26 in ‘26
In 2025 I purchased not one, nor two, but three new shelving units for my home to free up a bit of space for my expanding library. Dolmenwood, Paranoia, Fallout, X-Crawl Classics, LANCER, and a dozen more systems were added to my collection. Whole games and editions were shuffled into bankers boxes, those boxes into a storage unit so that the new games could have a bit more room to breathe. I haven’t had a chance to play more than a fraction of the games on the shelf, much less the new ones.
At this moment my library is absolutely filled with games that I’ve read (or thumbed through) without the opportunity to bring to my table. Like many gaming groups we’ve settled into a system or two that we know well - in our case Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, 2024 and Starfinder 1st Edition - that occupy the majority of our time. Every new game proposed is an ask to spend time learning a system and creating a character before even getting the chance to play. We’re all busy adults! With adult jobs, dogs, families, and other hobbies. That ask for an extra hour or two is big when all we want to do is chat and catch up before we roll dice.
Nevertheless, I refuse to leave these games languishing, un-played. What a shame that would be!
So in 2026 I intend to run or play in 26 RPGs I haven’t had a chance to run or play before. That’s a one-shot game every two weeks, on average, in addition to my usual biweekly game. Even with that breakneck pace it’s a losing game: by the time I’m through these games there will be another 30 in my library (I hope). Doomed or not, that’s the project. The games on my to-play list are below, though that list is a few more than 26 and subject to change as new stuff comes out.
His Majesty the Worm, Josh McCrowell, Exalted Funeral Press
Shadowdark, The Arcane Library
Mausritter, Games Omnivorous
Die RPG, Rowan Rook & Deckard
Call of Cthulhu, 7th Edition, Chaosium
Heart, Rowan Rook & Deckard
Spire, Rowan Rook & Deckard
Blades in the Dark, Evil Hat Productions
Cyberpunk RED, R. Talsorian Games
Arcana Evolved, Malhavoc Press/Monte Cook Games
Achtung! Cthulhu, Modiphius
Paranoia, Perfect Edition, Mongoose Publishing
X-Crawl Classics, Goodman Games
Lancer, Massif Press, Dark Horse Comics
Fever Knights, Andrews McMeel Publishing
Nectonautilus, World Champ Game Co.
Slugblaster: Kickflip Over a Quantum Centipede, Mythworks
Mothership, Tuesday Knight Games
Aberrant, 2nd Edition, Onyx Path Publishing
Candela Obscura, Darrington Press
Electric Bastionland, Chris McDowall, Bastionland Press
Fiasco, Jason Morningstar, Bully Pulpit Games
Outgunned, 2 Little Mice
Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland, Super Savage Systems
Ultraviolet Grasslands, Luka Rejec, Wizard Thief Fighter Studio
Tales From the Loop, Free League Publishing
Numenera, Monte Cook Games
The Strange, Monte Cook Games
Mazes, 9th Level Games
Sickest Witch, Justin Sirois, Severed Books
Pigeons Eleven, 9th Level Games
Draw Steel, MCDM Productions
Fallout, Modiphius
Eat the Reich, Rowan Rook & Deckard
The Wildsea, Mythworks
Daggerheart, Darrington Press