Digital (and Physical) Titles for Solo Roleplaying Games

Here we are looking at paid or free pdf and book titles for solo rpgs and other solo gaming, for all systems and genres.

Disclaimer: Rand Roll is an affiliate for DriveThru RPG and DM's Guild.

Starting Points

Solo RPGs is the art of playing a tabletop roleplaying game on your own. You are player, gamesmaster, worldbuilder, narrator and audience.

Some people like to journal, some like to play their favourite RPG, some try out new RPGs. Others play RPGs specific to solo play, adventure gamebooks or a lightweight RPG. I'm currently working my way through various British RPGs, old and new.

Other guides with Solo sections include Sci-Fi Solo Titles, Fantasy Basics, Horror Solo, Fantasy Dungeon Solo Titles, Fantasy Wilderness and Hexcrawls and Fantasy Sea Solo PDFs.

Many of the titles were included in 31 Days of Solo RPGs, which I did for March 2023 listing resources for solo rpgs each day on reddit.

For resources and advice for solo rpgs, check out The Soloist blog on Substack.

Jun 2024: new titles and gamebook section. Nov 2023: alt solo section added. Aug 2023: Cards section added. Free & pwyw split into rpgs & tools. .

Major Solo Titles

Some PDFs are much larger and comprehensive.

Mythic Game Master Emulator Second Edition from Word Mill is the most the most recent version of the most known emulator. The Mythic GM Emulator 1st edition is also still available, but older, shorter and cheaper. There is also a One-Page Mythic Game Master Emulator, condensing the essentials on a one-page sheet, plus several pages of notes.
Motif Story Engine from Thought Punks is a modular solo oracle, toolkit and emulator.
The Solo Games Masters's Guide from Mophidius has advice on how to play RPGs solo, from reading oracle results to examples and random tables.
For help with soloing D&D, Tim Scutt has DM Yourself - solo roleplay for 5e, D&D and OSR adventures with advice on prepping, reading and playing adventures.
Tilt: An oracle for solo roleplaying from Little Dreamer is a short (15-page) pdf using pieces of fiction for inspiration.
Ironsworn: Starforged from Mophidius is the sci-fi cousin of Ironsworn, also written by Shawn Tomkin. Make powerful vows and explore the workings of your part of the galaxy.

Free and PWyW Solo RPGs

If you like free (or pay-what-you-want) pdfs and random tables then there are some options. And where you find one you might find more...

Ironsworn from Shawn Tomkin is one of the best known solo games (and free! in pdf form), where the narrative is pushed forward by powerful vows made by the protagonist(s).
Stars Without Number from Sine Nomine Publishing is a free RPG, which also has many pages or random tables. And a fantasy version in Worlds Without Number.
Black Streams: Solo Heroes from Sine Nomine Publishing is a lightweight solo rpg written for running classic D&D adventures for a single character.
Micro Chapbook RPG Deluxe Core Rulebook from Micro RPG is a PWYW lightweight rpg that uses randomly generated adventures.
Rocket Dungeons from LunchBox RPG is an ultra light dungeon crawler built for solo play.

Free and Pay-what-you-want Tools

If you like free (or pay-what-you-want) pdfs and random tables then there are some options. And where you find one you might find more...

CRGE, Conjecture Roleplaying GM Emulator from Conjecture Games is an emulator with a few different modes / levels. Then, UNE, the Universal NPC Emulator also from Conjecture Games creates NPCs for you! There is also Bold, Universal PC Stories and Deeds Generator.
One Page Solo Engine from Inflatable Studios is a lightweight GM emulator with a couple of pages of notes and tables to help.
The Encounter Building Oracle Deck is a pay-what-you-want option from Eric Bright, with each card (of a 100-card deck) containing dice-rolls, oracle answers, events, objects and other information. There is also Encounter Building Cards: Locations,
ALONe: A Solo Game Engine is from Larcenous Designs, a pwyw which is in version 4, a beta.
From Solo Tabletop is GEMulator, a game master emulator for solo roleplaying games. The emulation is split into three phases, the campaign, the adventure and the campaign turn, simulating more of a campaign than other emulators.
Plot Unfolding Machine from JeansenVaars is a pwyw GM Emulator. It's an solid 8-page emulator with procedures, advice , oracles, an example and supporting random tables. There is a more recent paid version (but with less reviews). Then there is Scene Unfolding Machine, which focues on NPC interaction.

