An indie role-playing game is a role-playing game published by individuals or small press publishers, in contrast to games published by large corporations. Indie tabletop role-playing game designers participate in various game distribution networks, development communities, and gaming conventions, both in person and online. Indie game designer committees grant annual awards for excellence.
A tabletop role-playing game, also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a kind of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech and sometimes movements. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a set formal system of rules and guidelines, usually involving randomization. Within the rules, players have the freedom to improvise, and their choices shape the direction and outcome of the game.
Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) is a tabletop role-playing game design framework developed by Meguey Baker and Vincent Baker for the 2010 game Apocalypse World and later adapted for hundreds of other indie role-playing games.
Modiphius Entertainment is a tabletop role-playing game and board game publisher based in Fulham, London that is known for licensed adaptations of established media. Notable titles include Star Trek Adventures, Fallout the Roleplaying Game,Dune: Adventures in the Imperium, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork, and the Mass Effect board game.
Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game produced by Magpie Games. It is set in the world of the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, and takes place in five different time periods. Players take the roles of martial artists, technological experts, or benders – people who can manipulate one of the four classical elements – who fight for balance in the world while also working towards their own goals and struggling with inner balance, represented by opposing ideals held by a character.
City of Mist is an urban fantasy neo-noir detective tabletop role-playing game (RPG) designed by Amít Moshe and published by Son of Oak Game Studio. The game is set in a modern-day metropolis where ordinary people of all walks of life become modern-day reincarnations of myths, legends, and fairy tales, gaining magical powers and abilities.
Banana Chan is a Chinese Canadian game designer and writer for tabletop role-playing games and board games. Chan and Sen-Foong Lim created Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall (2021). Chan has written for over twenty tabletop games, including the official Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft (2021), Dune: Adventures in the Imperium, and the third edition of Betrayal at House on the Hill (2022).
Jeeyon Shim is a second generation Korean American indie role-playing game and live action role-playing game designer and writer. A former outdoor educator, her body of work is strongly influenced by themes of connection to the natural world. Playing Shim's narrative games often involves creating a keepsake artifact.
Lucian Kahn is an American role-playing game writer/designer and musician based in Brooklyn. His work focuses on LGBT, Jewish, and subcultural themes, typically utilizing satire and farce. His games include Visigoths vs. Mall Goths,If I Were a Lich, Man, and Dead Friend: A Game of Necromancy, and his music includes Schmekel.
Magpie Games is an American tabletop role-playing games publishing company. Their 2021 crowdfunding campaign to fund the publication of Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game raised over five million dollars, breaking the record for Kickstarter's highest earning tabletop role-playing game. Other notable publications include Bluebeard's Bride and a role-playing game adaptation of the board game Root. The publisher has won IndieCade, ENNIE Awards, and Indie Game Developer Network awards.
Wanderhome is an indie role-playing game by game designer Jay Dragon about animal people in a pastoral setting, based upon the Belonging Outside Belonging game system by Avery Alder and Benjamin Rosenbaum. It was published by Possum Creek Games soon after Dragon's Sleepaway. Unlike typical tabletop role-playing games, Wanderhome does not use dice, turns, or a gamemaster, focusing instead on the characters' emotional journey. Dialogue takes the place of battles, and gameplay revolves around question prompts.
Visigoths vs. Mall Goths is an urban fantasy tabletop role-playing game with LGBTQ dating sim elements by Lucian Kahn, with art by Robin Eisenberg. The ancient Visigoths have time traveled to 1990s Los Angeles and are battling mall goths for control of the mall. The game's tone is silly and the setting has many puns. The game was inspired by 1990s movies The Craft, Empire Records, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Clueless.
Mörk Borg is an apocalyptic fantasy role-playing game published by Fria Ligan in 2020 that features dark themes inspired by heavy metal music, frequent character death and a doom metal playlist. Its popularity resulted in a large number of expansions, supplements and adventures created by the fan community.
Coyote & Crow is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game by Connor Alexander. The game was designed by a team of Native Americans from more than a dozen tribes. The game is set in an alternate future of the Americas, where thanks to a natural disaster, colonization never happened. Coyote & Crow's setting is the metropolis Cahokia, which is based on the Mississippi River. Coyote & Crow's first expansion book, Ahu Tiiko, focuses on a murder mystery in a forest village.
Trophy RPG is a psychological horror tabletop role-playing game by Jesse Ross about doomed treasure hunters in the woods. There are two versions of the game: Trophy Dark and Trophy Gold. Trophy Dark is designed for single session play, while Trophy Gold is designed for longer campaigns. Both versions were published by Gauntlet Publishing in 2022 after a successful Kickstarter campaign raised $210,141. Trophy RPG won the silver medal for "Best Game" at the 2023 ENNIE Awards.
Sharang Biswas is an Indian American designer/writer of tabletop role-playing games and interactive media, a writer of speculative fiction, an adjunct professor of game studies at NYU Game Center, and a freelance games journalist. His work focuses on LGBTQ and science fiction and fantasy themes. Biswas has won multiple awards for his game writing work as both a solo designer and a collaborator: one IndieCade award, four ENNIE Awards, and two Indie Game Developer Network awards. He was an Artist in Residence at the Museum of the Moving Image.
Women are Werewolves is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game by Yeonsoo Julian Kim and C.A.S. Taylor about nonbinary characters in a family where only the women transform into werewolves beneath the full moon. It was published in 2022 by 9th Level Games after a successful Kickstarter campaign raised $23,556. Women are Werewolves won "Game of the Year" at Dicebreaker's 2023 Tabletop Awards and the first annual Nonbinary Tabletop Awards in 2024.
Mausritter is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game by Isaac Williams about adventurous mice. It won the 2021 Gold ENNIE Award for "Best Family Game/Product."
I'm Sorry Did You Say Street Magic is a city-building tabletop role-playing game created by Caro Asercion in 2019, based on the system in Microscope.
Slayers is a 2020 tabletop role-playing game by Spencer Campbell about monster-hunting in a cursed city. It won an Indie Game Developer Network award and was nominated for three ENNIE Awards.
