It is no secret that Dungeons and Dragons is my favorite tabletop game, but I do play other games from time to time. D&D was not my first roleplaying game either! I was one of those goth 90s kids who played Vampire The Masquerade. I recently tried out a few fantastic games, many of which were more indie and experimental than I’m used to playing. There’s nothing wrong with only playing D&D, but there are so many amazing games that you should try them out. Here are a few games I would recommend:
Spire: The City Must Fall
My friend ran this game for me, and it was very chaotic (in a good way). It had an excellent mix of fantasy, goth, punk, and insanity. You play a Dark Elf in a city where everything is going wrong. Character choices lead the character to question everything, ultimately sacrificing your sanity, honor, or relationships. There was a cool improvisational aspect where I felt like I could make things up on the fly and the Game Master (GM) just kinda rolled with it.
Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall
The idea for the game blew my mind. I love Chinese history, and the mechanics are different from anything I’ve ever seen. It’s very accessible and very story-driven. You run a restaurant while also dealing with the undead…. like you do. Check out the Youtube video above.
Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game

Any known device cannot measure the hype I have for this game. I love Avatar: The Last Airbender! It’s one of my favorite shows of all time and something I’ve re-watched more times than I can count. I’m currently watching Legend of Korra and kicking myself for not watching it sooner. I immediately backed it when I found out that Magpie Games was doing a Kickstarter for this game. They make some cool, story-driven, and new player-friendly games, and I often find doing a game set in a world people already know makes the roleplaying more immersive. Speaking of Magpie Games, they have a lot of amazing games on their website. I strongly recommend checking out Masks, which is a great superhero RPG.
What non-D&D games do you love? Comment below or let us know via social media!
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