Top pick
Ironsworn
Best first stop for complete solo fantasy adventure with vows, oracles, progress tracks, and strong support for playing without a GM.
Best Solo Play TTRPGs
Solo TTRPGs replace the missing GM or table conversation with procedures that can surprise one player: oracles, moves, progress tracks, prompts, maps, journals, encounter tables, or structured uncertainty. Start with Ironsworn for a complete fantasy campaign engine, Ironsworn: Starforged for science-fiction exploration, The Wretched for focused survival horror, and Thousand Year Old Vampire for reflective journaling play.
Choose by the work you want the game to do. A purpose-built solo system supplies its own momentum and opposition; a GM emulator helps you adapt another TTRPG; a journaling game turns prompts into a personal record; and a procedural dungeon game emphasizes mapping, resources, and tactical decisions.
Compare oracle strength, interpretation load, journaling load, campaign support, and whether the same rules also support co-op or guided play. Solo does not automatically mean easy: some games carry the structure for you, while others ask one player to manage pacing, worldbuilding, and tone.
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Top picks
Best games in this category
Quick starting points if you want the clearest expressions of what Solo Play games do well.
Top pick
Ironsworn: Starforged
Starforged is the strongest featured pick for players who want a complete solo science-fiction campaign. Its oracles, sector generation, progress tracks, connections, and expedition procedures keep a long-running space story moving without a GM.
Top pick
The Wretched
Best for focused solo survival horror, physical tension, isolation, recordings, and a clear end-state pressing on every prompt.
Top pick
Thousand Year Old Vampire
A benchmark solo journaling design for memory loss, identity drift, and one-player gothic tragedy.
More to compare
More Solo Play TTRPGs to compare
SPINE
SPINE is built for Solo Play: one reader/player follows the book's prompts, annotates or damages the text, and manages absorption without a GM or group.
The Bonsai Diary
The Bonsai Diary is purpose-built for one player: prompts, tracing, and page-by-page drawing carry the whole experience without a GM or table.
Pirouette
Pirouette is purpose-built for one player: tarot prompts, routine checks, exhaustion, and the block tower carry the whole performance without a GM or group.
Odyssey of the Giant
Odyssey of the Giant is purpose-built for one player: dice, hexes, tables, camp procedures, and the Caretaker's bond with the giant replace the need for a GM or party.
Coriolis: The Great Dark
Coriolis: The Great Dark includes explicit solo tools in the core book, making solo exploration of the Lost Horizon an intended mode rather than an unofficial patch.
The Zone
The Zone supports Solo Play because the official player count starts at one and the digital version can guide a single player through the doomed expedition structure.
Mythic Role-Playing
Mythic is the benchmark emulator for playing another TTRPG without a GM. Fate questions, scene checks, and random events produce surprise while leaving the underlying game and setting in your hands.
Dragonbane
Dragonbane pairs its fast roll-under fantasy rules with official solo support, giving one player a structured way to explore, fight, and test the system without assembling a full party.
Ironsworn
Ironsworn is the clearest all-purpose solo starting point: vows establish direction, moves resolve uncertainty, progress tracks pace goals, and oracles create discoveries. It also supports co-op and guided play.
Four Against Darkness
Four Against Darkness is a procedural dungeon crawler in which one player controls a party, generates rooms, and manages attrition. Pick it when mapping and tactical resource play matter more than character journaling.
Scarlet Heroes
Scarlet Heroes belongs in solo play because it gives one hero the survivability, fray damage, and adventure procedures needed to run B/X-shaped material without party math or a separate oracle stack.
A Torch in the Dark
A Torch in the Dark is built for one player with no GM: playing cards generate encounters from nine dungeon oracles, and a delve takes about an hour.
Aether & Iron
Aether & Iron offers solo play through strategic choices, faction pressure, and a steampunk setting shaped by class conflict. Compare it when you want more structured decision-making than freeform journaling.
Against the Wind
Against the Wind fits Solo Play because it is built for solo or co-op play with no GM, driven by nearly 200 random tables.
Alone Among the Stars
Alone Among the Stars is designed for one player with a deck of cards, a d6 and a notebook. It is learnable in minutes, has no GM or prep, and many players say it was their first solo RPG.
Alone in the Ancient City
Alone in the Ancient City is built for one player (a two-player version, Together in the Ancient City, is sold separately), and a session can fit into half an hour.
Backpack & Dream
Backpack & Dream favors drifting, introspective solo play in which travel and reflection matter more than tactical conflict. It suits players who enjoy interpreting evocative prompts at an unhurried pace.
