great organization and index, which makes it easy for busy GMs to use.

Ptolus is a fun and varied play experience. Ptolus offers a variety of play experiences, from dungeon explorations into the underground city and the towering spire, to political intrigue on the streets. A wide range thoughtfully imagined NPCs are also included. Ptolus can be described as an enormous treasure trove filled with secrets and adventure. This is a great choice for groups of gamers looking to explore a specific area and the many people and groups that live there.

Galaxy Exploration Manual Starfinder
Paizo is the Publisher

The core rulebook release of Starfinder provides an intriguing conceit; advance the fantasy setting of Paizo’s Pathfinder universe thousands of years into the future so that fantasy magic and sci-fi tech collide in a boundless outer space setting. Since its 2017 launch, the game has been steadily expanding. The new Galaxy Exploration Manual represents one of the most significant ways that the game has evolved.

While the core rulesbook addressed a wide range of galaxy worlds, it was primarily focused on a single star system along with all its planets or factions. The Galaxy Exploration Manual exists to help gaming groups who want to venture beyond those familiar locations go on genuine missions of discovery.

The main focus here is on providing tools for GMs to build bespoke worlds for the players to uncover, and the game does so in an organized and engaging way. Each of the twelve biomes can be modified and built upon. Additional rules enable you to build fascinating cultures, religions, technologies and many other things for your denizens.

We also have a lot of new characters to choose from, such as new gear and equipment for the various classes, or new activities that galactic explorers can engage in during their free time. Starfinder’s original game released a solid foundation. For many gamers, however, Galaxy Exploration Manual is the key to unlocking the type of play that they want.

Twilight: 2000
Free League Publishing

The history of RPG gaming is accompanied by a twisty path in Twilight 2000. However, previous editions offered an enjoyable departure from standard fantasy fare. This latest edition borrows heavily from Free League’s existing expertise, in particular, borrowing the core Year Zero ruleset that has served that publisher’s games so well. Even though the rules have been updated, developers still keep the core themes and the feel of the game in mind.

In an alternate timeline of 2000, the players play the part of soldiers and civilians who are trapped in Europe following the Cold War. This conflict never ended. The aftermath leaves survivors facing a difficult and dark landscape of survival and exploration in the final days of World War III.

Twilight: 2000 is a role-playing game that follows the example of Forbidden Landscapes, a fantasy-themed RPG by Free League. As they explore the vast landscape, players must find adventure and gather supplies. It is inevitable that large-scale mapping will lead to conflicts. The tactical game structure, which leverages the complex but understandable rules system to its greatest advantage, becomes satisfying.

Twilight 2000 is a rare example of nostalgia that’s also exciting and fresh. For a gritty departure from standard role-playing experiences, it’s well worth a look.  

Wanderhome
Publisher: Possum Creek Games

If you’ve had enough of violence and killing in your game nights, perhaps you’d enjoy a heartwarming adventure about anthropomorphic animals building communities and helping each other? That’s the draw of the lovely Wanderhome, a diceless and GM-less role-playing game all about crafting a shared narrative in a quiet and pastoral setting.

The role of an animal is taken on by players. You could call them classes, but these “playbooks” are far more freeform than that, casting you as the “exile,” “caretaker,” or “poet,” as they move through distinct seasons of the year, weaving together a story that links the characters together and helps define the surrounding community.

Without a GM guiding the action, the system uses tokens to let you steer the action, gaining them for enriching the story in a fun way and spending them to resolve something in the manner you’d like to see it addressed.  

Wanderhome isn’t without possible danger, and interpersonal conflict certainly plays into the experience. However, Wanderhome is more about friends telling stories together than it is getting you excited with a lengthy combat scene. Talking animals are a great way to bring beauty into our lives. Wanderhome offers simplicity, beauty, and joy that is so appealing right now.

The Next Step
Publisher: Big Potato

We’re used to thinking of role-playing games as big, complex systems that support imaginative narrative play and exciting encounters, but role-playing experiences can be all sorts of things – including a party game. At least, that’s the explicit goal of What Next?, a charming release that ably walks the line between RPG, board game, and party experience, all rooted in storytelling.

Players make their way through one of three replayable stories, all structured roughly like choose-your-own-adventure tales. While they are navigating these often silly stories, the players discuss and decide the right path. As you encounter problems in the story, you’re asked to undertake a multitude of challenges, which come together through a variety of strange components included with the game. These challenges are often dexterity-related, such as stacking pieces and flicking a wood disc to an exact location. The players cheer one another on as they work together to complete the challenge. They then have to laugh at how the situation ends and start over with a new (or similar) scenario.

What Next? is the opposite of the epic and rules-heavy role-playing systems that characterize the hobby, and it’s a game that can easily be tackled piecemeal when you have free time. It’s even a family-friendly game. And while the included scenarios will eventually run their course, there’s enough laughter and fun at hand that you won’t mind replaying them.

We’ve got dozens of tabletop gaming recommendations to discover in our Top of the Table hub, including everything from asymmetric strategy board games to family game night options. If you’re struggling to decide the right role-playing, board, card, or miniature game to bring to your next game night, don’t hesitate to drop me a line, and I’ll do my best to offer some individualized recommendations!