Long Haul 1983 Solo Play; Survival; Rules Lite; Narrative-Driven; Post-Apocalyptic
At-a-glance: Solo journaling RPG • Cards + d6 • 1 player • Near-zero prep • Rules-lite • 60–120 min sessions
Theme and Setting
It is 1983, and the world feels hollowed out. You are a long-haul truck driver trying to make your way home through an empty, dangerous landscape. Each day brings treacherous highways, menacing threats, and the crushing weight of isolation. At days end, you find a payphone and leave a message for the most important person in your life. They never pick up. You never stop calling.
The setting blends post-apocalyptic dread with 1980s American roadside culture—desolate interstates, rusted truck stops, and the eerie silence of a world that has moved on. The tone is melancholic and tense, focusing on psychological survival as much as physical endurance.
Core Mechanics and Rules
The game uses a standard deck of cards, a few six-sided dice, and a microphone or recording device. Each day, you draw cards to determine encounters, obstacles, and narrative prompts. Dice rolls resolve uncertainty and determine the severity of threats. The procedures are lightweight: interpret prompts, make choices, narrate outcomes, and escalate tension through increasing risks.
A unique original dice system highlights peril and precarity—resources dwindle, threats multiply, and safety is always temporary. The game includes branching endings based on your choices and survival strategies. Embedded safety features help players navigate the intense emotional territory.
What Makes It Unique
Long Haul 1983 transforms the Wretched & Alone framework into a road-trip survival epic. The audio journaling component—leaving voicemails for an absent loved one—creates an intimate, heartbreaking narrative device that other solo games rarely achieve. The included 26-song soundtrack, featuring over 2.5 hours of era-appropriate experimental ambient, soul, jazz, pop, and punk, directly ties music to in-game events.
The game is purpose-built for actual play podcasts and streams, with performance structure woven into the design. Unlike many solo RPGs that rely on written journaling, Long Haul 1983 embraces spoken word, creating artifacts of play that feel like found-footage audio recordings from another timeline.
Target Audience and Player Experience
Ideal for solo players seeking atmospheric, emotionally resonant experiences with minimal prep. Writers and performers will find the audio journaling format especially compelling. The game suits players who enjoy slow-burn tension, post-apocalyptic themes, and the creative constraint of limited resources.
Expect a lonely, reflective journey where hope and despair intertwine. Survival is possible but not guaranteed—meaning emerges from the journey itself, not the destination. If you want crunchy tactical combat, look elsewhere; this shines when you lean into vulnerability, isolation, and quiet courage on an empty highway.