Cards

Decks of cards are useful for random choices and playing screenless / offline .

From Larcenous Designs are the GM's Apprentice Decks (base deck linked). There are several variants including fantasy and sci-fi.
For maps of fantasy kingdoms there is Pocket Lands: Kingdom from Alexey Aparin, a 70-card deck of terrain maps (sea, mountain, forest, hills etc), each containing a 5x5 grid. There are also versions for High Seas and other terrains.
The Sidequest Decks from Inkwell Ideas provide quest ideas and a map. They cover a number of genres, including Horror/Lovecraft, Sci-fi (depicted) and Dungeons among many.
From Artemis Games is a series of Concept Decks, with each card in a deck containing a name, brief description and 4+ supporting bits of information (with a numeric ranking corresponding to each deck). Decks include Plot Hooks, Characters, Treasures and "Epic" versions of these.
The Dungeon Builder's Deck from AAW Games is good for solo delves, giving geomorphic maps to explore and fill out.
The Galaxy Builder Decks: Planets from Journey Mountain Studios is a deck of double sided cards with unique planets and planet traits. Its part of a series including Systems, Asteroids and Spooky Plasnets, all together in a Galaxy Builder Decks Bundle.

Journalling

Some solo games are setup around journalling, which gives a more storytelling and creative writing experience.

For a pay-what-you-want option, Quill from Trollish Delver Games is "A Letter-Writing Roleplaying Game for a Single Player", exploring an rpg world through writing.
If you want to play a vampire, then journalling game Thousand Year Old Vampire from The Hutchingsonian Presents-PlaGMaDA is the game for you!
The Wretched from Loot the Room is set in a spaceship where you are the last survivor. But a hostile lifeform is onboard with you. Others in the series include Go Alone and The Assassin.
For a journaling experience using 1d6, a pack of cards and your mind, try Journey from Greycastle Press. Expanded Aspcects for Journey adds more options for elements while exporing your gameworld.
From Trollish Delver Games is a pay-what-you-want English Eerie: Rural Horror Storytelling. Set in the English countryside, you journal one of four scenarios or choose your own. The English Eerie 2nd Edition is paid.

Alternative Solo Games

Some solo games that aren't rpgs or just have some rpg elements.

Four Against Darkness from Ganesha Games is a solitaire dungeon-delving game where you control a party of four adventurers. Related titles include Four Against the Abyss (higher level) and Alone Against Fear (horror)
Five Leagues from the Borderlands from Mophidius is a solo miniatures game where your warband explores a fantasy world.
A solo skirmish game is Frostgrave from Osprey Publishing, where you have a wizard and their warband exploring ruins of an magical city for treasure and secrets.
Delve: A Solo Map Drawing Game from Blackwell Games takes you on a journey below ground, drawing the horrors that a dwarven hold unearths in the depths.
The Quiet Year from Buried Without Ceremony is a map game, detailing the struggles of a community in a post-apocalyptic setting, as they attempt to build something in a quiet year before trouble arrives.
From Lame Mage Productions, Microscope by Ben Robbins lets you explore the history of a collapsed empire, a galactic civilisation or an ancient line of sorcerers. Or a backwater town!

Gamebooks

Gamebooks are another type of solo rpg. Some are available as physical books only or as a computer game. But others are digitial.

The Valley of Bones from Spidermind Games is the first in Legendary Kingdoms, an open-world gamebook series where you play a group of up to 4 adventurers.
With an Asian feel, Jungle Quest from Penguin Comics is one where every playthrough is different.
Gamebooks are an alternative to solo rpgs with oracle or journals. From PenguinComics is Random Solo Adventure: Post Apocalypse - Solo Gamebook, taking a romp through a wasteland of the world that was.

Other Solo Titles

Then there are a few other titles for solo that don't fit in other categories

Motif Character Engine from Thought Punks is an emulator for PC / character actions.
Rangers of Shadow Deep from Mophidius is a solo (or co-op) game playing a group of rangers holding back the darkness of Shadow Deep.
From Zadmar Games is a solo system and deck of cards called Tricube Tales. The cards are used to drive the narrative and tricube tales can be paired with most rpgs.
For something in the fictional Wild West, try The Drifter from KenK. A gunslinger out to get the money for a ranch, in any way they can.
The Scene Generator from Ken Wickham has lots of random tables for creating scenes in your solo games.
To create places of adventure, Word Mill Games has The Location Crafter, useable in solo or prep for regular rpgs.