February means it is time for Zine Quest. A yearly tradition in the TTRPG space, Zine Quest sees hundreds of indie creators launch new crowdfunding projects, be they brand-new games or enhanced print runs of older ones. While Zinequest originally started on Kickstarter, in recent years, Zinequest has spread to other funding platforms like Crowdfundr and Itch.
Because of this, it is far too easy to miss out on the tabletop roleplaying game of your dreams, as you don’t learn about a game until after the campaign has concluded.
So, to guarantee you don’t miss out, I’ve searched the web and found the best and most interesting Zine Quest crowdfunding campaigns! I’ve sorted them into categories, covering Action, Comedy, Drama, History, Horror, Sci-Fi, Resources, and MÖRK BORG supplements so you can quickly find the TTRPG books you’re interested in.
Action
Blister Critters
Blister Critters is set in a world where the ozone layer has vanished, wiping out humans. The loss of the ozone layer has also caused many small animals to develop bizarre mutations.
Players take control of one of these creatures. Armed with the stuff humans left behind, they set out across a warped suburbia packed with monstrous creatures called Beasts. Featuring surreal art and even more surreal stories, Blister Critters is perfect for fans of weird-out animated comedy like Ren And Stimpy.
Bracing for the Storm
Bracing for the Storm is an inventory management TTRPG that can be played solo or with friends. During the game, players aim to find all the supplies their local community will need to weather an incoming storm.
Death Game
Inspired by death game media like Battle Royale, Death Game is a narrative RPG about people stuck in a horrific situation.
At the start, all players work together to design an arena and create a gimmick for their death game. Then, players create characters and try to survive in the game for as long as possible. Interestingly, when a player character dies, the player doesn’t stop playing. Instead, they swap places with the GM, controlling the action while the GM takes over an NPC. This continues until the number of remaining contestants equals the number of players. At this point, a PvP showdown kicks off, where players fight until only one remains, meaning Death Game has a unique but exciting rhythm.
MIRU 3: An Analog Defense Game
The third game in the MIRU series, MIRU 3, is a single-player hexcrawl that sees you trying to defend your village from robots while avoiding an AI god that wants to take you down for good.
Solo Martial Blues
Perfect for fans of old-school beat ’em ups like Double Dragon, Solo Martial Blues is a solo TTRPG that puts players into the shoes of a lone vigilante trying to survive on the mean streets.
The game handles its combat via an innovative moves system that makes combat intense and strategic, perfectly capturing the feeling of an ’80s fighting movie.
Comedy/Light-Hearted
Behind the Magic: A Fantasy Mockumentary Game
Behind The Magic puts players into the shoes of a group of comically inept adventurers trying to save the world, all while a plucky bard records their exploits for a documentary.
During the game, players alternate between fantasy-adventure scenes and The Office-style confessionals. The game’s structured improv format means the game is easy to learn. Plus, the format is perfect for LARPs.
You Ain’t Zine Nothing Yet
Rather than being a single zine, You Ain’t Zine Nothing Yet is a collection of different ones covering many topics. Additionally, some games will be made based on backer input.
The games on offer include :
- Oh, Bother – A Winnie The Pooh-inspired game.
- The Devil Went Down To GIPHY – A game where you must protect your soul by correctly guessing song titles.
- Showdown At Bi Noon – A dice-based food fight
Drama
CONVICT-ION
Inspired by media like Life Is Strange and built on a modified version of the Belonging Outside Belonging system. This game casts players as characters trapped in a metaphorical prison or system due to their convictions.
The game is deeply collaborative, and as you play, you’ll also build the world around the characters. Plus, the game can be played with or without a GM.
Dinosaur Erotica
A romance TTRPG that embraces the absurd, allowing players to be a human who wants to romance a dinosaur or a dino who wants to fall in love with a human.
Lethe
In Lethe, players play as a group of amnesiacs who have found themselves in a dreamlike land. During the game, players will help the characters learn who they were before their amnesia and decide if they want to continue to be that person when the adventure is complete.
What makes this extra interesting is that the GM is the one who creates the characters. Players start the game with a blank character sheet and slowly fill things in as they learn them, giving this game a unique feel and gameplay dynamic.
