Go Beyond Dungeons and Dragons: Find Your New RPG Obsession
Now a staple of tabletop gaming, role-playing games (RPGs) let you inhabit characters in fictional universes. Craft your unique story as you journey through wondrous settings using the game's rules to dictate the success or failure of your actions.
Fancy a solo adventure?
Colostle
Published by Colostle Games
In a castle so big that cities and oceans are entombed within its walls takes place your solo adventure through the Roomlands. Colostle, created by Nich Angell, gives you several unique classes with special abilities, a character sheet to help establish your backstory and guidelines as to what you may encounter in the castle walls (and how to deal with it).
Simple to read through and set up, you'll be recording your epic tales in your adventure journal in less time than it takes to defeat a Rook (the huge walking stone towers).
Why it's our top pick:
A single-player role-playing game (rare find!)
Easy to pick-up and go
Perfect for anyone interested in creative writing, narrative storytelling and journaling
Sink your teeth into gritty history
Eat the Reich
Published by Rowan, Rook & Decard
Ultraviolent, gorgeous and finished in around one to three sessions, Eat the Reich coffin drops you, a vampire commando, into occupied Paris with one goal: drink all of Hitler’s blood.
Pick one of the pregenerated iconic characters and land on top of historically inaccurate Paris with a quick-to-learn D6 dice pool system. Players figure out the number of D6 dice they'll roll and after rolling all of them, they spend any dice that show 4 or above to achieve their objective.
Why it's our top pick:
Fast and dangerous gameplay
The stunning artwork screams for itself
Unique characters and story in a familiar(?) setting
A family friendly RPG
Animal Adventures
Published by Steamforged
For a family friendly role-playing game with no experience barrier, look no further than Animal Adventures designed by Richard August and Russ Charles. Whether you want to sail through the Faraway Sea's ever-changing archipelago or explore Gullet Cove with its brave heroes and dastardly villains, endless pawsibilities await.
Become a burly cat or a sneaky dog, or even a sea otter or an albatross, in a fur-ever evolving story. Animal Adventures also offers adorable animal miniatures sure to delight parents with the possibility of spending many hours carefully painting them.
Why it's our top pick:
Suitable for everyone ages 14+
Purr-fectly cute miniatures
Great way to introduce younger players to D&D in general as it uses the 5E system (gameplay mechanics found in the 5th edition of D&D)
Back to the classics
Advanced Fighting Fantasy
Published by Arion Games
A founder of the Gamebooks genre, Fighting Fantasy (FF) developed by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone was groundbreaking in letting readers participate in a story by turning to different numbered paragraphs to build their own adventure.
Advanced Fighting Fantasy (AFF) was the RPG version of FF created by Marc Gascoigne and Pete Tamlyn in 1989, with a second edition published in 2011 that was written by Graham Bottley.
Its Quickstart guide is a simple introduction to the gameplay and can get players up and running (away from monsters) within 10 minutes. Those with some AFF experience can enjoy long-term campaigns with multiple companion books.
Why it's our top pick:
One of the classics in the RPG genre
Also a classic of the fantasy dungeon crawler genre
Nostalgia hit for the 80s kids
Comedic mischief in the Roaring ‘20s
Flabbergasted! A Comedic Roleplaying Game
Published by The Wanderer's Tome
Marvellous mischief awaits in the Roaring 20s world of Flabbergasted! published by sister duo, Fleur and Chelsea Sciortino. Transform into an Aristocrat, a Bohemian, a Well-To-Do, or a steadfast Staff and join the Social Club with your friends to build your reputation in high society.
Light-hearted and narrative-driven, this RPG was an ENNIE Award nominee for Product of the Year, Best Game, Best Interior Art in 2023. A real bee's knees of an RPG book with charming artwork and design.
Why it's our top pick:
Gorgeous art with a great roster of characters
A comedic role-playing game that puts humour at the forefront
Narrative-driven game meaning that it's all about the characters and story rather than meticulous mathematical action tables
(we just love the Roaring 20s setting and so does Betty "Two Bricks")
Join an underground rebellion
Spire: The City Must Fall
Published by Rowan, Rook & Decard
Two hundred years ago, the towering city of Spire was seized by the high elves. As part of the paramilitary organisation named the Ministry
of Our Hidden Mistress, your goal is to overthrow the cruel high elves and restore the drow as the rightful rulers of the city.
Developed by Grant Howitt and Chris Taylor with art by Adrian Stone and design by Mina McJanda, Spire is a densely rich setting with many dark corners to explore. With the Quickstart guide, players can jump right into one of the six pregenerated characters and turn their dice to the challenge of removing a prominent high elf bishop before a solar eclipse.
Why it's our top pick:
An irresistible dark fantasy setting
Fast flowing system where consequences to actions are quick to follow
Story rich setting that careens you through conspiracies, power structures and faction struggles