Broken Shores
Broken Shores is built for solo, GM-less co-op or GM-led play; its randomly generated ocean hexcrawl, encounter tables and crafting rules let a single player run survival expeditions without a GM.
Colostle
Colostle is designed for one player to explore, resolve card encounters, and record an ongoing adventure without a GM. Choose it when interpreting prompts and keeping a journal are part of the pleasure.
D100 Space
D100 Space supports a long solo science-fiction campaign through exploration, trade, missions, character advancement, and procedural events. It suits players who want a substantial game rather than a short journaling experience.
Dead Belt
Dead Belt is a solo or co-op game of salvaging derelict spacecraft under constant pressure. Its compact procedures are a good fit for players who want dangerous jobs, resource decisions, and emergent space stories.
Ironsworn: Starforged
Starforged is the strongest featured pick for players who want a complete solo science-fiction campaign. Its oracles, sector generation, progress tracks, connections, and expedition procedures keep a long-running space story moving without a GM.
Legend in the Mist
Legend in the Mist belongs in solo play because the core book includes solo and co-op support, letting the same tag-and-consequence fantasy work outside a standard full table.
Long Haul 1983
Long Haul 1983 is a focused solo journaling game about survival, loneliness, and an empty road. Choose it for a strong voice and contained premise rather than an open-ended fantasy campaign.
Compare
How to choose the right Solo Play TTRPG
Solo play is not one method. Choose a complete solo game when you want the rules to generate a campaign, a journaling game when reflection is the main pleasure, or an emulator when you want to play a group-focused TTRPG alone.
| If you want... | Start with | Why it fits | Also compare |
|---|---|---|---|
| A complete solo fantasy campaign with strong procedures | Ironsworn | Vows, oracles, progress tracks, moves, and world prompts provide direction without a separate GM emulator. | Mythic if you want to solo a game you already own. |
| Science-fiction exploration, ships, and frontier vows | Ironsworn: Starforged | Sector generation, discoveries, expeditions, connections, and progress tracks support a full solo space campaign. | Science Fiction. |
| A focused journaling game about memory and identity | Thousand Year Old Vampire | Prompts, memories, losses, and long spans of time create a complete story without tactical scenes or an emulator. | Alone Among the Stars for gentler exploration. |
| Solo survival horror with physical tension | The Wretched | Cards, recordings, isolation, and a tumbling tower create a compact pressure loop with a clear ending. | Horror and Survival. |
| A flexible oracle for another TTRPG | Mythic | Its fate questions, scene checks, and random events provide uncertainty while another game supplies characters and setting. | Solo Gamemaster's Guide. |
| A solo dungeon or old-school adventure frame | Scarlet Heroes | It gives one hero the durability and procedures needed to tackle adventures built around old-school exploration. | Four Against Darkness for procedural dungeon generation. |
Complete game or solo tool?
If you are new to solo play, start with a purpose-built solo game. If you already know and love another TTRPG, an emulator can preserve that system while supplying uncertain answers and scene turns. The tradeoff is interpretation: tools give you freedom, but they ask you to turn abstract prompts into specific events.
How much writing do you want?
Journaling can mean anything from a few bullet points to a full fictional diary. Pick a game whose expected record matches your energy. You can often shorten the writing, but a game built around memory or voice will feel different if you remove it entirely.
Start here: Read the solo TTRPG guide for a simple play method, oracle advice, and a first-session checklist, then return here to compare the full catalog.
FAQ
Questions players ask
What is the best solo TTRPG to start with?
Ironsworn is the best first recommendation for most players because solo, co-op, and guided play are built into the system. It gives you oracles, vows, moves, and progress tracks instead of making you invent a solo method from scratch.
What is the best solo journaling RPG?
Thousand Year Old Vampire is one of the clearest solo journaling picks because it uses memory, prompts, loss, and time to create a focused story without requiring a GM emulator.
Can I play any TTRPG solo?
You can adapt many games, but group-focused RPGs usually need an oracle, GM emulator, or extra procedure to provide uncertainty, opposition, and scene direction.
What is the difference between solo and journaling RPGs?
Solo RPG is the broader category. Journaling RPGs usually focus on written reflection and prompts, while other solo games may include maps, tactical procedures, oracles, combat, exploration, or campaign advancement.
Are solo TTRPGs good for campaign prep?
Yes. Solo games can help test settings, create NPC histories, explore locations, and generate events. Just keep prep play separate from what players at the main table are meant to discover.
What should I avoid when choosing a solo RPG?
Avoid starting with a heavy group system unless you already know how you will handle uncertainty and opposition. A purpose-built solo game is usually easier for a first attempt.