I’ve been doing science. On twitter.
I’ve been running a series of silly polls where I gather votes to complete the statement “every ttrpg should come with…”
I think this urge came from me thinking about whether every roleplaying game, like nearly every modern board game, should come with a solo mode as standard.
Years ago board game designer David Turczi told me that adding a solo mode to games made various crowdfunded games they had worked on fund something like 50% more than others. Whenever this change happened (2017?), it became industry knowledge and nearly every board game that launched on Kickstarter would come with a solitaire mode of some kind. It was simply expected. There’s a huge base of solo players out there, and this was recognised by the people who made games and wanted their money. People made solo modes for their game.
Not always well of course. Some solo modes were tacked on with little thought. The feeling of a studio request that the designer just whipped up in an afternoon to just get this game gone.
And I’m sort of advocating for this.
I’d like everyone to add a solo mode to their rpg as standard practice.
I’d quite like to see some of the bad examples. The version of ‘stick a high score solo mode in there’ in a eurogame translated for an OSR game. Or suddenly your ‘cosy adventure game’ is a dexterity game. Or you do a Dark Fort style ‘random mapping and encounters until you win/die’ despite most of the game being about finding clues. I don’t care, I just want people to get inventive because of this kind-of-weird demand.
Eventually, if we do this, someone will do something really good. Solo modes in board games are so much better than they were 3 years ago. We can do the same. We’ll find all sorts of weird answers to whether all ttrpgs can be played solo, and if not, it’ll be fun to try.
Before I talk about the results of the random polls science that I did on twitter, here’s just a note to say I have some reviews coming out:
In Tabletop Gaming magazine, I have a two-pager on the new Troika! softback and The Big Squirm.
In Wyrd Science, I have a very healthy review on UVG2E. Previously it was a therapy session, now it’s a game. Pick up the next issue to discover why.
I’ve got an essay in a book coming up. But I’ll talk about that more another time. Maybe you’re in it too! That would be cool!
Anyway, the results.
I ran the set of polls with a ‘winner stays on’ approach. The options were completely arbitarily chosen.
To start with BIG SEXY MAP was the favourite. Later overtaken by FREE DIGITAL VERSION (you know, like a free PDF why you buy a physical copy). Finally, the ultimate winner (which won four of the rounds) was STARTER ADVENTURE.
The wins for most of these rounds were substantial. These ideas were the only winners across the nine rounds. I think we need to consider all of these things as important when creating RPGs. Can you make a stripped down digital version – even if it’s just to CTRL-F it for the GM at the table. You need a starter adventure. You probably don’t need a big sexy map, but I think it speaks to the kind of people who buy our games.
To briefly cover off other answers that got some sort of votes included: GM TOOL KITS, NO AI & ECO CREDENTIALS, A RECIPIE BOOK, PRE-MADE CHARACTERS, 200 PAGES OF LORE, COLOURING-IN PAGES, A NICE BOX, BONUS OR CONCEPT ART, A PHAT STACK OF CHARACTER SHEETS, NICE-TO-HOLD-TOKENS, A REALLY GOOD INDEX, A PHILOSOPHICAL STATEMENT, A BIZARRE LOOT DECK, 30-50 FERAL MINIATURES.
If I was looking at this list and wanted to seperate the thing you could actually have (which were supported well) I’d suggest these are the secondary things you should be including as:
GM TOOLKIT (the only other votes against STARTER ADVENTURE here)
NO AI & ECO CREDENTIALS (a bit of a political issue currently so this might bouy the numbers, but the closest thing to toppling STARTER ADVENTURE)
A NICE BOX (this did quite well against a FREE DIGITAL VERSION)
A REALLY GOOD INDEX (ran against BIG SEXY MAP and FREE DIGITAL VERSION with good performance)
BIZARRE LOOT DECK (probably just an example similar to the nice box, which is that people want actionable stuff with their games)
DIGITAL INTERGRATION (‘get the robot to do the maths’)
I don’t think we need all of this in every game, but this could be considered the nice-to-have list. These probably tell you that, also, people who play our games would like things to be easier.
And finally, here’s the stuff that got zero votes: CUSTOM DICE, STATS FOR A GOBLIN, TOTE BAG, BONUS OR CONCEPT ART, USEFUL GM SCREEN, A 5E CONVERSION KIT, CHEAPLY MADE COSTUMES.
I suppose we should take the following from this. Sometimes I put funny things in there. I’m almost certainly not talking to people who care about 5E. And sometimes custom or bonus stuff can just feel a bit like being cheated out of the simpler, more svelt, option.
Below are links to some of the polls which I ran. Feel free to share an discuss them as you wish (#sexymapwasrobbed). If you have enjoyed this ‘analysis’ and would like to share it with your newsletter audience, please use the ‘cross-post’ option in substack.
Otherwise, I will be back soon with some ideas around the concept of games as metaphors (where I apply my rusty English lit degree) and maybe some hints at the next game.
Thank you for reading.
Round 1: https://twitter.com/CjEggett/status/1684914723433623552
Round 2: https://twitter.com/CjEggett/status/1685196068772839425
Round 3: https://twitter.com/CjEggett/status/1685564437153894401
Round 4: https://twitter.com/CjEggett/status/1685929984299253760
Round 5: https://twitter.com/CjEggett/status/1686340875113127936
Round 6: https://twitter.com/CjEggett/status/1686731043448004608
Round 7: https://twitter.com/CjEggett/status/1687096345386233857
Round 8: https://twitter.com/CjEggett/status/1687531363723837453
Round 9 (final round): https://twitter.com/CjEggett/status/1688477698832605184
C J EGGETT | Writer & Game Designer 