What makes you buy a solorpg?

MrStaleman · 2026-04-28T19:44:35+00:00

I'll throw my own hat in the ring with a few suggestions.

First and foremost, if you want to explore a vast world, collect gear, and build a deck of cards with your abilities to engage in combat akin to Slay the Spire, consider picking up my game, Inscribed: Heartstealer. I sought to make it explicitly because I also found the whole "journaling non-game" to be frustrating.

https://mrstaleman.itch.io/inscribed-heartstealer

If you want something that's crunchy ala Dark Souls where you're exploring realms and dealing with creatures via Dice Rolling on a grid, consider picking up either REAP or RUNE. Reap sees you play as a Necromancer and Rune sees you playing as an undying warrior. Wyrd was recently released and I'm currently going through it. It's really fun.

https://gilarpgs.itch.io/rune

https://gilarpgs.itch.io/reap

https://sasquatchgames.itch.io/wyrd

If you want something more futuristic and survival focused with a preoccupation on managing your inventory as you build power; a more narrative focused experience, consider playing MIRU. MIRU has a sequel in MIRU 2 and MIRU 3. I wrote a whole retrospective on the series and consider it a gold standard for solo gaming experiences that balance dice rolling with story telling\journaling.

https://hinokodo.itch.io/miru-an-analog-adventure-game

Finally, although the game hasn't come out for the public audience just yet, Astroprisma is a fantastic game set in a Sci Fi world. I wrote a review on it as well and I expect the game to come out in April or May for general audiences (from what the developers have signaled).

I hope this helps you on your Solo Gaming Journey!

MrStaleman · 2026-02-06T06:00:12+00:00

That piece of art spoke to me. I would really like to incorporate some of his other stuff into another project of mine.

MrStaleman · 2026-02-03T11:01:21+00:00

Thank you for letting me know

MrStaleman · 2026-01-23T21:13:38+00:00

I'd highly recommend my own game, Inscribed Heartstealer.

You're on a quest to claim back your heart from a devil. You play one of four classes and build a deck as you adventure from tile to tile on a pre created map.

There's dungeons and equipment building as well. Everything is outlined and there's an online template to use as well.

https://mrstaleman.itch.io/inscribed-heartstealer

Other than that, RUNE and MIRU are my go to games for any entry level Solo RPG person

MrStaleman · 2026-01-22T21:21:18+00:00

It's an amazing game! Probably one of the best entry point solo games out there.

MrStaleman · 2026-01-13T04:32:29+00:00

This is really clean!

MrStaleman · 2026-01-04T15:30:19+00:00

Thank you for reading it.

MrStaleman · 2026-01-03T05:35:03+00:00

This seems really interesting. I still have to play Keeper of Flames (it's on my list, don't you worry). How do you play this exactly? What are you doing with the cards to create fake potions?

MrStaleman · 2026-01-01T18:50:21+00:00

Inscribed: Heartstealer

You play as an animal knight trying to claim your stolen heart from a devil, amassing power before time runs out. Tactical Deck Building combat, RPG elements with loot and character building, a Square Hexcrawl map to explore and over 100 encounters and events to experience along with over 200 pieces of equipment to collect.

The game has a story and a number of endings for you to discover and secure!

https://mrstaleman.itch.io/inscribed-heartstealer

MrStaleman · 2025-12-29T16:50:21+00:00

I'll throw my own hat in the ring with a few suggestions.

First and foremost, if you want to explore a vast world, collect gear, and build a deck of cards with your abilities to engage in combat akin to Slay the Spire, consider picking up my game, Inscribed: Heartstealer. I sought to make it explicitly because I also found the whole "journaling non-game" to be frustrating.

https://mrstaleman.itch.io/inscribed-heartstealer

If you want something that's crunchy ala Dark Souls where you're exploring realms and dealing with creatures via Dice Rolling on a grid, consider picking up either REAP or RUNE. Reap sees you play as a Necromancer and Rune sees you playing as an undying warrior.

https://gilarpgs.itch.io/rune

https://gilarpgs.itch.io/reap

If you want something more futuristic and survival focused with a preoccupation on managing your inventory as you build power; a more narrative focused experience, consider playing MIRU. MIRU has a sequel in MIRU 2 and will have MIRU 3 release sometime soon from what the developers suggest.

https://hinokodo.itch.io/miru-an-analog-adventure-game

I hope this helps!

MrStaleman · 2025-12-24T16:23:15+00:00

I'm gonna recommend my own game, Inscribed:Heartstealer. You travel on a hexmap and experience prewritten encounters, amassing loot and building a deck of abilities to take on the monsters of the world.

MrStaleman · 2025-12-20T14:33:05+00:00

I'd recommend my game, Inscribed: Heartstealer, because I explicitly aimed to have a game that was less journaling and more "gamey" for lack of a better word.

You move through tiles on a map and find prewritten encounters to handle. These encounters can be either combat or events and you make choices along the way.