Ritual Magic for Besties
Ritual Magic for Besties is a 2-6-player roleplaying game about a group of urban fantasy magic users. Using a deck of tarot cards, players will call on the character’s bonds to create rituals and cast spells. These spells can have a variety of purposes, be it to help someone or just a way to have fun.
Rom Com Drama Bomb
This three-player TTRPG combines romance and soap opera drama. Two players take control of two people who, for whatever reason, shouldn’t fall in love. The third player controls a villain whose only goal is to make the other two characters hook up, no matter the underhanded tactics they need to use.
Seelie Court
Seelie Court is a three-player game inspired by Scottish myths and legends. Players step into a court for supernatural creatures, with one player acting as the judge and the other two acting as defense and prosecution. Because of this, Seelie Court is a unique roleplaying game with a fun social twist.
The Details of Our Escape
The Details of Our Escape is a caravan-style game where players control massive groups of people, each with its own goal and reason for traveling.
Rather than dice, the game uses domino hands to tell its story. At the start of each part of the journey, players draw dominos and then lay them out in sequence to form the path, with each number representing a different situation. But beware, while some are good, others will end your journey early.
History/Alt-History
Be Kind. Rewind
The perfect game for people who miss Blockbuster, this journaling game puts players in charge of their own retro video rental store. The game is played with a standard deck of playing cards, and, in a fun twist, the game has special rules for the Jokers and How To Play cards, meaning this is a rare game that uses the entire deck.
Fealty
Fealty is a game for 2-5 players that focuses on royal courtiers. Each courtier has a playbook that defines their role in the court, the moves they can perform, and ways they can gain and spend tokens.
The monarch is represented by a deck of cards. These cards track the monarch’s mood, age, and mental state. So, as the game progresses, players will have to manage the monarch’s wants with the kingdom’s needs, all while maintaining their own position. Making Fealty a surprisingly deep kingdom simulator.
Field Agent Handbooks: Observancy Dept. 1924–28
A collection of four zines designed to look like vintage Field Agent Handbooks from Æther Corp. This game is meant to be played outside, and each zine asks players to note suspicious activity and use the built-in dowsing board to answer questions.
The zines on offer are:
- 1924 Revolution – Focused on animals
- 1925 Leviathan – Focused on clouds
- 1926 Communication – Focused on plants
- 1928 Giants – Focused on the ground
From Midgard to Eternity
From Midgard to Eternity is a solo TTRPG that follows a Norse adventurer throughout their life. During their time, they will embark on many adventures, some of which will lead them to encounter mythical beings and the mightiest gods. And, depending on the player’s actions, their character may be able to earn a death worthy of Valhalla.
HIC: Tapestry
HIC: Tapestry is about turning toilet paper into a historical tapestry.
One of the most original games crowdfunding this year, HIC: Tapestry, sees players work together to create a Bayeux Tapestry-like historical artifact, imagining the story of its creation and its journey through time.
This is an excellent game for experienced TTRPG fans and newcomers to the genre. Plus, the resulting tapestry can be used as part of other games!
Milk Bar
Inspired by the worker-focused government-subsidized canteens found all over Communist Poland, this game is set in an alternative timeline version of post-Soviet Poland.
The game is focused on base building as you and your team try to set up your own Milk Bar to support the local people. To do this, you’ll have to raid abandoned Soviet Superstructures and steal the strange technology that lurks within. However, this isn’t easy, as many dangers lurk within these dilapidated behemoths.
No Nazis in Valhalla
No Nazis in Valhalla is a grindcore, 3d6 system that casts players as members of The Great Heathen Army in 865AD. When a group of Nazis travels back in time to try and turn the tide of the second world war, it is up to the members of The Great Heathen Army to teach them a lesson they won’t soon forget.
Red Borg
Powered by MÖRK BORG, Red Borg casts players as revolutionaries attempting to overthrow their governments. The game allows players to recreate actual revolutions, like the Soviet one, or fictional ones, with a space-themed supplement titled “The Conquest Of Venus” being one of the campaign’s stretch goals.
