Bookish TTRPGs to Try at Your Next Game Night

If you read Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, and Encyclopedia Brown as a kid, this one’s for you. Based on the GUMSHOE system, Bubblegumshoe puts players in the roles of high-school sleuths — or a bunch of meddling kids, if you will. With a prefabricated setting and a trimmed-down set of GUMSHOE rules and mechanics, this game is ready to go right out of the box.

Although it has more in common with Creepshow and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, this system will delight horror readers just the same. With collaborative game sessions lasting only one or two hours each, Campfire is perfect for groups who can’t meet regularly, but want to tell great stories together.

GURPS is one of the best-known TTRPG systems around, and its fourth edition forms the basis for the Discworld Roleplaying Game. You don’t need any other resources to play this title; you don’t even have to be familiar with GURPS! This is a must-have for Discworld fans looking to get a little silly with their role-playing.

Modiphiüs has its hands in pretty much every kind of tabletop gaming there is, from board games to wargames. In addition to publishing games based on Star Trek, Alien, and Blade Runner, Modiphiüs also offers this game of political intrigue, which includes a how-to guide on creating your own noble House.

Because of how different Blade Runner is from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, I’m fully prepared for people to insist that Inhuman Conditions doesn’t count as a bookish TTRPG. With that being said, this is a fantastic two-person game with five-minute-long sessions you can fit in anywhere, and any fan of witty repartee — or, you know, Blade Runner — will love it.

Roll for Novel takes “bookish TTRPG” and cranks it up to 11. This game will literally help you write a book. From idea generation to plot twists and more, this M. Kirin title has a little bit of everything a writer needs. That applies to the aspiring author who’s never written a novel before and the writer knee-deep in the weeds alike. Best of all, whatever you create using Roll for Novel is 100% yours — no royalties or attribution required.

Lesbian fantasy might as well be its own sub-genre at this point. (I’m not complaining.) Billed as a game full of “angsty disaster lesbians with swords,” Thirsty Sword Lesbians seems tailor-made for fans of Samantha Shannon and Tamsyn Muir. The game comes with several pre-generated settings to choose from, but there’s nothing stopping you from staging your campaign in the world of your favorite LGBTQ+ fantasy.

It only takes a couple of hours to play a complete game of this House of Leaves-inspired TTRPG. Want to know if you’d survive the night in a malevolent haunted house? All you need are a few household objects, some dice, and a pack of playing cards to get started. And the .PDF, natch.

Watership Down fans would do well to take note of The Warren. Here, players take on the role of sentient rabbits, their children, and their children’s children. If you’re looking for an off-the-beaten-path TTRPG that has generational storytelling built right in, this is the game for you.

Directly inspired by Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, We Deal in Lead lets players live out their gunslinging fantasies at the table. In true Roland Deschain style, this game can be played solo or with your ka-tet. Also available is Watch & Warrant: a six-track EP that includes songs like “The Ghost Town of Lud” and “High Moon.”