The Wretched
The Wretched is Chris Bissette's solo journaling RPG of Alien-style survival horror, played with a deck of cards, a block tower and a microphone. As the last survivor of a salvage ship, you record audio logs while you try to repair it and call for rescue, as the tower wobbles and the creature waits outside the hull. It launched the Wretched & Alone system behind many other solo games.
Sci-fi survival horror • Solo journaling • Cards, d6, block tower, microphone • About 30–60 minutes • No prep • Rules-lite • Paid PDF
The Wretched is a solo journaling RPG by Chris Bissette, played with a deck of playing cards, a tumbling block tower and a microphone. You are the last survivor of a salvage ship attacked by an alien creature, recording your final days in audio logs while you try to repair the ship and signal for rescue. It is best for solo players who want a short, intense survival horror story in the style of Alien, and who are comfortable with a game you will probably lose.
It is a poor fit if you want a group game, a long campaign or a game you can reliably win. The Wretched is built around one central lie, that survival is possible.
What the game is
The itch.io page opens with Ellen Ripley's final log from Alien, and the premise follows it closely. The Wretched was adrift between stars after an engine failure when an alien lifeform killed the crew. You launched the creature out of an airlock and thought you had won, but it is still out there, clinging to the hull. The game is about "human resilience in the face of overwhelming odds and almost certain death", and about isolation, fear and perseverance.
Bissette lists the music of John Carpenter and Nine Inch Nails as inspirations, along with Rufus Roswell's solo games You Are Not Alone In This Life and you will die alone out here in the black.
Publication history and editions
- First release (2020): The Wretched came out from Bissette's studio Loot The Room in spring 2020. In March 2025 Bissette marked its fifth anniversary in April.
- Wretched & Alone (May 2020): Matt Sanders of Sealed Library released The Sealed Library, the first game built on The Wretched, along with the free Wretched & Alone SRD under a CC-BY 3.0 licence. Many other solo games now use the system.
- Kickstarter edition (September 2020): a Kickstarter funded a new layout, uploaded on September 28, 2020, along with print copies, a t-shirt and a vinyl soundtrack. New printings followed in 2020 and January 2021.
- 2023 PDF: the current download includes a 2023 version of the rules.
- Blood In The Margins (2025): Bissette's new Wretched & Alone game, which updates the system, ran on BackerKit in March 2025.
What you need to play
- Rules: the PDF was £8 on sale, 20% off its £10 list price, on itch.io on October 29, 2026, with a 4.9 rating from 238 reviews. The download includes the rules, the original soundtrack and the expanded Kickstarter soundtrack.
- Print: print copies are sold through the Loot The Room web store.
- Components: a standard deck of playing cards, a six-sided die, a tumbling block tower such as Jenga, some tokens, and a way to record your voice.
- Time: itch.io lists an average session of about half an hour. Dicebreaker's reviewer took about an hour.
Core rules and play structure
Each in-game day, you roll a die to see how many cards to draw, then answer the prompt for each card. Each suit covers a different kind of problem aboard the ship, from failing systems to signs of the attack and the remains of your crew. Many prompts tell you to pull a block from the tower, which stands for the ship's structural integrity. You start with some blocks already removed. If the tower falls, you die.
In the Wretched & Alone structure the game is built on, the four Kings work as a countdown to disaster: draw all four and the game ends badly. The Ace of Hearts is your chance at salvation. Once you find it, you place ten tokens on it and remove one each time you roll a 6 at the end of a day. Remove them all, and rescue may come, though the SRD notes that a last pull from the tower can still end everything.
At the end of each day you record a log into a microphone, describing what happened and how your character is coping.
Characters and advancement
There is no character sheet or advancement. You play one survivor, defined by what you say in your logs: who they were, who they lost and why they keep going. The character changes through the story, not through rules.
Signature mechanics
- The tower: pulling blocks turns your fear into a physical act, and every pull could end the game.
- Audio logs: speaking your journal aloud, instead of writing it, is the game's most distinctive feature.
- The Kings and the Ace of Hearts: a countdown to doom and a slow, dice-driven hope of rescue.
- Soundtrack: an original score written for the game sets the mood.
What play feels like
Play is quiet, tense and personal. Dicebreaker's Chase Carter (March 2021) described logs that began like a "buttoned-up engineer" making measured notes and slowly frayed as isolation set in, with stories of dead friends and one-sided conversations with the creature at the airlock. Carter reached Day 12 before the tower fell and called the audio logs the game's best feature, because speaking "cleaves closer to emotional truth" than writing.
Running the game
There is no GM and no prep. Set up the tower, shuffle the cards, start the soundtrack and begin. The main preparation is choosing somewhere quiet and private enough to speak your logs aloud.
Campaign fit
The Wretched is a one-session game. Most runs end in a single sitting, and each play-through is a self-contained story. Replay value comes from trying again with a different survivor, or from moving on to other Wretched & Alone games, such as Long Haul 1983.
Reception and awards
The Wretched was nominated for Tabletop Gaming Magazine's 2021 award for "Best Way To Die In An RPG", alongside Free League's licensed Alien and Labyrinth games. It did not win. Dicebreaker's review praised its "hard-to-find emotional intelligence" and recommended starting with it over the many games it inspired. Its biggest influence is the Wretched & Alone system, which has become a widely used framework for solo journaling games.
Where it is strongest
- A strong, simple premise that anyone who has seen Alien will grasp
- Audio logs that make solo play feel personal and immersive
- The block tower turns tension into a physical act
- Plays in under an hour with no prep
- Launched a whole family of solo games
Where it can frustrate groups
- Solo only, not a group game
- You will usually lose, and the ending can feel abrupt
- Speaking aloud feels awkward for some players
- Needs a block tower and a deck of cards, not just a PDF
Content and safety notes
Expect death, gore, grief for lost friends and the near-certain death of your character. The game deals with isolation and despair, and Dicebreaker read it as a reflection on pandemic lockdown, though Bissette began designing it before then. Stop or step away if a play-through becomes too heavy.
Best starting path
Buy the PDF, find a block tower and a deck of cards, put the soundtrack on and play in one sitting. Record your logs if you can. If you enjoy it, try Long Haul 1983 or another Wretched & Alone game, or the free SRD if you want to make your own.
Research notes
Last checked October 29, 2026. Price, rating and files are from itch.io on that date; history is from the game's devlog; rules details are from Dicebreaker and the Wretched & Alone SRD.