Steamboat Willie: A Solo TTRPG
Celebrating the fact that Steamboat Willie is now in the public domain, this card-powered solo game looks at the crosspoint between art and capitalism. Playing as a young animator, players must write and storyboard their dream cartoon. However, as you do, marketing will demand changes, and you’ll have to decide if you want to stick to your guns or make changes that may make your work more successful.
Teenage Oddyssey
Based on the Mark of the Odd system, Teenage Oddyssey follows a group of teenagers trying to survive the 1990s, encountering many odd things they do.
Fantasy
Beetle Knight
Set in the kingdom of Litterfall, Beetle Knight casts players as beetle knights who must embark on epic adventures to protect everything they hold dear. While on these adventures, they’ll learn to use powerful magic tokens called Emblems and acquire many upgradable special items.
The set includes the core rules, a world guide, a dungeon crawl, a tree crawl, and rules for solo play.
Cartograph
Cartograph is a map-making and journaling TTRPG that can be played alone or with friends. While making their world, players will think about the places, people, and resources found at each location. By the end, the players will have created a map that can be used during another TTRPG.
Cocagne: A Wacky Social Game
Cocagne is a social RPG that casts players as Lieges of a Kingdom, all trying to grab control of the land. But to do this, they must gather resources, attempt diplomacy, and fight off their rivals.
Cocagne is designed to be played in a group chat over several weeks, meaning that this is a fantastic long-term game for groups with little in-person time.
FÄNGELSEHÅLA
FÄNGELSEHÅLA is a minimalist, beginner-friendly fantasy game inspired by Ikea’s famous instruction sheets. The standout part of this game is the easy-to-learn rules and dice system. Whenever a situation needs to be resolved, players roll a number of dice equal to the required stat and add the two highest rolls to get their total.
The game also includes a fantastic optional rule dubbed the Doom Stack. When this rule is used, players use a stack of dice to track their character’s condition, adding new dice to the top whenever they take so much damage. But beware, if the tower falls, something terrible happens to the character!
Grotten
Grotten is a dungeon crawl TTRPG with a minimalist art style. The game is built on a simple D20 system, making it easy to pick up and play. Even more interestingly, players create the dungeon as they play using randomly placed physical tiles, meaning the game is different every time you play.
It can be played solo or with a group. It also works with or without a GM.
Meatheads
Meatheads is a dungeon crawl game inspired by old-school roleplaying games. However, everyone in Meatheads is focused on muscle, so they only have a single stat, Strength. Because the buffer you are, the harder you hit.
This version also includes a Megadungeon with over 250 rooms.
Over War: The Night Comes Down – Monarch Edition
A remaster of the previously released Over War: The Night Comes Down. A gothic fantasy game focusing on strategy, it is set in the world of Ballark, a place recently conquered by the Over Night, who are scooping up every resource they can find, much to the detriment of the locals.
In the game, you play as a commander and their units, meaning battle plans and tactics will be crucial to victory. These mechanics make Over War: The Night Comes Down one of the most unique TTRPGs on the market.
Precious Things
In Precious Things, players play as tiny dragons. Each dragon has a horde made up of a specific item, and the item defines what the dragon can do. What’s extra cute is the book allows you to pick whatever item you wish, meaning you can have your dragon horde your favorite household object.
Ratcatcher: The Sewers of Merestal
Ratcatcher: The Sewers of Merestall is a dark fantasy TTRPG set in the sewers under the corrupt city of Merestall. The game is based on an easy-to-learn d12 system, making it easy for players of all skill levels to learn. The zine also comes with a sample adventure to help introduce the setting.
Horror
100% Modern Ghosts
Designed to capture the feeling of spooky childhood slumber party games, 100% Modern Ghosts is a comedy horror journaling game. In this game, players join the Bureau of Occult Observation and document the ghosts lurking in day-to-day life.
Campanions
Campanions asks: “What do RPG video game companies do when the player is away?” In this game, players step into the shoes of a group of companions waiting in camp while the hero embarks on their adventure.
The game is split into two phases. During the day, the players will play minigames like Cook Dinner, explore the area, and socialize. These games give them gold they can spend during the night phase as they gather around the fire and share gifts and stories, deepening their bonds as they do.
