this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2026
26 points (96.4% liked)

Games

46461 readers
1276 users here now

Welcome to the largest gaming community on Lemmy! Discussion for all kinds of games. Video games, tabletop games, card games etc.

Rules

1. Submissions have to be related to games

Video games, tabletop, or otherwise. Posts not related to games will be deleted.

This community is focused on games, of all kinds. Any news item or discussion should be related to gaming in some way.

2. No bigotry or harassment, be civil

No bigotry, hardline stance. Try not to get too heated when entering into a discussion or debate.

We are here to talk and discuss about one of our passions, not fight or be exposed to hate. Posts or responses that are hateful will be deleted to keep the atmosphere good. If repeatedly violated, not only will the comment be deleted but a ban will be handed out as well. We judge each case individually.

3. No excessive self-promotion

Try to keep it to 10% self-promotion / 90% other stuff in your post history.

This is to prevent people from posting for the sole purpose of promoting their own website or social media account.

4. Stay on-topic; no memes, funny videos, giveaways, reposts, or low-effort posts

This community is mostly for discussion and news. Remember to search for the thing you're submitting before posting to see if it's already been posted.

We want to keep the quality of posts high. Therefore, memes, funny videos, low-effort posts and reposts are not allowed. We prohibit giveaways because we cannot be sure that the person holding the giveaway will actually do what they promise.

5. Mark Spoilers and NSFW

Make sure to mark your stuff or it may be removed.

No one wants to be spoiled. Therefore, always mark spoilers. Similarly mark NSFW, in case anyone is browsing in a public space or at work.

6. No linking to piracy

Don't share it here, there are other places to find it. Discussion of piracy is fine.

We don't want us moderators or the admins of lemmy.world to get in trouble for linking to piracy. Therefore, any link to piracy will be removed. Discussion of it is of course allowed.

Authorized Regular Threads

Related communities

PM a mod to add your own

Video games

Generic

Help and suggestions

By platform

By type

By games

Language specific

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Dremor@lemmy.world
JonsJava@lemmy.world
Dremor@jlai.lu
PerfectDark@lemmy.world
26
What are the best solo, free, PnP table games for someone coming from dnd burnout? (piefed.zip)
submitted 1 day ago by Grumpy404@piefed.zip to c/games@lemmy.world
12 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I do like dnd but ive just had some form of burnout lately and i feel like my depression isint helping either.

I want to explore other games and genres besides just dnd 5e. I would like to try solo but im not sure what the most beginner approach/game would be that is free, as i dont want to pay right away. I would also like to explore unique card games similar to tcgs but those dont really come solo.

Im up to hear out your suggestions and questions.

top 12 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 7 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

Since it's a list of other great recommendations, I want to highlight for you:

If you're willing to spend $10, itch.io has an amazing bundle on right now with a bunch of solo games:

https://itch.io/b/3484/no-ice-in-minnesota

By a "bunch", there's a total of over 1400 games. Some are PC games and some are print and play one shot RPGs or board games or party games. Many have solo rules.

If this deal wasn't going on right now, in your shoes, I would still go shop itch.io because it's where I find great independent solo game and solo RPG authors, and many are like $2.

Seriously great bundle for a pen and paper gamer. I've never seen one like it.

It's a worthwhile charity too, in my opinion. I live too close to Minnesota, so I have some motivation to see the masked thugs without badges or body cameras stopped before they spread any further.

[–] MostRegularPeople@lemmy.world 2 points 13 hours ago

Thanks for clarifying that. Yeah it's massive. There are so many solo games in it too.

There are a lot of $20-30 games in there that I've had my eye on for while. Rebel Scum, This Mortal Coil, Eco-Mofos. Just really good stuff.

And it's a great cause. I'm nowhere Minnesota but anything we can do to stop these bastards, even if it's buying and playing games, is a good start.

[–] MostRegularPeople@lemmy.world 4 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Vantage is a great solo card game but it's a bit expensive at $90. I really like it. Great game play loop and a fun way to use your cards while exploring. There's also one deck dungeon for a lot cheaper. It's not my favorite, but I play it in hotel rooms a lot because I can pack it easily.

This is a low barrier to entry solo game that is 1) free, and 2) it'll let you know if you like this style of gaming.

https://noroadhome.itch.io/alone-among-the-stars

For solo RPGs, I have gotten a lot out of using the Mythic Game Master Emulator with all sorts of games. I'm working on Coriolus right now, but I have had a lot of fun with simpler fantasy games like Knave and Maze Rats.

Starforged is great, but i got that on sale.

This is great for solo gaming:

https://zeruhur.itch.io/lonelog

So is this, even though it's about PbP games

https://zeruhur.itch.io/keep-the-story-moving

If you're willing to spend $10, itch.io has an amazing bundle on right now with a bunch of solo games:

https://itch.io/b/3484/no-ice-in-minnesota

[–] pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 1 points 15 hours ago

If you're willing to spend $10, itch.io has an amazing bundle on right now with a bunch of solo games:

https://itch.io/b/3484/no-ice-in-minnesota

Yes. Seriously great recommendation. There's so many games, and some are print and play including solo play rules.

[–] tanisnikana@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago

I would like to recommend Koriko: a Magical Year.

In this game, you’d play as a sixteen year old witch who goes to the town or city of Koriko to pursue witchcraft and make friends and develop as a person over a year. Using one game book (or a PDF), 21d6 which are primarily for stacking on top of each other, a journal which should look and feel like a spell book, and a deck of tarot cards, the game feels like Kiki’s Delivery Service meets Persona, and I adore it so very much.

My own version of Koriko is a massive futuristic megalopolis, and magic only works when the ingredients are grown from the ground instead of replicated.

I highly recommend this game!

[–] evilcultist@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Ironsworn. https://github.com/Billiam/awesome-ironsworn

There’s also a card game called scoundrel that’s like a dungeon crawl and free (there are how to play videos on YouTube).

Arkham Horror LCG can be soloed and is good but costly.

[–] Dunstabzugshaubitze@feddit.org 3 points 1 day ago

the youtube channel "me myself and die" used ironsworn for season 2 or 3. it's a good showcase for how to soloplay an rpg.

[–] Ugurcan@lemmy.world 2 points 23 hours ago

Won’t you consider board game classics? Catan, Munchkin, Ticket to Ride, Exploding Kittens, Wingspan etc. are pretty good choices, albeit not “solo”, all have free/online versions somewhere.

Also check BoardGameGeek for “solo games”. Their ranking are most often pretty spot on.

[–] who@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

What do you mean by PnP in this context?

Here are some tabletop games that can be played solo:

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamemechanic/2819/solo-solitaire-game/linkeditems/boardgamemechanic?pageid=1&sort=rank

[–] iamthetot@piefed.ca 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Pen & Paper, or Paper & Pencil I would wager.

[–] Sas@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 23 hours ago

I read it like that. In Germany we say PnP (pen and paper) instead of ttrpg, which makes it easy to assume that's the English term, as it's English words in German

[–] missingno@fedia.io 4 points 1 day ago

Print and play, means everything you need is in a single PDF.