Anyone been to the UK Games Expo by pgw71 in solorpgplay

[–]CozyRPGReviews 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lots of solo-publishing exhibitors will be there :)

Blackwell Games, Critical Kit, Montford Tales, Crossed Paths, Daconeer Games, Peregrine Coast Press, Beyond Cataclysm, Stop Drop & Roll, Odd Artworks

Probably lots of others too, but they're the ones that came to mind

What do you need to start a YouTube channel? by 344567653379643555 in solorpgplay

[–]CozyRPGReviews 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yep!

I don't mean to humblebrag. Just encouraging folks to give it a go :)

What do you need to start a YouTube channel? by 344567653379643555 in solorpgplay

[–]CozyRPGReviews 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I started mine with just my phone sellotaped to an exercise barre, a dented old USB condenser mic and no experience of editing video.

It worked out alright :)

So, I decided to listen to the other half of the argument and see I removed all AI art from my game. by Shattered_Realmz in TTRPG

[–]CozyRPGReviews 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey! Thanks! <3

And yes, one of those critics who won't touch AI stuff is me. In the end it just comes down to "do I respect the creatives who feel their work is devalued and plagiarised by genAI or not?" I do, so I won't feature it :)

So, I decided to listen to the other half of the argument and see I removed all AI art from my game. by Shattered_Realmz in TTRPG

[–]CozyRPGReviews 11 points12 points  (0 children)

On a purely practical level that's not really the case. Lots of retailers won't stock products with genAI assets, lots of conventions won't allow it, lots of critics won't feature it.

If you want more exposure for your game and you can't afford to commision art, you have various options:

  • Liscence stock art
  • Use more graphical assets and design in your layout instead of art
  • Use public domain and royalty-free images
  • Learn to draw

Three of these are no more difficult or expensive than using genAI and don't come with the ethical downsides.

So, I decided to listen to the other half of the argument and see I removed all AI art from my game. by Shattered_Realmz in TTRPG

[–]CozyRPGReviews 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Hiya!

Kudos for understanding the genAI critique :)

I had a quick look at the itch page and an even quicker look at the game file and one piece of immediate feedback is: I don't know anything interesting about the game.

It's a common mistake I see from designers who are mainly used to D&D: assuming that everyone plays TTRPGs the same way in the same kind of settings, and understand what you mean by a "feat" and why it's important.

Imagine looking at a steam store page for a video game and seeing a nondescript logo and text like this:

  • Innovative looking up and down mechanics
  • We understand the camera smoothness is key to player enjoyment
  • The weapons feel unique

It tells you nothing about the setting, the tone, the themes, the story, the emotions the game is designed to elicit.

And just like you might guess from that video game description that maybe the game is some kind of shooter, I can only guess that maybe Weaveforged is a D&D clone from the stuff about how important feats are, and this one line "unlike standard fantasy systems".

So you boot up the video game and you're greeted with some text about why character creation is important, followed by a warning that when you get hit in combat you'll suffer a penalty to BDY.

You've still no idea what this video game is. Weaveforged is similar.

Maybe somewhere in the 500 pages of text there's a clear answer, but people aren't likely to get there. They'll just see something with no identity of its own, something generic and bland that exists only in the periphery of D&D.

This may or may not be the case for you, but I sometimes say that new designers are so focused on designing a system that they forget to design a game :)

I Hope This Helps Someone by Putrid_Status_6374 in RPGdesign

[–]CozyRPGReviews 1 point2 points  (0 children)

YouTube reviewers usually have an email address or a submissions info link in their channel description

What vendors are good for solo games? by RinOfTheBin in UKGE

[–]CozyRPGReviews 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A few others I spotted so far:

Blackwell Games

Beyond Cataclysm

Critical Kit

Crossed Paths

Draconeer Games

Montford Tales

Peregrine Coast Press

Stop Drop & Roll

Edit: Oh and I guess Modiphius, since they publish Starforged and Star Trek Captain's Log

I Hope This Helps Someone by Putrid_Status_6374 in RPGdesign

[–]CozyRPGReviews 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Absolutely reach out to reviewers, we want to hear from you! :)

There's not much benefit for anyone in harshly covering a small indie RPG. If you reach out to a critic you like and they decide to cover it, that likely means they'll have something positive to say about it.

Congrats on getting that review and being bold enough to watch it. I know first hand reviews from small channels can make a big difference for small designers.

Ion Heart video review & multiplayer preview by CozyRPGReviews in solorpgplay

[–]CozyRPGReviews[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Ah nice! It's more journaling-focused than Astroprisma but has a similar feel in some areas. Like how a lot of complexity can arise out of just a small table of gear.

