Into the Odd is at once an homage to and a departure from the classic RPGs of the 70s and 80s. In the game, to quote the book: “You are an Explorer, braving the unknown in search of riches, fame, knowledge and power. Most of all, you seek Arcana, strange devices hosting unnatural powers beyond technology. They range from the smallest ring to vast machines.”

The system itself does a lot of very interesting things, but rather than give a full system breakdown, what I want to talk about is how Into the Odd handles stats.

Heroes of Adventure could easily be called a bit of a D&D clone, but just because it’s high-fantasy doesn’t make it a copycat. The world-building is certainly D&D-like, and your heroes can be the ubiquitous wizards, warriors, rangers, thieves, and clerics; but the system uses a die-size system instead of a flat d20 system. Spells are limited through schools, rather than classes: if you learn Air magic, you can cast Air spells, no matter if you are a cleric, druid, or magi. Religious characters gain Piety Points based on their behavior, which can be spent on divine favors like granting re-rolls or raising the dead.

The Moulde estate, Edmund learned later, was everything on top of and inside of Haggard Hill, in the northern part of the Squatling district. Haggard Hill itself was a full twenty acres of hill covered with old trees, tired grass, and a sagging old gazebo with peeling white paint, all surrounded by thorny hedges and a sharp wrought-iron fence. The heavy black gate cautioned MOULDE HALL in a sharp and spidery lettering, and was framed by statues of two large ravens, their eyes sharp and beaks terrible.

The Dreamer is a one-word RPG by W. H. Arthur.

No, wait, let me back up. There needs to be some context here.

If I haven’t been explicit about this before, I should explain for the RPG tourists that most RPGs, especially those from the early generations of the hobby, are long. Rule-books, supplements, worldbooks, magazines…you can fill bookshelves with the content from a single game, to say nothing of reprints and revised editions. Books upon books upon words upon words. It can be quite daunting, to say nothing of expensive. People who aren’t ready for it could be pushed away.

The Lighthouse at the End of the Universe belongs to a sub-genre of Solo RPGs, the Journaling RPG. Lighthouse is, quote: “best played at nighttime before bed or for when you can’t sleep. You are the current lighthouse keeper of the Lighthouse. Record your duties, thoughts and observations. Your notes in the logbook will be a record of your time in the lighthouse and the lighthouse itself.”

Journaling RPGs lean heavily into the narrative side of RPGs. A lot of Solo RPGs have some form of journaling or record-keeping as part of their system, but Journaling RPGs force this part of the game to the forefront. The purpose of the game is rarely to beat the Foozle or get the McGuffin, but rather the act of journaling itself.

Into the Woods is an RPG wherein your only goal is survival. Akin to the stories of Robinson Caruso, Swiss Family Robinson, and Castaway; and taking inspiration from games like Aground or Don’t Starve; Into the Woods is focused on the challenges of keeping yourself alive in a hostile ever-changing environment.

An interesting idea in itself; the cliche RPG experience is one of “Humanity vs. Monstrosity,” where evil enacts its will on the innocent, and the heroic players step in to save them. It’s perhaps unsurprising, then, that RPGs would start to explore the other kinds of storytelling, such as “Humanity vs. Society,” or in this case, “Humanity vs. Nature.”

Edmund became a Moulde when he was eight years old, after lunch, on a day not otherwise particularly different from any other day.

Spring was coming to a close and the harsh sunlight of summer was struggling to slip through the giant black cloud that filled the sky. Edmund was sitting on his stiff bed, writing a poem about the holes that riddled the warped window shutters.

Edmund had taken to poetry. When he was seven, he read a book titled The Mechanics and Structure of Verse: a Primer to the Aspiring Poetic by Sir Peeres Ekes. Years later, after he had outgrown its novice lessons — even considering the book’s inconsistencies, overly simplistic structure, condescending view of poetry as an art-form, and multiple outright lies — he still held a soft spot in his heart for the book, considering where it led him.

Based on Cairn and Into the Odd, Runecairn is draped in Norse and Viking mythology, and inspired heavily by Dark Souls and Bloodborne games. There are re-skinned estus flasks, immortality, near continuous combat, even rules about bonfires. For all else that it does, Runecairn wears its inspirations on its sleeve.

That the game is obviously inspired at least in part by video games is not uncommon. Table-top RPGs have always had major influence on video game RPGs; consider the deluge of D&D RPG video games like Pool of Radiance, Eye of the Beholder, Dark Sun, Ravenloft, Menzoberanzan, and Balder’s Gate — and that’s just a fraction of one license. Fallout was inspired by GURPS. Vampire: The Masquerade has had multiple video game titles. Even non-licensed game series like Magic Candle, Ultima, Wizardry, and Might and Magic all owe more to tabletop RPGs than any of their video game kin.

Cobwebs is an RPG about, quote: “reluctant investigators uncovering terrifying conspiracies and getting far more than they bargained for. It combines elements of noir, horror, and science fiction to create a uniquely haunting mystery built collaboratively.”

Cobwebs centers around two specific characters: the Darling, and the Missing. The Darling is the “investigator,” the person who — in their search for the never-present Missing — gets pulled deeper and deeper into the truth of a conspiracy. Think Agent Cooper and Laura Palmer in Twin Peaks, or Leo and Naadirah in Mute.

Escape from Dino Island is, quote: “a thrilling adventure game about intrepid heroes trapped on an island overrun with creatures from a lost age — dinosaurs! Players take on the role of everyday people who are brave and competent, but also in over their head. The game is designed to help you create the kind of stories that are full of action and suspense, but in which fighting is rarely a good option. Will you escape with your life? And what kind of person will you become in your quest to survive? There’s only one way to find out…”