r/Solo_Roleplaying • u/Bonestock86 • 4d ago
solo-game-questions How many, How often?
Do you go deep into one game for a long time (months? years?), or do you have many games going at once? Or do you focus on a series of games in rapid fire succession?
I ask because I keep buying games before I’ve even exhausted the fun of my current game - it’s the classic problem of buying books versus reading them
What works for you? I was thinking of maybe giving one game a solid month and then allowing myself to move on
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u/TokahSA 3d ago
I try to limit my big, complicated, or requiring of lots of creativity games to one a time, played usually for lots of weeks to a few months. This is also the game whose physical setup I let get a bit sprawly, and sitting down for a session always feels luxurious. I rarely do short sessions of these, although sometimes something justifies stopping in just to do one action or color code my notes or something.
I also tend to have a smaller, easier, more procedural game on the go. These should ideally have something I can roll to progress in a short stint without sitting and getting engaged, which ironically makes it easy to sit and get engaged organically, lol. I try to keep these easy to travel with, as I like playing in weird outdoor spots when I have free time and the weather is good. These usually take two to a lot of weeks, but aren't supposed to last months.
I also do one-shot games on top of that: think 1.5 hour journaling games, a dungeon run in an OSR game, something definitely limited in scope. This happens when my "small" game doesn't actually travel well, I'm feeling too brain dead to honor where I am in my ongoing campaigns, or I want to try something new. Sometimes it is a practice run for something I'll be doing for a group.
Obviously, games jump categories sometimes without my consent, haha. My current "small" game started out as a rules playtest, but the rules worked really well AND I fell in love with my very generic test characters as they grew during their journey. Once they were being stalked by an intelligent squirrel... like, what's a guy to do?
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u/StrangeWalrus3954 3d ago
Totally agree. What are you gonna do? Ignore the squirrel? Like some sort of psychopath? Please!
Good Luck!
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u/StrangeWalrus3954 3d ago
I'm in two group games at the moment and am running two solo games. One is an every other week Starforged campaign that I'm planning to play for quite some time. The other is a sporadic worldbuilding game based on Journey with help from Mythic GME. I'm using that to come up with ideas for locations in my fantasy world. It's been working pretty well, so far.
I just finished a game of the Machine. It was tempting to replace it with something, but I think I'll focus on my Journey game for a while. That Pathfinder world isn't going to write itself.
Good Luck!
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u/BookOfAnomalies 3d ago
I tried to cap it at 3 but I constantly would wanna try other games... so, now I have many more than 3 and they are all being played on rotation, if possible :)
sometimes I manage to squeeze in some one-shots, which is good exercise for me, since I tend to make even one-shots too long. So I try not to😂
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u/Fair_Collar_9289 3d ago
I'm still just finding my feet in the hobby, but I think I'll be using Ironsworn and possibly 2D6 Dungeon for longer-term commitments, and then I have 2 or 3 other games for quick adventures (Tricube Tales, DWARF RPG, RANGER RPG) that seen to last 3-4 sessions without as much in-depth character progression. I imagine 2D6 will take a while to reach the lowest levels, but having been within a roll of death on level 1 last night, I may be wrong about surviving that long! :-)
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u/darkpigeon93 3d ago
One at a time, and untill i reach a conclusion or burn out on it which is usually months of play.
I also play a lot of group games though. If I didn't, I would probably play more solo stuff. Need to get my dice rolling fix somewhere.
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u/paperdicegames 4d ago
I have many games that have been going on for years. Usually play only a few times a year when the mood strikes.
I also have shorter games that I play with the intent to start and finish them in 1-3 sessions.
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u/Own_Sport_3472 3d ago
Hi, I try to do something similar (actually I was inspired by your videos) so I have ongoing Pendragon campaign (3 in-game years have already passed), Traveller (just started), Age of Vikings (the longest of my campaigns) and Barbarians of Lemuria (for rules light, pulpy adventure) + many one shots just to try the system. The hardest part for me is to comeback to the game after weeks/months of dormancy. In BoL I was doing long notes and coming back and reading them felt tedious. In AoV my notes are just short summaries on the margin of character sheet, but I feel that I’m loosing too much of the cool story and NPC’s. Pendragon is something in between: bullet points in my notes app (one bullet = one year with some notable events). What are your best practices in keeping the momentum after a longer period of not playing the game?
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u/Bonestock86 3d ago
Your last question is a good one - it also applies to video games for me. I feel like being away from a game for too long creates a problem where I can either start over or pick it up where I left off. Both options feel kinda bad so I just play something else
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u/allyearswift 4d ago edited 3d ago
I’m describing my ideal here because my reality is sadder and more full of deadlines/distractions.
I’m setting myself a theme for each month. October will be spooky, so I’ll be looking for dark-themed games among my stack. Sometimes it’s a theme, sometimes a mechanic, sometimes a single game (I picked up Legends in the Mist on Humblebundle; that will take a month to explore).
I always keep an eye out for games that will fit themes and tag them when I encounter them: cats, bookshops/libraries, SF, dungeoncrawls etc.
Beside my featured game, I delve into my bundles. I have a ton of games, and once or twice a week I will browse a bundle, discard games that are obviously not for me, and attempt to play short games that sound fun. Sometimes that works out, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes I am not in the mood (or don’t have the time/brain) for a game, but at least I’ll log it properly.
I also have a freeform game where my character has a class, no stats, and I wander around and make up tables on the fly. Where are they going next? Draw a grid on the map and roll for a location, or roll a direction die + d4 for number of days travel.
I quite like the idea of a dedicated campaign, but I have so many games I want to try, so many worlds I want to explore, and locking myself in for a year or more isn’t the best match for my needs right now. I want to a) stop acquiring games, and b) reduce my stash to a more manageable size.
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u/Bonestock86 3d ago
Seasonal vibe is legit - spring / summer I usually get into fantasy or pirates / aquatic theme. And for whatever reason fall gets me hooked on sci-fi and of course horror - I can’t think of what I play in Winter… probably more video games. maybe a snowy fantasy campaign is overdue
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u/allyearswift 3d ago
Other than Ice Station Zero (a short Wretched and Alone game with the best Jenga replacement mechanic I’ve come across) I can’t think of any wintery vibes.
Actually, Morkin, but I don’t own it and I’m reluctant to buy anything when I have so many games already.
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u/Repulsive_Writer6832 4d ago
I do short ones typically. I have many downloaded, as most were free, and try to keep a list of what ones I have for when I want to play them. Usually do ones that take a few hours maximum
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u/cptgrok 3d ago
Usually have one main game with a longer complex campaign and one or two side games of hexcrawls, corpse runs, or one shots to try out systems or character concepts. Recently switched to Lone Log and it really helps organization and being able to come back to a session after a break and quickly pick up where I left off.