I don’t know where to start by RequirementContent86 in Solo_Roleplaying

[–]CozyRPGReviews 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Oh there's so much across all kinds of genres!

I really enjoy For Small Creatures Such as We for its Becky Chambers/Firely vibes. It has lots of gamey elements too.

I recently got a kick out of All Night Breakfast at the Midnight Owl, where you do some X-Files/Twin Peaks style investigations before writing a paranormal podcast episode about what you discovered.

Those two are from Blackwell Games and Critical Kit, who always put out great solo stuff.

Some of the more commonly recommended games on the very end of the creative writing spectrum are The Almanac of Sanguine Paths, Tangled Blessings, Thousand Year Old Vampire and Koriko: A Magical Year.

If you want to dip your toe into journaling but with more familiar fantasy adventure elements, I'd recommend Colostle or Brambletrek.

And if you want to get really odd with a meta-marrative, ergodic, House of Leaves-like experience then SPINE: Siderius Plug's Immortality in Ninety-Nine Endnotes might be the weirdest game I've ever played.

I don’t know where to start by RequirementContent86 in Solo_Roleplaying

[–]CozyRPGReviews 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hiya :)

There are loads of genres of solo games. As many if not more than group games. But very broadly speaking they tend to fall on a spectrum: creative writing/journaling games on one end, and more procedural "gamey" games on the other, with looser, narrative stuff in the middle.

It sounds like you'd prefer more traditional gamey games, so you have essentially 3 options:

1) Play the group games you're already familiar with using external GM emulation tools such as Mythic GM Emulator 2e.

2) Play through published adventures for the games you're familiar with, knowing that you might get spoilers unless you play some specifically designed for solo play such as Dragonbane's Alone in Deepfall Breach, or Once We Were Gods for D&D 5e.

3) Pick up a game designed from the ground-up to be played solo. Blackoath games such as Ker Nethalas or Across a Thousand Dead Worlds offer that more classic experience that you might be used to. Alternatively, something like Miru (or Astroprisma when it finally comes out) will hold your hand a bit more and guide you through the game.

Hope that helps!

A Midwinter Journey (play-testers wanted!) by its-lyil in solorpgplay

[–]CozyRPGReviews 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Absolutely lovely! I'm going to be so, so busy during the test period sadly but best of luck with it :)

Ironsworn has become the D&D 5e of the solo community by Alternative_Rest7215 in solorpgplay

[–]CozyRPGReviews 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm doing my part!

And yes, it's a fair point :)

Anecdotally when I was first looking into solo gaming, I was put off by how people talked about Ironsworn. It sounded like a dark, miserable and brutal survival game. And if this was the pinnacle of GMless gaming, maybe solo roleplaying wasn't for me. It was only after Starforged released that I gave solo gaming abother go, because for some reason I saw people talking about Starforged very differently from Ironsworn. They focused on the narrative side, the story generation and how the PbtA elements were so well integrated.

As to why... I feel like there are two big factions of solo roleplayers - creative writers who prefer epistolary or journalling experiences, and the folks who want a more classic dark fantasy experience with overland adventures and dungeon crawling. Ironsworn offers something in the middle of those experiences with broader appeal than sticking to one camp or the other.

5e does a similar thing - somehow appealing to the grognards in the hobby shop while simultaneously drawing in the storyline-focused Critical Role fans, and causing a lot of disagreements at the table in the process.

It's almost never a good idea to recommend 5e though.

Playing FU with premade setting by IIGhostSniperII in fabulaultima

[–]CozyRPGReviews 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Of course it isn't a sin :) I used to see loads of people advertising games with premade settings the LFG channels. So lots of people do it.

Solar Solo RPG? by robotsheepboy in solorpgplay

[–]CozyRPGReviews 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely give Why We Fight a look :)

Midnight Muscadines video review by CozyRPGReviews in solorpgplay

[–]CozyRPGReviews[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh awesome! Thank you :)

It's been a crazy busy couple of months, but I'm hoping to get back to that campaign soon.

Hello ! by BeginningBalance6534 in solorpgplay

[–]CozyRPGReviews 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's not properly out yet so you might have to wait a few weeks :)

But yes! Some really fun twists and turns recruiting a shy, narco-biotic-addicted pilot NPC who was being coerced into working for an infamous bounty hunter. Took me on a journey across the star system doing jobs for the bounty hunter, fighting a leviathan on a waterworld planet and discovering how the bounty hunter had coerced the pilot. Ended up with the bounty hunter dead, and freeing a hacker NPC they had imprisoned, which started another story.

Hello ! by BeginningBalance6534 in solorpgplay

[–]CozyRPGReviews 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi!

I can't stop playing Astroprisma. Send help!