Fictioneers.net - Games Directory

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Forum: 

[NOTE: This is a historical thread, archived here from its original home at story-games.com. It includes early public discussions of the game directory and its development here at Fictioneers.net.]

AsIf
September 2014
I've started an online database of Collaborative Fictional Space systems (aka RPGs and Storygames). This project began as an Excel database for my local group, and it eventually grew until I figured it might as well go public. As of today there are 128 games in the system. It's very beta. Some of the descriptions are missing, some of them are overly gloss. A few of them may be just plain wrong. I am open to suggestions, edits, and new submissions. I'm especially open to edits suggested by the games' authors themselves.

The site also allows comments on each game (registered members only).
Feel free to post APs, opinions, reviews or personal experiences for any game you've played.

You can check out the games directory here (click game titles for more details):
http://fictioneers.net/games

webtech's picture

catty_big
September 2014
Good on you Tod! I think that's a cracking idea. I'm a wee bit busy with some other stuff atm, but I'll stop by and make some contributions soon :) (and I'll xpost this on the G+ page so you can +1 me ;))

brunobord
September 2014
looks great!
I don't get the "GM?" field... it looks like it's always set to "No"... what does it exactly mean?

catty_big
September 2014
As this is Story-Games, maybe only GMless games are allowed? ;)

brunobord
September 2014
well... I wasn't sure. If this is the case, I'm feeling the "?" confusing. "no-GM" of "GM-less" would be clearer.

And BTW, I'm missing hyperlinks. I know quite a lot of these games, and some of them are on my hard disk drive. But if we had links to the website whenever it's possible, that'd be great.

AsIf
September 2014 edited September 2014
Thanks @brunobord - I think there was some malfunction in the GM field when I imported the data! I will address those. The question answered by that column is "Is one of the players a GM?" (meaning ONLY one)

ETA: The "GM?" column has been updated. You will now find both Yeses and Nos. :-)

I began the database with almost exclusively "Storygames" and "Indie Games" but quickly found that both those lines are blurry, so I began including more RPGs. The only trad RPGs I've deliberately stayed away from are those that are so big everybody already knows them.

norbertgmatausch
September 2014
Great list, brother. I wish it had links, though. Do you think you could add those? This would really help, and interested people could get access quicker and easier.

Thanks again, great work!

Norbert

AsIf
September 2014 edited September 2014
@catty_big and @norbertgmatausch - Links are definitely on my to-do list. Also authors. I'm adding a bunch today.

AsIf
September 2014 edited September 2014
Authors names and links included now UP TO THE LETTER D! Woot!

If any of y'all find that I'm missing your name, or your game, or you think the description is insufficient, just drop me a line. I want this database to be a valuable resource for people who ask "What is that game about and why would we want to play it?"

JoshDemers
September 2014
This is a really cool resource. Thanks for adding links!

I noticed that you've got Panem Et Circenses listed twice.

So, what are your sources? There must be a lot of games out there - how are you collecting them?

AsIf
September 2014 edited September 2014
Thanks @JoshDemers! Good catch on P&C! I think I imported it once with quotes (that got stripped out), and then again without them. TCO now.

My sources are everywhere, but a good percentage of them came straight from discussions on this forum. Others from BFA and G+. Others from my favorites folder (which is staggeringly crammed), and from the websites of designers and publishers whose URLs I frequent. I'm open to submissions of course.

AsIf
September 2014
Update: Authors and links have now been added up to the letter M. If I've misspoken anywhere, please correct me!

David_Berg
September 2014 edited September 2014
So cool, Tod! You da man! There are other RPG lists out there, but I think I like your format the best.

I don't know if other lists are useful to you for this project, but in case they are, here are some:
List of Story Games, no info yet.
Thousands of RPGs, with date, publisher, and paragraph description.

David_Berg
September 2014 edited September 2014
A suggestion: add "killer app" info. Either (a) as a new column, or (b) as a commenting requirement. I assume that adding a new column and populating it yourself isn't really feasible, so instead, perhaps you could tell people something like:

If you've played this game, was there anything unique about its rules, procedures or player roles, something you haven't seen in other RPGs? Something that made a big difference in play, and might be a reason to play it, or to not play it? If so, please tell us what it was!

That's probably the # 1 thing I want to know when skimming down an RPG list.

