Gun&Slinger

Gun&Slinger is one of the most distinctive two-player TTRPGs around: one player is a wanderer, the other is the sentient gun on their hip, and every risky action is settled with a modified game of Go Fish played from a standard deck of cards. It is best for a pair (with or without a third person as GM) who want short, episodic sessions, strange fiction and a partnership that sits at the center of every scene.

It is not a tactical shooter or a dungeon crawler. There is no grid, no initiative order and very little gear tracking, and a single hit takes down most ordinary enemies. Groups who want crunchy combat, a long list of character options or a ready-made world to study before play should look elsewhere.

What the game is

Gun&Slinger (styled GUN&SLINGER) is designed by Nevyn Holmes and published by Dinoberry Press, the studio Holmes co-founded. Its rules engine is called MARKED&MADE.

Two characters share the spotlight. The Slinger is a wanderer; the Gun is a living weapon that can speak, sense and work strange magic but cannot fire itself. Together they cross a dead planet that has been mutated by "a god's forgotten child," hunting bounties, investigating the twisted world and unlocking hidden powers. Three questions drive a campaign: what is hunting the Slinger, why is the Gun sentient, and how did the world die?

An optional third player, the Maestro, acts as GM. The publisher lists 2–3 players and says the game can be played with or without a gamemaster.

Publication history and editions

Gun&Slinger was crowdfunded on Kickstarter from August 13 to September 12, 2020, raising $29,545 against a $4,400 goal and unlocking all of its stretch goals. Dinoberry Press dates the release to May 2021. There is one edition; the itch.io PDF has received typo-fix updates rather than a new version.

In December 2021 the system was opened up as the MARKED&MADE SRD under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license, so other designers can build and sell their own games on the same card engine.

What you need to play

• The Gun&Slinger book. The itch.io PDF is $25 (checked October 29, 2026). The PDF is laid out in two-page spreads, which some buyers find awkward to print.
• One standard 52-card deck, or an online card table. The designer recommends playingcards.io for remote play.
• Two players, plus an optional Maestro, and something to take notes with.
• Free character and reference sheets are available on the itch.io page.

A half-letter softcover with the PDF included is listed at $40 on the Dinoberry Press shop, but it was sold out when checked; the itch.io page also points to Floating Chair Club and Exalted Funeral for physical copies. The designer said in itch.io comments that a reprint is being worked out. The game is not sold on DriveThruRPG.

Expansions in the book

The stretch goals added three expansions to the final release, each written by a guest designer: SWORD&BEARER (Viditya Voleti), a new setting about a bearer and a living sword fighting for The City; MECH&PILOT (Pam Punzalan), a setting where a pilot and machine fight Twist-machines and become a fused biomechanical being; and The Demon (Adira Slattery), an additional character in which a malevolent spirit possesses a desperate wanderer. Together with the core options, the publisher counts 7 character types and 3 settings.

Core rules and play structure

When a character tries something risky, the Maestro can call for a Check. The acting player asks the Maestro or their partner for a card value ("Gun, do you have any fives?"). If the other person has that value they must hand it over; if not, the player draws from the deck. Matched pairs go face down into the player's Cache. The Maestro then names the difficulty and cost, and the player pays with a pair plus a relevant stat, asks for a Bargain, or accepts failure. Partners can aid once per Check by paying a single card.

Shooting works differently. The Gun cannot be fired unless both players agree, and every shot is a Blind Pay: each player puts a card face down, the top card of the deck is flipped as a modifier, and the total has to reach the target without going over 21, like Blackjack. Hitting exactly 21 is a full success.

Combat is theater-of-the-mind and fiction-first. A single hit defeats a regular enemy; tougher, armored or Twist-touched foes take more. The Slinger marks Scrapes, then Major Injuries, and more than two Major Injuries is fatal.

