(Header image from Zachary Kadolph on Unsplash)

“What games are good for one-shots?” is a very common refrain in my circles, and I love to hear it. It means people are branching out, trying new things. It’s also a difficult question to make a generic response to. Often it is dependent on table size and group interest, but there are a few games that often come up time and time again.

At the end of this article is a long table that includes a full set of recommendations, so feel free to skip straight there if you don’t want to suffer through my eulogizing. Also, any game marked with an asterisk is a game I have not yet actually played, but it has been highly reviewed and recommended among friends I trust.

Use the quick starts

Honestly the best game is probably the one you are most interested in. While there are some games that objectively run better as one shots, your enthusiasm for the game is likely to outweigh a lot of those benefits. Most games these days have quick starts that include basic rules for the game, pre-generated characters, and a starter adventure to get you going. These are often pay-what-you-want, despite an enormous amount of work that goes into them. Use them, then buy the full game once you fall in love.

Fabula Ultima by Emanuele Galletto, a TTJRPG with a grand mix of narrative tools and complex character building, has one of the best quick starts in the game, where you could conceivably pick it up and start playing right now, no prep needed, despite its potential for high crunch. It walks you through every step, unlocking parts of the player’s character sheets like a JRPG tutorial.

Modern day paranormal investigative thriller Delta Green‘s Last Things Last has you investigating the sudden death of a former Delta Green agent and includes a stripped down version of Delta Green’s rules (which I think it greatly benefits from).

The grim horror game Teeth has an extraordinarily high production value one-shot Blood Cotillion where you play as lady assassins at the worst dinner party imaginable.¹

Anything OSR

Okay, not anything OSR, but the idea behind most of these games is the rules are simple and get out of your way and the real meat of the game is in the adventures. Find an adventure you like then use the included system or port over what feels natural. These games often share a few main pillars such as a focus on player problem solving and high character stakes.

Shadowdark by Kelsey Dionne is especially good if you are branching out from D&D 5e but want something that will feel familiar. I recommend Spores From the Undercity from a very cool community made set of one-shots.

Fomoria by Tania Herrero and Johan Nohr is an exceptional hack of the Mörk Borg system where you play as doomed anthropomorphic animals, forced underground to contend with the hateful dark below. It also has one of these exceptional quick-starts I mentioned above.

Into the Odd by Chris McDowall is one of the simplest systems to get to the table, and pairs nicely with Screaming Horsey Tremors.²

Prompt-based games

These games are perfect for a single night, and the reactionary nature of prompts relieves a lot of the pressure faced by people new to the hobby. You aren’t capital R Roleplaying, you are just answering questions that weave a beautiful story.

The Quiet Year by Avery Alder is hands down one of the best games I think you can bring to a table, especially for new players. You map out a community as it builds over a year acting not as a single character, but the events and forces that shape and change the village.

For The Queen* by Alex Roberts has you and your companions engage on a journey with your Queen before the final prompt forces you to decide if you will support her or let her fall. It is one of the most beautiful products I own.

The Hourglass Sings by the hit design duo A Smouldering Lighthouse captures the feeling of playing Ocarina of Time for the first time, and does so in under 2 hours.

Story games³

These games often don’t have a quickstart in the same way more traditional games do, as much of the content is generated writing-room-style at the table, with resolution mechanics intended to propel the story in any direction without needing significant prep to guide the evening.⁴

Wanderhome by Jay Dragon is a beautiful pastoral fantasy of traveling animals trying to find their home. This game runs on the “Belonging Outside Belonging” diceless mechanics that incentivize flawed decisions to push the story forward before granting the ability to make strong powerful decisions to redeem your characters as the story comes to a close.

Psi*Run* by Meguey and Vincent Baker is built to be a one-shot, continuing a trend of the Bakers making games to be enjoyed by busy people with difficult schedules. You play as amnesiac psychics who wake to find themselves in the process of fleeing deadly and determined pursuers, Memento style.⁵

Slugblaster Turbo X is the streamlined version of the hit hoverpunk portal slinger Slugblaster by Mikey Hamm, built specifically to be done in a single session.

Duet and solo games

For the ultimate in intimate,⁶ these games can sate your desire for roleplaying games even if you are coming up scarce on the resource of other people. Perfect for a spur of the moment hit of that RPG goodness.