Community Radio [Second Edition]
Community Radio is a game inspired by media like Welcome To Nightvale. During the game, up to ten players create and improvise scenes of life in a small, weird town where supernatural events are commonplace. They also devise the town’s public radio station and imagine what its broadcasts would sound like.
I Crave The Loop
There is nothing more haunting than a late-night snack. In I Crave The Loop, you play as someone whose nocturnal munchings have drawn the ire of a monster, forcing you to escape before the beast catches you and steals your Fruit Loops or regional equivalent.
I Crave The Loop stands out because the game uses a real-life snack as the game clock, meaning you can play this game while enjoying a sweet treat. Plus, its roguelike nature means that sessions are quick, and each one is different, meaning it has plenty of replay value.
Midnight Glamours
Midnight Glamours is a story-driven game set in a world where fae have cursed all humans. Players take control of a group of humans who have decided to embrace their curse and investigate various urban mysteries, from small-scale weirdness to globe-spanning conspiracies.
Each character has aspects they can invoke to improve their chances of success. However, the GM can invoke darker aspects to make life harder for the investigators.
Rushlight
Built on the CRUX Roleplaying system, Rushlight is designed to tell horror stories set during the Medieval era or within low-fantasy settings. The game features an in-depth character creation system that allows players to create everything from commoners to royalty. It also focuses on simulation, meaning that a horrible fate could ensue at any time, making the game highly tense.
The Frankenstein Society Meeting Handbook
This group party TTRPG casts the players as monster-creating scientists who have come together to show off their latest creature creations.
The Magus & The Oracle
First released in 2021, this solo game follows a character as they attempt to master the arcane. Of course, this isn’t as easy as it first seems, as there are many bumps on the road to success. This version includes a custom illustrated oracle deck featuring extra prompts to further guide your writing.
Sci-Fi
Astronomical
This is a 2-player letter-writing game about people stuck on distant planets. What makes Astronomical interesting is that each player gets their own zine. While these zines are mostly the same, several prompts and outcomes are different in each zine, leading to many unique situations.
Biotrophication
A two-player sci-fi horror romance game about unusual and weird human-alien romances.
Courier – Repacked
This solo TTRPG casts the player as a Courier, someone who treks through the dangerous wasteland to deliver packages, helping to keep society afloat as they do.
The game has a heavy focus on map-making and exploration. Plus, as players flesh out the world, the tension between various factions will grow, adding even more risks to the Courier’s deliveries.
Ganymede Outriders
Ganymede Outriders casts players as Outriders, groups who travel into the desolate wasteland of The Frost to do various tasks. The game is built around an original D6 system featuring a unique mechanic called Drift. Rolling well earns Drift that can be spent for special effects, but failed rolls force the players to give Drift to the GM, meaning that resource management is a massive part of the experience.
It also features vehicle mechanics, complete with customization mechanics. This means that players can roam The Frost in a personalized battle wagon.
Me, the Singularity
A ship orbiting a black hole is about to endure a horrible fate. But only one crewmember knows it. Because they’re already dead.
What makes Me, the Singularity, stand out is that one player plays a ghost from another universe that is trying to save this alternative universe version of their friends. During the game, the ghost will try to communicate with their crewmates and tell them about the oncoming disaster before it is too late.
A fascinatingly unique concept, Me, the Singularity, is perfect for groups into sci-fi and social deduction.
Metanthropes: Introductory Zine
Metanthropes is a D100 system that casts players as a Metanthrope, a type of meta-human. This introductory zine will include an introduction to the setting, a one-shot adventure, and ten pre-made characters.
Outliers
Outliers received lots of praise when it was released in 2023, and this crowdfunding aims to release a physical version of the game. Reminiscent of things like Control, Outliers is a solo TTRPG that builds on the Wretched & Alone system.
It casts players as research assistants at a lab that studies strange, extraordinary phenomena. But, as is tradition, nothing at the lab is quite what it seems at first glance.
Perfect Momentum
Set in a ruined near-future world, Perfect Momentum casts players as heroes trying to defeat a giant machine-monster terrorizing their community.
Interestingly, players are reborn when they die, meaning that fighting the same monster multiple times and learning from your mistakes is a crucial part of the gameplay loop. On top of this, players will also have to explore ruins to find the information and equipment they need to get the upper hand.
