At some point in the last couple of years, February became zine month on crowdfunding platforms. Presumably that means it’s a slow month for big crowdfunders – I don’t know, and I don’t really care, because it’s also basically second Christmas for a very specific type of gamer. By which I mean me (Chant).

I cut my teeth in TTRPG production making zines, and I am of the opinion that they’re incredibly fertile ground for weird. Small, niche things that are of interest to maybe fifty people, experimental concepts, and first passes at things that you’re going to see in incredibly lavish, high spec versions in about five years’ time.

That means I spend a lot of time during February looking at what’s bubbling up through Kickstarter’s Zine Quest and now Backerkit’s Zinetopia. Usually this is a special, localised cannonade of information fired into my group chats, but this year it’s for all of you. Please admire my restraint in only talking about one of the zine-based celebrations currently going on: Zinetopia.

The nine games I’m about to share with you are not objectively the best things in Zinetopia, because that’s not an accolade I’m qualified to award. They’re the things I like, that I want to spend my time and money on, and that – in many cases – I think you might not have heard of. Some of them are from new or small creators, some of them are downright genius, and some are gorgeous. 

If that piques your interest, keep reading.

The Sisters of the Dawn

Wanna play a strike team of witches, plus their familiars, fighting a demonic doomsday cult?

It’s a testament to the diversity of TTRPGs that this is probably not the first time you’ve encountered this idea, but it’s not the core concept that attracted me to this game. The Sisters of the Dawn has three settings, historical, contemporary and post-fall. It’s post-fall that got me. The remains of humanity fighting back from Jakarta, one of the few cities to hold out against the hordes.

I’ve seen post-magical apocalypse games. I’ve seen witches. I haven’t seen them together, and I’m quite interested in finding out more. 

Gossamer Frontier

This solo game describes itself as witchy sci-fi. It’s also explicitly a love letter to Bioware games like Dragon Age and Mass Effect. Lead a crew of richly developed misfits through an “opalescent weave of possibility that takes you anywhere in the galaxy.”

From what I can see on the campaign page, it’s got a nice mix of structured storytelling and creative improv, and it’s promised me classic Bioware multi-choice dialogue (no idea how that works in a journalling game; excited to find out). 

It’s also got beautiful art. Like really, really beautiful art. I don’t know how much of it they’ll be able to fit into the zine format, but even a few pieces will make this pretty spectacular.

The Endtimes Trilogy

I love apocalypses. That’s just something you should know. I’ll play as many games of Ten Candles or Dead Air as I can get. I never tire of tragedy. Nor does Adam Bell, apparently, because the special bit of these games is that you keep playing the same characters. They go from time to time, place to place, for every new chapter of the game, and wherever they go the apocalypse is imminent. 

Sold.

Vralkast – Monstrous Metropolis

I also love a pocket setting. The world’s not short of small, tightly designed fantasy settings, but this city just got me. For one thing, the writing (or the snippets on the project page, anyway) is evocative and the highlighted content’s got a pleasing, dreamlike quality.

“A fractal, labyrinthine infection gnawing away at the city’s bones.”

“An ancient, blind, cave dragon collecting songs for its hoard.”

I can use this. Whether I set games there (I won’t) or pluck ideas from it to splice into other settings (I will), I am confident I’m going to get plenty of bang for my buck.

W.F.H. (worry, fear, horror)

Most of my roleplaying happens online. My friends and players are spread over four continents, and we are busy. We’re also all writers. Chat- and text-based games hit just right for us, and hopefully for some of you, too. 

In this one, you’re remote workers experiencing an eldritch calamity. Your only means of communication is the work group chat. I’m betting you could play it asynchronously, like a play-by-post game, dipping in whenever you’re online.

Apart from Alice Is Missing and This Discord Has Ghosts In It, I can’t think of many games that are custom built for online play and I for one would like to support the development of more.

Triple-O: The Player Character Emulator

Every time we launch a crowdfunder, without fail, a handful of people ask if there’s going to be a solo mode. This zine from Cezar Capacle means you can stop asking! It’s designed to let you run group-based TTRPGs on your own, as the GM.

For me, this is a really smart take on adapting games to solo play. Automating a GM is really difficult (which is why we haven’t done it): a GM’s choices are infinite, and a good GM knows when to push against players and when to follow their lead. A player’s role is more constrained. By positioning the solo player as the GM, I reckon Triple-O retains much more of a game’s essential character in converting it to solo play. 

It’s probably also really good GMing practice, if you’re new to it.

Tales From The Cockpit

This one’s a solo game about a single mech and its many pilots over a long period of time. The world beyond the cockpit changes throughout the game. Pilots come and go, but the mech persists, turned to different purposes and handled in different ways by those who climb aboard.

The world turns. The wheel of fate rolls on, and nothing is permanent except impermanence. There’s something beautiful here. Reflective and poetic, and a way to tell really big stories with a really tight, zoomed-in view. 

On Call

Something lighter, as a palate cleanser? This game’s about werewolves who can’t transform at the full moon, but instead are stuck cleaning up their pack’s messes. This one’s for all my designated drivers and emotional support buddies. 

Look, sometimes a game is just a really good idea. I’d play it as a workplace horror comedy, but it looks like there’s enough meat on its bones to go deeper if you want to. It’s also for solo or duo play, and that’s something I personally need more of. 

Orcs & Crafts

This zine isn’t a game. It’s a guide to building gaming terrain that’s affordable and beginner-friendly. As Terrain!YouTube increasingly pivots to 3D printing and highly skilled techniques, a little zine that shows you a bunch of projects you can make with corrugated cardboard is a breath of fresh air. 

Tell Us About Yours?

These are the zines I’m excited about. They’re only the smallest slice of what’s available in Zinetopia, and there’s even more on Zinequest. Whether our tastes align or not, I guarantee there’s something fun and thought provoking for you crowdfunding this month. If you’ve already found it, come and tell me in the comments. If you haven’t – time to start hunting. 

– Chant