Hunt(er/ed)* by Dillin Apelyan and Meghan Cross uses a standard deck and d6 to tell the story of a Hunter pursuing a Monster, ultimately ending in a kill, escape, mutual understanding, or mutual destruction.

Tangled Blessings* by Cassi Mothwin is the magical school horror game you’ve always wanted. Driven by tarot cards, you unravel the dark and deadly history over the past four years, and the interwoven destinies of you and your academic rival.

Before the Bog God by Andrew Beauman and Matt Best pits a wisher against an elder god, seeking to thread a miraculous wish before the god can twist their desires and pin down their soul forever. It relies on a clever dice changing mechanic and mythical prompts, and you can squeeze two games into 30 minutes.

The big list

Everything above was just my hard and fast pick list. I am sure there are games I am forgetting or games you are screaming at your screen that I should have included, but I think it is a good starting point. Below is a longer list for each category. I would like to quickly thank Alex V, Matthew Ayers, this bluesky post from Dr. Emily Friedman, and many people on the Quinns Quest discord for helping me put this together.

Game	Designer	Adventure pairing	Category
Fabula Ultima	Emanuele Galletto	Press Start	Quickstart
Delta Green	Dennis Detwiller, Adam Scott Glancy, John Scott Tynes	Last Things Last	Quickstart
Teeth	Marsh Davies, Jim Rossignol	Blood Cotillion	Quickstart
Draw Steel	MCDM	Delian Tomb	Quickstart
Pico	Felix Isaacs	Hogwild	Quickstart
Shadowdark	Kelsey Dionne	Spores from the Undercity	OSR
Fomoria	Tania Herrero, Johan Nohr	Spawn of the Hungering One	OSR
Into the Odd	Chris McDowall	Screaming Horsey Tremors	OSR
Perils & Princesses	Ryan Lynch	The Rosewood Crown	OSR
Pirate Borg*	Luke Stratton	Buried in the Bahamas	OSR
Mausritter	Isaac Williams	Honey in the Rafters	OSR
The Quiet Year	Avery Alder	—	Prompt-based
For The Queen*	Alex Roberts	—	Prompt-based
The Hourglass Sings	A Smouldering Lighthouse	—	Prompt-based
Big Dog, Big Volcano	A Smouldering Lighthouse	—	Prompt-based
Alice is Missing*	Spenser Starke	—	Prompt-based
Dialect*	Hakan Seyalioglu, Kathryn Hymes	—	Prompt-based
Wanderhome	Jay Dragon	—	Story game
Psi*Run*	Meguey Baker, Vincent Baker	—	Story game
Slugblaster Turbo X	Mikey Hamm	—	Story game
Going for Broke*	Avery Alder	—	Story game
ARC: Doom*	momatoes	—	Story game
FIST*	CLAYMORE	—	Story game
DIE RPG*	Kieron Gillen	Total Party Kill	Story game
Suburban Consumption of the Monstrous*	Banana Chan, Sadia Bies	—	Story game
Hunt(er/ed)*	Meghan Cross, Dillin Apelyan	—	Duo/Solo
Tangled Blessings*	Cassi Mothwin	—	Duo/Solo
Before the Bog God	Andrew Beauman, Matt Best	—	Duo/Solo
Field Guide to Memory*	Jeeyon Shim, Shing Yin Khor	—	Duo/Solo
Anamnesis*	Samantha Leigh	—	Duo/Solo

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1. This is not technically a quick start and is not pay you want, but it is completely self contained, you don’t need the full TEETH rules to run it and it iss one of the best prepared adventures I have ever run. Also frankly it would be best served with a bit more time, maybe 2-3 sessions. Look, I am bending the rules on this one because it is really good. ↩︎
2. That’s really the name of the adventure. It is so good. ↩︎
3. I am using a very loose definition of story game here. If these games don’t fit into your definition of story game, just imagine what it would be like if they did. ↩︎
4. This is the idea at least. I am still not sure if I am convinced by many of that games I have seen that are billed as “prep-less” but that may just stem from my deep rooted need for control. ↩︎
5. A second edition is in the works as we speak! ↩︎
6. This was the slogan of the lingerie store in the town where I grew up. I don’t know how it lodged so deeply in my mind. ↩︎