AsIf
September 2014 edited September 2014
Noyce! I think a phrase like "Standout Feature" (or etc) might be more broadly understandable, and my first hit was to stick it on the Detail page rather than in the table. But I agree on what one skims for, and that's a table thing. Not sure how to implement this, but I'm adding that to the Phase 2 feature list.

ETA: Maybe a popup mini-window on rollover. That would do the trick.

AsIf
September 2014
Status: I've opened up directory submissions so people can enter games directly. (Registered accounts only, of course.) Hopefully it's not a spam trap, we'll see how it goes. There's a new link at the bottom of all games and game listing pages.

webtech's picture

Paul_T
September 2014
Yeah, this is fantastic! Thanks, Tod!

AsIf
September 2014 edited September 2014
Authors and links added! Here are a few games I do not know the authors of, most are PbtA hacks. Can anybody fill me in?

Adventurers World
Consensus
Heartbreaker World
Police Cops
The Agency
The Warren
Underground

AsIf
November 2014
The Fictioneers database reached 200 games today. I checked out the web stats and I was a little surprised to find that the number one page was the one for CATastrophe.

Number 2 was Ornithopter World, followed by Minions Inc., Viking World, and Fiasco, in that order.

And the indexing continues!

David_Berg
November 2014
Excellent. Are you thinking we use the Comments for any "killer app" stuff? I wrote one for Annalise. It's pending approval -- maybe because I didn't make a user account?

AsIf
November 2014 edited November 2014
Indeed, and yes. Your comment has been approved now. I think the game's "killer app" is a great thing to make note of. I'm also hoping people might relate their own feelings or experiences with various games, or really anything that might help someone else make a decision about whether this is the game for them.

Thanks for checking out the site, and for your comment!

AsIf
April 2015 edited April 2015
Been several months since I even remembered to check the stats on fictioneers.net. In the month of April, FIASCO overtook CATastrophe as the most popular page. That's not really surprising. But the rest of the top 20 does include some very pleasant surprises. I was happy to see these pages are generating traffic for their websites. Out of the 300+ entries in the database, the top 20 pages for the month of April were (in order of hits):

Fiasco
CATastrophe
The Regiment: Colonial Marines
Spirit of 77
Big Eyes, Small Mouth
Agon
Headspace
Blood Boys
Blackbird Companion
Sufficiently Advanced
Anima Prime
Star Wars World
Gulliver's Trading Company
Avatar World
Star Worlds
Keep It Sunny
Left Coast
Blue
Ribbon Drive
Just Sentinels

horn_head_o
April 2015
That's really exciting to see me in there!

So, question: I changed the name of Avatar World to Legend of the Elements. How would you handle that? You could just wholesale change the name and not have connection to the old name, or it could be included as an alias for the game. I dunno, I hadn't really thought about it. Handle it however you wish.

AsIf
April 2015 edited April 2015
Did it with an alias. The title has been changed. Both URLs lead to the same page.
Thanks for checking!

kksimons
April 2015
Very cool!

Paul_T
May 2015
Great stuff.

My antivirus is convinced that fictioneers.net is a security risk for some reason, however. Don't know if that's something worth looking into or not!

AsIf
May 2015 edited May 2015
It is, possibly, and I shall. Thanks for mentioning it Paul!

AsIf
May 2015
We're clean. I scanned the database and reviewed the entire file hierarchy, no sign of virus was found. Your software seems to be issuing a false positive. Most AV software includes a way to "whitelist" a site, if you are so inclined.

AsIf
October 2015 edited October 2015
Designers: Please, please feel free to make an account and submit your own games to the Fictioneers directory. As many before me have found, keeping a database of indie game releases up to date is a bottomless job! If you don't want to do that, you can contact me via the site, and send me the following information:

Title
Author
Link
Overview
Excerpt
Game Type
Players
GM?
Crunch

Here is a breakdown of what those terms mean:

Link - If there is a page describing the game that includes a link to the PDF, use that. If not, then just a straight link to the PDF will be fine. If there's a store page with a description and a buy button, you could use that.

Overview - One paragraph description of what the game's about. Cover blurb is fine.

Excerpt - One or two paragraphs from the text, giving the flavor of the writing, the setting, or the system.