TTRPG Resources
1d100 Interstellar Encounters
A collection of 100 system-neutral sci-fi encounters and adventure hooks that can be used with any game.
ARKYVR
ARKYVR is a film-documentarian toolkit compatible with Mothership 1E. It tasks players with diving into dangerous situations to capture the shots they need to tell the story of what is happening in an area. However, players can choose if they use the footage to stoke the fires of revolution or sell it to the highest bidder.
The toolkit contains new character classes, gear, ship parts, and scenario-generation tools.
Random Realities
Sometimes, coming up with ideas on the fly can be tricky, especially if you’re playing a game that requires loads of world-building. Thankfully, Random Realities is here to help with that issue.
Each page of Random Realities features a set of tables. Each table covers a common world-building topic, from scene outlines to NPC names and personalities. Allowing GMs to quickly generate something by opening the book to a random page, making this a fantastic resource for any solo gamer or game runner.
Shrines: Sites of Reverence & Power
Shrines is a world-building zine focused on sacred architecture and related topics. It includes 12 system-agnostic sites with gameplay hooks, a religious site generator, and critical-theory essays on real-world shrines and using them in games.
Tales from the Dungeon: Forgotten Deities
This system-neutral resource is focused on deities and the rituals that worship them. It includes a random ritual generator, a cult generator, profiles of four new deities, and more.
The Graverobber’s Guide to Games
A zine containing three tavern games from the world of Graverobbers. These games can be dropped into other games and settings to make taverns feel more alive.
The Hauntings of Hyde Park
An add-on for the Victorian monster-hunting game The Between, The Hauntings of Hyde Park comes with a new playbook, a mastermind, three threats, and four unscenes.
The Neon Jungle
The Neon Jungle is a setting for Mutant Crawl Classics and other OSR games. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic jungle full of weird and wonderful creatures.
The zine includes:
- Guide to the locations and people of the Neon Jungle
- 10 Random generation tables
- Rules for hunting and gathering
- 10 new monsters
- 8 new plants
- A one-shot adventure
The Soft
The Soft is a delightfully original setting for the TROIKA system that drops players into a massive but weird pillow-fort world.
The zine includes:
- A world write-up
- Special rules for TROIKA!
- New backgrounds, monsters, and equipment.
- Adventure locations and hooks
Adventures
Adventure Zines for a Backwards, Post-apocalyptic America
A collection of zines featuring system-natural adventures all set in a bizarre, post-apocalyptic America, one filled with decaying structures and strange monsters. Each zine contains 2 complete adventures alongside 2 one-shots.
Plus, each zine focuses on a specific region of America. On offer are Backwater (the Deep South), Backroads (Middle America), Backchannels (South East), and Backwoods (North East).
Coffee Run: A Misadventure
Made to work with the Average Trooper: Skeleton Mayhem TTRPG, this adventure casts as a group of skeleton warriors who are on an epic quest to grab some Java.
It also features a new skeleton type, pentagrams, and new enemies to fight.
Crit One 2: Monster Boogaloo
Crit One 2 is a zine that features fantasy art, stories, and an original campaign. The campaign adventure is set in a world where a spate of bard kidnappings has rocked the local community, leading to a dwarf opening his mountain home as a safe haven for bards. However, everything may not be what it first seems.
Fishbone Archipelago: Lost Lighthouse
A system-agnostic adventure set in the swashbuckling Fishbone Archipelago world.
Players step into the shoes of a group of sailors whose merchant ship runs around on the Archipelago, leaving them shipwrecked. To find their way home, they’ll have to explore the island and earn the favor of one of the local gods.
QA
QA is a one-shot adventure for Mothership that follows a crew in a race against time to recover a valuable piece of technology before the ship crashes into a nearby planet.
Shadow over Gloomshire
Made for the Dragonbane system, this gothic horror adventure drops players into the remote village of Gloomshire. However, players will soon find many horrors lurk in the shadows, waiting to strike.
The zine includes four hand-drawn maps, five locations, over 15 NPCs, 10 monsters, and new magic items.
