The Best Tabletop RPGs Of 2022

The tabletop RPG world is constantly evolving in new ways. Whether it’s new worlds for long-running games like Dungeons & Dragons or exciting debut projects that tap into unexpected corners of storytelling, it’s a great time to enjoy role-playing with others.

There were many new and exciting games for playgroups in 2022. These ten best games are listed alphabetically and each offer new exciting opportunities for exploration.

And if you like your RPGs with a side of excellent board gaming, don’t miss our recent awards for the Best Board Games of 2022.

Coyote & Crow
Publisher: Coyote & Crow Games

The Native American-led team that created Coyote & Crow began with a simple premise: What would America look like if it had never been colonized? You can make a compelling role-playing video game by adding mythology and science to the mix.

The technologically advanced civilizations that players explore in Coyote & Crow presume that the last 700 years of history are different than how things happened in the real world. It makes for a intriguing exercise in exploring alternate history, and there’s a lot to enjoy about paging through the core rulebook to discover the engaging fiction that’s been crafted.

The game developers have created a sophisticated game system that allows for creativity and plenty of space to play. An d12-based resolution control allows for greater flexibility in a basic mechanic. Your character is formed by the set paths, motivations and archetypes. Traditional experience points can be exchanged for structures about creating your own legend. This structure is established by completing short-term and long-term goals.

Coyote & Crow is a rewarding and cleverly constructed game that embraces cultural traditions we don’t frequently see brought to life in the role-playing sphere, and certainly not with this level of purposeful intent. Its creators have been vocal in inviting both native and non-native players to enjoy the game, with guidance for both about how to do so in a welcoming and respectful way. You will find something truly new if your preconceived notions are gone.

D&D – Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast

For D&D fans who grew up in the 1980s, Dragonlance was almost certainly on your radar. One of the earliest campaign settings for the world’s original RPG, Dragonlance had not only a run of awesome game modules but also a series of fantasy novel series that continues to this day.

In this update to the 5th edition, the best bits of that setting are being re-created. The time frame is almost identical to major events in the novels. However, the adventures contained within the book create their own section of the War of the Lance and lead players on an exciting journey of discovery and battles.

The site provides information about the world and gives players access to fun options such as the Kender race, which is a subclass of lunar sorcerer, backgrounds that allow you to play any of the Krynn mages or knights. The adventure is what makes this campaign so successful. It is a fun, exciting wartime RPG campaign, without skipping the brutalities and horrors of mass violence.

It’s a lengthy adventure, but in an interesting twist, the RPG campaign can be paused at certain points. If desired, you can then play through a full session of the separate Dragonlance: Warriors of Krynn board game that recently released, which you can alternately snag if you choose to grab the Deluxe combined edition. The results of your board game excursion can then inform the RPG story’s forward pace. You can also skip the board games and just enjoy the campaign.

Dragonlance is back! Fans have been anticipating this for years. This Dragonlance update brings to life a classic fantasy game.

The Darkest House
Publisher: Monte Cook Games

After a digital launch that was successful in 2021, the print edition of The Darkest House has been released. Both options are great. However, the digital version of The Darkest House is particularly well-suited for gaming groups who meet remotely. All handouts, information, and data can all be managed digitally.

For a touch of horror, The Darkest House can be used in any RPG campaign. Simple adaptation rules translate your characters over into the system when you mysteriously enter the house, whether you’re coming from a fantasy game of D&D, a futuristic Star Trek or Cyberpunk campaign, or another Monte Cook Games world like Numenera.

While The Darkest House is effectively a giant haunted house, it’s a bit more complicated than that – imagine if the house itself was the malevolent entity intent on hating and destroying you. It is both puzzling as well as disconcerting to encounter the creatures within. If you’re hoping to have all the answers to what’s happening inside after playing through, you’ll be disappointed. But if you want a dose of dread that can be added to any RPG you’re already playing, it’s an amazing twist to offer to your group.

Hunter: The Reckoning
Publisher: Renegade Game Studios

This year’s Hunter joins the wider universe of World of Darkness gaming. The results will please gamers who want their time focused on finding all things going bump in the night and stopping them from moving.

Vampire: The Masquerade is known for its moods and politics, but Hunter is more focused on action and missions. As mostly normal humans concentrating on hunting down supernatural threats, there’s a tension and desperation to the action represented in a cool way through additional dice rolled as things get especially dire.

These conflicts are often against supernatural evils or other societal organizations that your Hunter cell believes have been compromised. It makes for a more approachable take on World of Darkness content, especially for players who may be more familiar with  traditional tabletop role-playing with its quests and battles. If this dark fiction is appealing, but your group isn’t looking for the heavily atmospheric vibe offered by its cousin game, Hunter: The Reckoning could be just the ticket.  

Into the Odd
Publisher: Bastionland Press/Free League Publishing

This extended and remastered version of Into the Odd was originally published in 2014. It is now available for new players. Set in a mysterious and otherworldly industrial setting with hints of Lovecraftian cosmic horror, it’s an intriguing universe to uncover, even if it is only minimally detailed – leaving plenty of room for game masters and groups to make the game their own.