Game Type (choose as many as apply):
- Roleplaying Game
- Collaborative Story
- Powered by the Apocalypse

Players - Indicate the minimum and maximum recommended number of players, separated by a hyphen. If there's no max, put a plus sign (e.g. "2+")

GM? - Is a single person designated as the GM? Y or N.

Crunch - a number from 1 to 5

CRUNCH LEVEL (1-5) CLASS EXAMPLE
1 - Super easy minigames Doctor Magnethands
2 - Focus/Imagination storygames Dread
3 - Mildly crunchy modern rpgs Apocalypse World
4 - Moderately crunchy trad rpgs D&D
5 - Highly crunchy crunchy rpgs SpaceMaster

PS - There is no advertising on the site (aside from a link to my own Patreon, which in part helps support the site). Aside from signing up to prove you're not a bot, I don't care about your email address and I don't spam anyone.

webtech's picture

Hasimir
October 2015
I was about to go there and register... but FateLess was already in the archive, on the home page too! :D

However I found a glitch... when I go to the GAMES page, clicking on the Filter By Initial is not working for the "F" letter which says Access Denied.

Hasimir
October 2015
I was about to go there and register... but FateLess was already in the archive, on the home page too! :D

However I found a glitch... when I go to the GAMES page, clicking on the Filter By Initial is not working for the "F" letter which says Access Denied.

AsIf
October 2015
@Hasimir! I just happened to have added FateLess a few hours ago! Synchronicity!
Thank you for reporting the problem on the "F" page. It has been fixed.

AsIf
December 2016 edited December 2016
UPDATE: Due to the frequency of spambot accounts, I have installed a module on Fictioneers.net that automatically deletes your account if you have not commented or posted a game within 30 days of registering.

I also created a way to exempt individual accounts from auto-deletion. I filtered out all the people whose usernames I recognized, but some of you here may have been affected. If your account is still there right now, you're good. If your account no longer exists, you'll have to create it again. You can get exempted from auto-deletion in the future by posting something, or by using the Contact form to prove you are a real person. :-)

Apologies for any inconvenience, but the spam accounts were out of control!

Paul_T
December 2016
Nice work, Tod!

Jeff_B_Slater
December 2016 edited December 2016
@Aslf
I'm not sure if you have seen my post called: Please help me figure out which games to keep and which to get rid of :)
But I'm having Story Gamers rate some of my games using Fictioneers rating system. These games will be added to Fictioneers and I will probably have Story Gamers help me do a huge list of hundreds to add to Fictioneers; I think it is a super helpful resource but it needs a bigger library. Anyway, I was wondering what you thought about making a new category under the GM heading; it would have GM (i.e. Yes), Mixed, and GMless (i.e. No). I'm not sure how much work this would take on your part or if you think it is worth the trouble, but I thought I would suggest the idea :) Thanks :)

AsIf
December 2016
Hey Jeff -- I've read your thread with interest. The GM question is binary (to be precise: "Is a single person designated as the GM?") so my assumption was that a game with a shared GM role would be a "no". I do see the point, however, and the fact that you asked the question means my intention may not have been as clear as I thought. But (here's the but) if I were to add a "mixed" value, I'd have to go through the database again and separate those games from the "no"s. It's doable, though a lower priority than adding new game listings in general.

Jeff_B_Slater
December 2016

Cool, I will reframe my question so that I get an answer of either 'yes' or 'no' (i.e. GM or collaborative respectively) response when I create my post to have Story Gamers help me further build the library of games :) Thanks, Aslf :)

AsIf
January 2017 edited January 2017
Happy new year, and welcome to my new experiment in crowdfunding...

Patreon
FICTIONEERS.NET has a Patreon now. It's brand-new and it has no subscribers yet :-(
The site is a labor of love and I'd like to keep it non-advertiser-supported (actually that's true of all my sites). You can help by contributing just $1 a month, and join in discussions on the Patreon Blog about upcoming site features and expansions. Think about it, huh? You can always unjoin at any time.

The Fictioneers Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fictioneers

Paul_T
January 2017
Nice, Tod!