Terror of the Stratosfiend: SNAKE WOLF 3 (Mega-Dungeon)
A massive dungeon designed for use with Dungeon Crawl Classics. Set in the tentacles and sorcery Terror of the Stratosfiend world, it features several distinct locations as well as many unique factions for players to interact with
TerrorVision
A Ghostbusters-inspired comedy-horror adventure for the OpenD6 System. Players step into the shoes of spectral exterminators working to make ends meet in mid-80s New York City.
The Abbot Trilogy
A collection of three setting-neutral adventures featuring both fantasy and sci-fi elements. The set contains Abbotsmoore is set in a dark swamp, Bitterpeak puts players in a vast snowy tundra, and Steelhollow takes place in a desert.
The Lair of the Bog Lich
Made for OSR and OSR-adjacent systems, this adventure sees the heroes trying to work out why local villagers keep mysteriously vanishing into the bog.
The zine includes adventure hooks, 3 new foes, random encounter tables, and a map.
The Stone-Flesh Gift
The Stone-Flesh Gift is a sci-fi horror adventure for Mothership. Players are put on the Gift, an alien bioengineering ship full of danger. Also included in the zine are 25 organs, 12 creatures, 10 diseases, 23 items, and several new rule systems.
The Tomb of Ostrabaris
This Shadowdark RPG adventure sends players into the trap-filled tomb of Ostrabaris, an ancient wizard. Designed to be explored by Level 0 characters, this adventure is packed with dangerous creatures and deadly traps, meaning that one wrong step could spell doom.
The Wigmaker’s Fingers
An adventure for the Into the Odd system. In this adventure, the characters are tasked with getting a rare prosthetic finger for a local wigmaker. However, they’ll soon become entangled in a series of mysterious disappearances.
Tiny Fables
Tiny Fables is an adventure for the Mausritter system. Based on classic folklore and nursery rhymes, the players must navigate through a massive forest transformed and warped by magic.
The zine includes 5 adventure sites, a hex map, over 40 creatures, items, spells, and treasures.
MÖRK BORG Add-Ons
Desecrated
A massive horror-themed collection of MÖRK BORG add-ons. The book is set in the cursed hamlet of Frånträden, surrounded by the decaying Livetsmor Forest. Due to many strange events and disappearances, the people of Frånträden are forced to call for outside help.
Desecrated includes 10 classes, 20 relics, and new monsters.
Goth Borg
This gothic horror add-on is compatible with Mork Borg, D&D5e, and Pathfinder 2e.
It includes 3 new classes for MÖRK BORG, gothic-themed spells and powers, over 15 new monsters, and a new setting. The supplement also comes with a new adventure that shows off many of the included monsters.
Heretic’s Guide to Dying Lands
This MÖRK BORG add-on aims to help GMs quickly generate memorable locations. It includes tools that help with map creation and NPCs, plot hooks, and loot to make the setting feel more alive.
Last Call: A MORK BORG Tavern Generator
A series of D100 tables that help GMs create fun and lively taverns, covering everything from its name to the NPCs that hang around there.
MÖRK KÖPHETS
This dead mall-themed adventure supplement features 10 new enemies, 100 items, and 3 factions. It also includes a D20-based shop generator, allowing GMs to quickly generate weird and unusual shops.
The Pit of Blasphemy
The Pit of Blasphemy is a sandbox adventure set in Castella, an old villa that used to be famous for its wine. But today, the building is a rotting husk of what it once was. But when the vines mysteriously returned to life, something sinister happened.
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Jonathon Greenall is a freelance writer, artist, and tabletop roleplaying game designer who has written for CBR, Polygon, Nintendo Life, Gayley Dreadful, Enbylife, and many other publications. They have also published several popular and highly-praised tabletop roleplaying games including “You Have One Ability….The Ability To Fuck This Up,” “Macarons, Milkshakes, And Magic,” and “Wander Wizards.”
Jonathon has always been fascinated by media, from the big hitters to the small, obscure, and often overlooked titles that linger on the sidelines, capturing both the on and off-camera stories that make these shows so fascinating.
Jonathon is also a major anime fan, having been exposed to the medium through shows like Sailor Moon and Revolutionary Girl Utena. Since then, Jonathon has maintained a passion for anime, watching most new shows each season and hunting down overlooked gems from previous ones.