You take the role of an explorer and explore the mysterious tunnels, sewers under Bastion. This gives the game a vintage dungeon crawl feel. It is easy to create characters and combat. The rules are very light, which encourages a loose, fast-moving game that permits for lots of experimentation. A group of explorers can pose a threat that is difficult to overcome. However, Arcana allows you to solve many problems using creative thinking by acquiring mystical items.

Into the Odd is purposefully strange and surreal – almost dreamlike in its presentation. The game solves the problem of creating complicated new systems while keeping things as simple as possible. It’s a absorbing game that is easy to pick up and learn, with a unique flavor that should delight those looking for a twist on old-school RPG play.

The one ring: starter set
Free League Publishing

Late last year, players first tasted the lovely new edition of The One Ring, which adapts Tolkien’s intricate fantasy world for a new generation of role-playing fun. This year’s starter set is an excellent introduction for players who love The Lord of the Rings but may have been daunted by the big core book.

The box contains beautiful components, including custom dice and a map showing where players can explore. The box also includes pre-generated characters that you can use to start an adventure. They are mostly focused on the Hobbits, but will include exploring other areas of the Shire. There’s a big focus on that part of Middle-earth in this boxed set, with an included dedicated book on The Shire that offers plenty of seeds for adventure. Of course, there are also excellently pared-down rules to get you into the fun, and it’s all presented thoughtfully and streamlined.

This is the most powerful starter set for an RPG that has been made in many years. This is the perfect choice if your group was hesitant about trying something different.

Nine Arches
Nine Arches Publisher

Nine Arches is undoubtedly one of the best gaming projects this year. It impresses by its innovative approach to discovery and play, and also has some very attractive parts that are a delight to interact with. It’s a hard game to categorize, but it might be most accurate to think of it as a role-playing game played in real life, in which the quest cards you draw guide you to actions you feel compelled to explore for yourself, or to take on new personas, skills, or experiences simply for the joy of confronting the challenge. 

Nine Arches is loosely based on the Tarot card framework, but has very little to do with Astrology. Instead, 52 quest cards are included in the game. You can either draw the cards or follow your intuitions. The guide will help you choose the right activities to do. It’s possible to create a poem or book a trip for skydiving. And, to be clear, these are actual real-life experiences you’re choosing to take on, not an imagined activity in a fantasy world. To advance in the game, you will keep track of your activities and learn more about yourself.

It’s a strange and beautiful concoction that is best taken on if you feel you’re open to trying new experiences. Nine Arches is less about an evening of play with friends (though it could be that, in part) and more about a self-improvement journey wrapped in a gamified structure.

Pathfinder Book of the Dead
Paizo is the Publisher

Since its launch in 2019, Paizo spent little time fleshing out Pathfinder 2nd Edition. Book of the Dead is the most enjoyable of all the supplements and adventures to expand the scope of the game.

It’s become a near expectation that Pathfinder releases will look attractive both inside and out, and Book of the Dead maintains that reputation with some excellent art and layout considerations. Many options exist for the player, which offer new methods to combat the undead. There is also a way to play undead PCs from ghosts and ghouls to mummies, vampires, and other undead. There are many new undead-themed places to visit and monsters to fight, as well as a thrill ride that makes undead slaying a central part of the adventure.

Book of the Dead’s best feature is its ability to turn a conventional fantasy RPG system on its head, with all the undead theing that you can imagine. If that’s always been a branch of the fantasy milieu that fascinates you, this one is worth exploring.

Transformers Roleplaying Game Core Rulesbook
Publisher: Renegade Game Studios

Renegade Game Studios is slowly building up an assortment of action-focused properties, such as RPGs like G.I. Joe and Power Rangers. The Transformers, with its decades-old fiction, twist on transforming vehicles and overall cool factor, is well-suited for the system. It’s the best gaming engine implementation to date.

Fans love the opportunity to create their own Transformers to add to the stories. The character creation allows you to create the type of character you wish. There’s also a great system around how Energon (the power source for Transformers) can be deployed in clutch moments to turn the tide.

Transformers felt for many years like an ideal universe to play intelligent role-playing games. Thankfully, that’s exactly what fans got here – a mechanically sound, action-oriented game with plenty of flavor and fiction to enjoy.

Vaesen: Mythic Britain & Ireland
Free League Publishing

Vaesen was one of the best RPGs released in recent times. This game took players back to the dark side of Nordic mythology set several hundred years ago. With Mythic Britain & Ireland, that terrific game gains an entirely new setting to explore.

The Victorian era is the setting for the game. Players can explore the streets of London and foggy moors as well as all folklore characters like Boggarts, Leprechauns, Banshees, and Boggarts. In the new setting we get to interact with characters both historical and fictional, unlike in the original. But no matter who or what you explore, there’s plenty to discover or create on your own and three excellent new mysteries (adventures) to take on as a group.

Mythic Britain & Ireland is an expansion to Vaesen, requiring that book to glean play mechanics. But this book is also a robust and substantial expansion in all the ways that matter, including featuring new art by illustrator Johan Egerkrans – which is worth the price all on its own. If you haven’t yet tried Vaesen, pick that up first. If you have and are ready for more, Mythic Britain & Ireland is just what you hope it will be.

For more tabletop gaming ideas, check out our list of previous years, which includes the 2019 installment as well as picks for 2021. If you’re looking for more tabletop ideas, visit the Top of the Table Hub.