If you're reading this, Tod (AsIf) produces a lot of quality material - and regularly - and Fictioneers is definitely worth supporting. Check it out!

webtech's picture

AsIf
January 2017
UPDATE: This weekend I added an SEO module to the Fictioneers.net website. In theory, this should make it even easier for people to find specific games by title or author's name, when searching via Google or any other search engine. Might be 30 days before we start seeing the results in traffic, but it should be worth it.

AsIf
April 2017
Haven't been a lot of updates lately, but I did add a "Game Type" selector to the listings page at http://fictioneers.net/games

Now you can filter for "Roleplaying Game", "Collaborative Story", "Powered by the Apocalypse", or any combination thereof.

It appears that I don't have enough PbtA games listed. Anybody wanna stick some more in there, please go ahead!

Jeff_B_Slater
April 2017 edited April 2017
@Aslf
What about games that aren't out yet like Ben's Follow or the upcoming PbtA game The Sword, the Crown, and the Unspeakable Power? I was thinking of adding some stuff but realized some of it wasn't out yet; what do you think?

Paul_T
April 2017
(Tod, I'm going to assume you're familiar with this, but just in case you aren't... here it is: apocalypse-world.com/pbta/)

AsIf
April 2017
@Jeff_B_Slater I don't really see a lot of point behind inputting games that aren't out yet, as the site is intended to provide a download link. But when they're ready, by all means!

@Paul_T I hadn't seen that page before. Looks like all the games there are "Buy Now" links? I've seen another resource for PbtA games that's a massive spreadsheet on google docs, it includes many that are free.

Jeff_B_Slater
May 2017 edited May 2017
Aslf, you have games that go to buy now links on the site (Fiasco for example). I think that's what's causing the confusion. Are all the games supposed to be download links for free-to-play games?

AsIf
May 2017
There's no confusion. In the long run, the site should be a comprehensive listing of all published indie games currently available, paid or not. But in the short run I have a preference for free games, because so do a lot of other people.

(That long run, btw, is impossible, but something to aim for!)

Jeff_B_Slater
May 2017 edited May 2017

So, it's fine to add either, but free stuff is preferable as of now, got it. :smile: I was personally confused regarding what you were after.

BTW here is the Google Doc Spreadsheet with all the free PbtA games on it if anyone wants to start adding those:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1whsN3C5e31CZfo8hqlJbiKTPBX9kkCDS...

I will add some of the free games I'm into today. Thanks for clearing everything up for me, Tod :smile:

AsIf
May 2017
Awesome! Thanks for your public personhood, Jeff!

Jeff_B_Slater
May 2017 edited May 2017

Tod, how much of a pain would it be to have a new filter for "free" or "commercial"? I know it would be a pain to redo all of the games with "free" or "commercial" but with some help it might be worth it—perhaps crowd source the work? Anyway, I just thought it would be cool. Just a thought :smile:

AsIf
May 2017
Thanks, that's a great idea. I'm thinking about doing it. Lacking the time to go through all the existing entries right now, however, I'd have to make the default "unstated" and then update them individually as time permits.

AsIf
May 2017
It is done. The game entry form now has a "Free?" checkbox. Thanks for the suggestion Jeff!

Jeff_B_Slater
May 2017
Awesome :-) I think that's a really cool option to have :-)

Jeff_B_Slater
May 2017
Tod, do you think you will eventually have a filter where you can filter between free and commercial games? Thanks :-)

AsIf
May 2017
Yes, for sure. But there's not much point until a good percentage of the entries have that data in place.

AsIf
August 2017 edited August 2017
The FREE/NOT FREE filter has been implemented, and the entire DB has been updated to reflect this data. Special thanks to VB Wyrde for his help! Woot!

http://fictioneers.net/games

Jeff_Slater
August 2017 edited August 2017

Awesome! :smiley: I checked it out Tod—very, very cool!

BeePeeGee
August 2017
Thanks, Tod!
I was just suggesting on G+ : it would be neat to be able to filter by minimum/maximum no. of players (though this isn't really a problem since you can always sort by that column).

AsIf
August 2017 edited August 2017
You can sort by minimum, but not by maximum.
That's because they're both handled as a single string. (e.g. "2-5").