Characters, the Twist and advancement

Each player picks a character type and the pair builds stats together. Play is deliberately asymmetrical: the Gun interacts with the world through magic, including moving objects, speaking with inanimate things and "Blinking" (teleporting, with the result set by a flipped card), while the Slinger can draw on the Twist, a dark force that changes them and their surroundings.

The Twist is also how the game handles death. Slingers rarely die for good; resurrection permanently marks the Twist track and leaves a visible physical change the table decides on together. Over a campaign, characters change their stats and rework their abilities, so the game the pair is playing slowly becomes their own.

What play feels like

Sessions are short. The publisher suggests 1–2 hours, 3 at most, and the game is built around episodic bounties rather than a long plotted arc. A typical session has the pair arrive somewhere strange, take a job or follow a lead, talk their way through people, hit a tense scene or two decided by Go Fish and Blind Pays, and close with a new hint about the Slinger's pursuer, the Gun's origin or the world's death.

Much of the feel comes from the card exchanges. Because you ask your partner for cards, every Check is also a small conversation, and the rule that both players must agree before the Gun fires keeps the partnership in front of every fight.

Running the game

With a Maestro, that player sets difficulty, keeps their own hand, uses the Twist as a threat and can hold Jokers back for their own moves. Without one, the two players share those jobs and lean on the book's questions and prompts. Prep is light: the world is built at the table by answering prompts rather than read from a gazetteer, and money is abstracted to favors and trade.

The main learning curve is the card procedures (pairs, bargains, face cards and Blind Pays). Rules questions about face cards and bargains come up in the itch.io comments, so expect to check the book during the first session or two.

Campaign fit

It works for one-shots, since a single bounty fits one sitting, and for open-ended episodic campaigns built around the three core questions. It is not designed for large groups; the publisher's range tops out at 3 participants.

Reception and awards

Gun&Slinger won Best Rules at the IGDN's Indie Groundbreaker Awards 2022. The publisher also lists an honorable mention in Polygon's "Best Indie Tabletop RPGs of 2021" and Bell of Lost Souls' Game of the Year. On itch.io it was rated 4.9 out of 5 from 119 ratings when checked on October 29, 2026. Praise centers on the Go Fish resolution, the Gun and Slinger asymmetry and the strange setting; the most common practical complaints are the spreads-only PDF and confusion about how face cards and bargains interact.

Where it is strongest

• A true two-player design, not a group game cut down to two.
• Card resolution that makes every Check a conversation between partners.
• Short sessions and low prep, which suit couples and pairs with tight schedules.
• Works with or without a GM.
• Three settings and seven character types in one book.

Where it can frustrate groups

• Combat is light and fast; tactical players may find it thin.
• The card procedures take a session or two to click.
• Physical copies are hard to find while the print run is sold out.
• The spreads-only PDF is awkward to print.
• Caps at three participants, so it is not a game for a regular group of four or five.

Content and safety notes

Expect violence, body horror and transformation through the Twist, and death and resurrection with lasting physical changes. The designer describes the Twist in the core setting as an embodiment of invasion, imperialism and fascism. The book encourages non-violent solutions and asks players to consider the consequences of violence. Use the usual safety tools, especially with only two people at the table.

Best starting path

Buy the itch.io PDF, print or download the free character and reference sheets, grab a deck of cards, and start with the core Gun and Slinger pair in the default setting. Decide up front whether a third person will be Maestro. Save SWORD&BEARER, MECH&PILOT and The Demon for later sessions once the card rules feel natural.

Research notes

Last checked October 29, 2026. Sources:

• Dinoberry Press project page (release date, team, Kickstarter totals, expansions, accolades)
• Dinoberry Press shop listing (physical edition, price, stock)
• Gun&Slinger on itch.io (PDF price, rating, play requirements, designer comments)
• MARKED&MADE SRD (Checks, Blind Pay, bargains, harm, death and the Twist)
• Geek Native on the MARKED&MADE SRD (December 2021)
• Gizmodo on the 2022 Indie Groundbreaker Awards
• RPGGeek entry