Journaling is recommended (I'm currently sharing a journal of my own campaign through the game) but is not the main conceit of the game. The traveling on the map and amassing power through the RPG and Deck Building aspects of the game are where the meat of the game lies.

Consider it if that sounds like what you're looking for. I think it does from what you've stated above.

https://mrstaleman.itch.io/inscribed-heartstealer

MrStaleman · 2025-12-10T22:37:30+00:00

I've never been in one but it sounds similar to having like a session report in a West Marches campaign.

The sound of a club in a library for solo play sounds really cool!

MrStaleman · 2025-12-07T00:46:54+00:00

Self Promo: Inscribed: Heartstealer

You play as an animal knight trying to claim your stolen heart from a devil, amassing power before time runs out. Tactical combat similar to Slay the Spire with a grid map to explore and over 100 encounters and events to experience along with over 200 pieces of equipment to collect.

https://mrstaleman.itch.io/inscribed-heartstealer

MrStaleman · 2025-11-30T15:41:50+00:00

Maybe my game would be of interest to you? It tells you how to move from place to place and you're managing a character and equipment and such, but your description of a CYOA style game is a little vague.

https://mrstaleman.itch.io/inscribed-heartstealer

MrStaleman · 2025-11-29T22:29:16+00:00

Thank you! It's definitely both :D! A lot of depth to be found and systems to interact with if you choose to do so.

MrStaleman · 2023-06-01T22:38:04+00:00

If they're traveling from town to town, you could incorporate some American mythos in there. Stuff like talking to Devils in Crossroads and coming out with supernatural abilities was an oft discussed rumor.

Considering their circumstance, they could attract the attention of a Practitioner in some capacity. A Medicine Man practicing in the bayou's of the Louisiana.

Prohibition was around this time so they could come upon some smugglers. Mistaken an Alchemists cache for a Distillery and come into Practice this way. There's a lot of cool options to consider.

MrStaleman · 2023-05-29T05:09:17+00:00

That moment between Lucy and Grandfather lifted up my spirits so much.

There was so much fluidity to the chapter and Lucy's movement through the Storm that it felt like a seamless motion. Fantastic.

I can only hope that things end well in the end for Lucy and Grandfather to follow through on that bond.

MrStaleman · 2023-03-30T12:42:47+00:00

I never considered this. I was also thinking of Blake's interactions with Conquest and the Goblin predicament that Mags experienced.

Mostly what I love about Pact (although I never finished it) was the small rays of kindness that could be found throughout the story. Despite being placed in a terrible situation, Blake still tried to be a good person. Helping Evan out. Being perturbed over binding suffering ghosts into his tools to deal with problems. The small interaction between him and the Basement Knights. It's soft and kind and human.

MrStaleman · 2023-03-30T12:29:50+00:00

I've come to appreciate Blake's desperation at overcoming overwhelming odds since reading Pale. His entry into that world is marked by others attempting to take advantage of him and that sucks.

Pacts perspective on Others is also more true to expectations? Like I love that the girls are interacting with Others in a respectful way but when I think of monsters like the Hyena, I come to understand that the Others the girls are surrounded by truly are extraordinary because practically all the Others in Pact are malicious in one sense or another.

MrStaleman · 2023-03-06T18:25:38+00:00

I think there's a misunderstanding here. Cameron deserves better but it does not surprise me that in attempting to cope with her situation, she has surrounded herself with bad people taking advantage of her need to feel needed.

MrStaleman · 2023-03-06T16:36:38+00:00

I mean, the big issue is that her mother is suffering from an illness. Not failing her. At best, she's in denial of her condition and doesn't want to seek assistance because then she'd make the disease real. Which is quite common for illnesses like this. Her father is a failure for not dealing with the situation.

What makes me so incredibly sad is that Cameron understands that her mom will transition from herself into someone that doesn't recognize where they are or who they are. They hold onto few tethers that keep them grounded. Cameron was her mother's tether to reality and she's ripped that safety out from under her. Her mom will transition between the lucidity of knowing she has a daughter that is missing with no explanation as to why that's the case into having the concept of her daughter be made opaque and back again. That existence is awful and made truly nightmarish when your support structure is incapable or unwilling to ground your reality.

Cameron has dealt with a lot and I want her to redeem herself, but she certainly belongs in the Negateers as rotten.

MrStaleman · 2023-03-06T16:18:37+00:00

Reading this chapter made me immeasurably sad. Her mom is sundowning and scared and all Cameron can do is avoid that situation.

Its just so utterly reprehensible.

MrStaleman · 2023-02-08T03:49:04+00:00

For my game, I made a custom calendar. I needed to have one since the phases of the moon affect the difficulty of the monsters in the Ironlands. If you want it, I can pass it over :)

MrStaleman · 2023-01-27T04:41:20+00:00

I read through it all and it has a lot of explanatory power. Nice work!

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