BeePeeGee
August 2017
OK, minimum is actually more important :wink:

webtech's picture

AsIf
September 2017 edited September 2017
Categorized Resources
Yeah, it's not such a huge thing, but it does help. The RESOURCES page at fictioneers.net has been categorized to make it easier to find what you're looking for. The categories are:

  • Communities
  • Generators
  • GM Aides
  • Player Aides
  • Sheets/Forms

http://fictioneers.net/resources

AsIf
October 2017 edited October 2017
The latest indie game entries at Fictioneers.net include...
» Honey Heist by Grant Howitt
» Strain by James Vail
» Hackers and Hustlers by Randy Lubin
» FU: Freeform Universal by Nathan Russell
» Golden Sky Stories by Ryo Kamiya & Ewen Cluney
» SPLINTER by Richard Kelly, Devon Oratz, Mikaela Barree & Korbl Klimecki
» Cthulhu Dark by Graham Walmsley

DeReel
October 2017
Hello, maybe it's a different source, maybe it's an offspring of yours. Anyway it's in french, and I think you 2 should merge.
Here it is : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1P9mvgO-eMN3JjnF8Giu81hafyXEnDgfx...

AsIf
October 2017
Wow, that's intense. Those French have a different word for everything!

BeePeeGee
November 2017
Merci, DeReel c'est vraiment choutte!
This is really an interesting list...

AsIf
December 2017
New Game Listings for December
New entries at http://Fictioneers.net include classic versions of well-known generic RPGs like RISUS and FUDGE, plus quick-start rules and freebies for Dirk Stanley's Far Away Land, as well as some less well-known specialty games such as...

» Totem by Paul Elliott — Enter the era of ice-age hunters!

» Far Trek by C.R. Brandon & Mike Berkey — A game about a five year mission, where special effects never progressed beyond painted Styrofoam blocks and cheap double-exposures

» Threat by Alto Dizi — A one-page "superlite" solo microRPG that replicates the kind of horror movie where an ensemble cast of skilled but flawed people are trapped in a dark place with a terrifying threat waiting to snatch them at any moment

» Argument by Rainer Koreasalo — A diceless storytelling system that uses playing cards and an open-ended stat system, designed to support any genre

» ...and the fascinating game/game-aide Instant Game by Animalball Partners - a tool for creating and playing new RPG settings and plots on the spot!

Check em out, y'all! You can help support the ongoing RPG archival project on my Patreon, at https://www.patreon.com/fictioneers

AsIf
May 2018
New Feature: SimpleMaps are here!
A SimpleMap allows real-time tracking and windowsharing during online roleplaying sessions without a VTT. Upload your own background image, and use the map markers to track your party's movement. Share your window via Google Hangouts or etc. Save or delete your markers whenever you wish. Now beta testing at http://fictioneers.net
Register an account and create your own!

SimpleMap

AsIf
June 2018 edited June 2018
Latest entries at fictioneers.net include...

» Claustrophobia! by Rodney Sloan — A game about crazy gnome explorers on board the doomed Nuclear Subterrine, the sentient vessel HMS Keeton. When standing around in the garden becomes too much, here's what these gnomes get up to.

» Soul Eater RPG by Konda Immortal — A fan-made tabletop game for the manga/anime Soul Eater.

» Ops & Tactics by Sweet Soul Bro — A modular modern RPG with tons of content, designed for everything from police investigation to para-military violence. Ops and Tactics excels in modern combat.

» Fluffy Pony RPG by MV — Fluffy Pony RPG: Tales of Shit and Skettis is a (very) niche, tongue in cheek, black humor RPG about sentient equine biotoys (adult content warning).

» Futurepunk by Norbert G. Matausch — Futurepunk is a minimalist roleplaying game of the near future featuring quick and easy rules for traditional cyberpunk settings, with an additional add-on expansion for fantasypunk.

» To The Stars, Stellar Cadets! by Jonathan Hicks — A tabletop roleplaying game based on the pulp science fiction adventure serials from the 1930s through the 1950s.

» Revisionist History by Trevis Martin — A game meant for play by post (PBP) or play by e-mail (PBEM.) This game builds on inspiration from novels that present their stories as the diaries of their characters.

» Cyber//Punk by David Brunell-Brutman — CYBER//PUNK is a hack of John Harper’s Lasers & Feelings, inspired by works like Blade Runner, Neuromancer, Ghost in the Shell, and Shadowrun.

» Covenant by Matt Machell — An apocalypse that never arrived. An ancient secret society in turmoil. Your loyalties are divided. Your beliefs are in doubt. Play this collaborative storygame to find out what happens.

