Cast Away Survival; Rules Lite; Resource Management; Environmental; Low Prep

At-a-glance: Wilderness survival • Diminishing Dice • 2+ players + Navigator • Low prep • Rules-lite • 2-4h sessions. Cast Away explores harrowing stories of resilience after catastrophic accidents—shipwrecks on uncharted islands, plane crashes in remote wilderness, blizzard entrapment, or urban disasters. The Diminishing Dice system replaces traditional HP. Characters have two stats—Mental and Physical. When survivors take actions under duress, they roll dice that shrink as conditions worsen (d12 to d10 to d8 to d6 to d4). The Haunting system keeps eliminated players engaged as spirits who can influence the living. Perfect for groups wanting approachable survival drama without crunch.

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What do players think?

Reviewers praise Cast Aways Diminishing Dice mechanic that elegantly models worsening survivor conditions without HP or injury tables. Players appreciate the clean, approachable rules that make it excellent for newcomers and convention play. The Haunting system keeps players engaged even after character death. Common caveats: intentionally minimal condition recovery guidance requires GM interpretation.

New Read the full reviews on DriveThruRPG

Related TTRPG Games

Compare Cast Away with other great ttrpg games.

Endure

Both Cast Away and Endure deliver rules-lite survival with innovative resource mechanics. Where Endure uses an Endurance economy with 2d6 risk rolls, Cast Away employs Diminishing Dice that physically shrink as conditions worsen. Endure spans more genres; Cast Away focuses tightly on post-disaster wilderness scenarios with its unique Haunting system for eliminated players.

The Wretched

Both offer tense solo or small-group survival with minimal prep. The Wretched uses a tumbling block tower for escalating space-horror tension, while Cast Away employs Diminishing Dice for grounded wilderness scenarios. Both embrace inevitable doom as a storytelling device.

Ten Candles

Both Cast Away and Ten Candles use physical, tangible mechanics to model dwindling hope—Ten Candles with its literal countdown to darkness, Cast Away with shrinking dice. Ten Candles leans ritual and tragic horror; Cast Away offers more survival problem-solving and recovery possibility.

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