Every game can teach us something about design. Let's look at six one-page games submitted to the 2026 One-Page RPG Jam. Two of my own designs and four from others, all of them worth checking out!
I just submitted my second game to the jam: Play as a melting Greenland glacier caring for a struggling polar bear in "It's a warm day in the arctic and you are a Greenland glacier", my solo TTRPG of arctic ecology that is part journaling game, part dice-management game.
I made a social deduction game called Ace of Shades that I'm really pleased with!
You and your friends are performing a heist whilst simultaneously trying to show off for your mentor, but among your number is an Ace who is secretly attempting to sabotage the operation.
The mechanics are fairly simple: you each play a card and whoever plays the highest wins the attention of your mentor. But if the combined value of your cards exceed the level of discretion you must maintain, the guards grow suspicious and the Ace draws one step closer to foiling your plans...
There's a really fun tension in having to simultaneously work with and against one another that I'm delighted with, one that I feel feeds well into the storytelling. You can find the game here if you're interested: https://gus-the-gamesmith.itch.io/ace-of-shades
I'm very proud of the layout on this one - I was inspired by your previous entries to the Jam, and wanted to make something that was both legible and nice to look at. So thank you for all of the examples and resources that you've shared here!
I made my first design for anything TTRPG related and submitted it to the one-page RPG jam today!
It is called TOTAL FOOTBALL and is a solo tabletop roleplaying game about surviving a 20-year professional football career.
You start the game as a 16-year-old rookie exactly 20 years in the past. Using real historical data (from archives like FBref), you drop your created player into a struggling, bottom-half team from that specific era.
You don't roll dice to simulate the rest of the league because history has already done the bookkeeping. You only play your specific matches and tally your own points. At the end of the season, you insert your team into the real-world historical table to see exactly how your presence altered the timeline.
I’ve been trying to exercise more this year and used that as inspiration for my first ever one page ttrpg, Gym Rats!
In this game you use your real workout to recover your stats. You can also increase your stats by increasing your workout! I managed to include a bunch of fun tables to inspire your game as well.
I did make one! Combining a couple popular TTRPG genres, check out Toxic Wasteland Wizard School. My goal this year was to incorporate some FUDGE dice into my game as something new for my own game design. I got in some random tables, always a joy at the table. And I wanted to up my cover design! Hacking up some public domain photos was a lot of fun and I made something weird.
This is the start of a year-long design exercise for myself. My plan is to release 13 one page solo RPGs. All sharing similar layouts and “limitations”. My final game will be my entry for the 2027 jam. I will also be releasing a PDF with design commentary for each game. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t mining your dice articles for mechanics.
That's why I write the articles, so you can steal mechanism ideas! :) Be sure to check the board game posts too. Many of those include interesting little dice mechanisms that can be adapted for use in TTRPGs.
I just submitted my second game to the jam: Play as a melting Greenland glacier caring for a struggling polar bear in "It's a warm day in the arctic and you are a Greenland glacier", my solo TTRPG of arctic ecology that is part journaling game, part dice-management game.
🧊❤️
https://sleepy-badger-games.itch.io/its-a-warm-day-in-the-arctic-and-you-are-a-greenland-glacier
I need to check this out!
I made a social deduction game called Ace of Shades that I'm really pleased with!
You and your friends are performing a heist whilst simultaneously trying to show off for your mentor, but among your number is an Ace who is secretly attempting to sabotage the operation.
The mechanics are fairly simple: you each play a card and whoever plays the highest wins the attention of your mentor. But if the combined value of your cards exceed the level of discretion you must maintain, the guards grow suspicious and the Ace draws one step closer to foiling your plans...
There's a really fun tension in having to simultaneously work with and against one another that I'm delighted with, one that I feel feeds well into the storytelling. You can find the game here if you're interested: https://gus-the-gamesmith.itch.io/ace-of-shades
I'm very proud of the layout on this one - I was inspired by your previous entries to the Jam, and wanted to make something that was both legible and nice to look at. So thank you for all of the examples and resources that you've shared here!
That’s great! So happy to hear SCM was helpful! Thanks!
Thanks for putting this jam on my radar! I joined late and just submitted my game. It’s called Thorpe https://the-lone-legend.itch.io/thorpe
That was fast! Congrats on making a game!
I made my first design for anything TTRPG related and submitted it to the one-page RPG jam today!
It is called TOTAL FOOTBALL and is a solo tabletop roleplaying game about surviving a 20-year professional football career.
You start the game as a 16-year-old rookie exactly 20 years in the past. Using real historical data (from archives like FBref), you drop your created player into a struggling, bottom-half team from that specific era.
You don't roll dice to simulate the rest of the league because history has already done the bookkeeping. You only play your specific matches and tally your own points. At the end of the season, you insert your team into the real-world historical table to see exactly how your presence altered the timeline.
https://tijsvanlieshout.itch.io/total-football
The OSR x Sports mix is so interesting! I wish I knew more about football because I think I would love this. Very cool and thank you for sharing!
I’ve been trying to exercise more this year and used that as inspiration for my first ever one page ttrpg, Gym Rats!
In this game you use your real workout to recover your stats. You can also increase your stats by increasing your workout! I managed to include a bunch of fun tables to inspire your game as well.
You can check it out here: https://jduff.itch.io/gym-rats
I'm always interested in games that do crossovers with real life, especially fitness/productivity. This is really cool. Thank you for sharing!
such a cool collection :D so many neat ideas :) thank you for sharing <3
Thanks!! :)
I did make one! Combining a couple popular TTRPG genres, check out Toxic Wasteland Wizard School. My goal this year was to incorporate some FUDGE dice into my game as something new for my own game design. I got in some random tables, always a joy at the table. And I wanted to up my cover design! Hacking up some public domain photos was a lot of fun and I made something weird.
Play a wizard in training in the post apocalypse!
https://junkyardtornado.itch.io/toxic-wasteland-wizard-school
Looks good! I'll check it out. Thank you for sharing!
I really liked the design and layout for creature comforts. It felt very similar to the layout I have been using lately.
This is my 3rd year doing the Jam and I released a solo game called The Long Span. Your random table article was definitely a big help.
https://jasonhpickering.itch.io/the-long-span
This is the start of a year-long design exercise for myself. My plan is to release 13 one page solo RPGs. All sharing similar layouts and “limitations”. My final game will be my entry for the 2027 jam. I will also be releasing a PDF with design commentary for each game. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t mining your dice articles for mechanics.
That's why I write the articles, so you can steal mechanism ideas! :) Be sure to check the board game posts too. Many of those include interesting little dice mechanisms that can be adapted for use in TTRPGs.
You have an ambitious plan. Good luck!