Check out these free games and hundreds of others at fictioneers.net, and if it's useful to you, please consider supporting the project at https://patreon.com/fictioneers

webtech's picture

BeePeeGee
June 2018
Probably it is too much work...
Actually having the game length (of story games) would really help me choosing a game for a one shot

AsIf
June 2018 edited June 2018
You mean playtime, as opposed to page length? I don't think that's possible for a lot of games...

BeePeeGee
June 2018
Yes play time. For one-shot story games, this is quite useful to know if it is 1h or 3-5h. Many story games have that information in the instructions.

For traditional RPGs that is less of a concern (maybe i.e. "minimum 3+ sessions" or "usually 3-7 sessions").

AsIf
July 2018
Recent additions to the fictioneers.net database include...

» Inception: The Unofficial Role Playing Game by Adam Sawyer — This roleplaying system was designed to allow fans of the film to play out other mission ideas they would have. It has all of the terms present in the film and script.

» Legend by Jacob Kurzer — Enter Hallow, the blasted remnants of what once was a world. In Hallow you'll meet and play humans, elves, and other traditional humanoid creatures of high fantasy...

» Awesome VHS Adventures by Shae Davidson — Awesome VHS Adventures celebrates the strange movies that lurked on video store shelves or that your friends recorded off of basic cable in the 1980s...

» Krendel by William J. Altman — A modular, universal role-playing game system that provides a toolbox to customize your game to any world you can imagine...

» Perilous Intersections by Rory Bracebuckle — A lightweight engine for solitaire roleplaying game adventures. It works by directing you to answer the Big Questions that brings a hero into conflict...

» Barbarians of Lemuria by Simon Washbourne — A heroic role playing game set firmly in the swords & sorcery genre. Lemuria is a prehistoric world that predates ours by millions of years...

» Dominion Rules by Dominion Games Development Team — A role-playing game system for historical and fantasy role-playing; one of the first RPGs to be released under an open source (or open gaming) license...

» Zaibatsu by Paul Elliott — Roleplaying the Corporate Wars of the Future, players take on the roles of street soldiers for the world's most powerful corporations (the Japanese zaibatsu)...

Check out these games and hundreds more at http://fictioneers.net
Support the fictioneers project on Patreon: https://patreon.com/fictioneers

AsIf
October 2018 edited October 2018
Hey y'all --
I know you've got a game or three in your collection that I've missed over at Fictioneers.net. Wanna share with the class? Contact me and let me know where your faves can be found! (Note: I try to concentrate on free games, but more important is that they must be Indie games.) Hit me!

Here's the info I try to get for each game listed...

Title
Author
URL
Description
Rules Excerpt
Game Type (choose all that apply)
- Roleplaying Game
- Collaborative Story
- Powered by the Apocalypse

Crunch Rating
1 - Super easy/minigames (eg: Doctor Magnethands)
2 - Focus & Imagination/storygames (eg: Dread)
3 - Mildly crunchy/modern rpgs (eg: Apocalypse World)
4 - Moderately crunchy/trad rpgs (eg: D&D)
5 - Highly crunchy/crunchy rpgs (eg: SpaceMaster)

Players (Min-Max)
GM? (Yes/No)
Free? (Yes/No)

Rickard
October 2018
I wonder if you should add Language to the list, unless you want it to be only English roleplaying games.

AsIf
October 2018
That's a good idea, although TBH so far everything in there is in English.

MikeT
October 2018
Wow, it's been like ages since I posted here last time. Anyway, I see you're featuring my old game "Whispering Willows" in your list. I'd ask you to remove it and feature it under the new name and address: "Misty Willows." https://starfishgames.itch.io/misty-willows-rpg
It's still an alpha version of the game, I'm looking for readers before finishing it.
Thank you!

AsIf
November 2018
Done!
http://fictioneers.net/games/misty-willows

MikeT
November 2018

Thanks!

AsIf
November 2018 edited November 2018
UPDATE: It's taken me too long to do this, but the games listing table at fictioneers.net is now responsive. That means you can browse it on your phone, making it easier than ever to find a new indie game!
image

Paul_T
November 2018
Nice work, Tod!

-- END ARCHIVE --