Summary
Tabletop games are a longstanding pillar of the gaming scene. From TTRPGs likeD&Dto classic board games likeMonopoly, there’s a fantastic range of titles that cater to every kind of gamer. Some board games focus on completing objectives and beating out other players, while others center more on weaseling out an impostor. In recent years, social tabletop games likeSecret HitlerandChameleonhave come to prominence thanks to their fun, deception-based gameplay.
TTRPGs have also become incredibly popular in the last decade, shedding their stigma and finding a large community of players who adore creating characters and considering their actions, behaviors, and goals.Role-playingadds a totally new dimension to any game, allowing players to explore new methods and decisions as a daring rogue or pompous pirate. There’s a brilliant selection of tabletop games that are great on their own but can be further elevated with a bit of RP and character creation.
5Clue
Mysterious Strangers with Something to Hide
Clueis a classicdetective board gamethat sees players assume the role of various color-based protagonists as they attempt to solve who murdered one of the guests. Players roll dice and move around the board, investigating the different rooms of a stately house and gleaning information from other players to discover the killer.
WhileCluealready comes with a few well-known characters to play, gamers could take it a step further and truly assume the role of these aristocrats - considering what it is these mysterious people are doing at the manor. The characters themselves are blank slates, which makes them a good place to start building a character. Alternatively, players can create their own, brand-new characters and consider why they might be in the scenario and what they might have to hide. This adds even more tension to the game and allows the player who is revealed to be the killer a chance to give an epic villain monologue before the game ends.
4Till The Last Gasp
Dramatic Dueling and Dialogue
Till The Last Gaspis a PvP storytelling game by Darrington Press, a company under the incredibly successfulD&DshowCritical Role. The show has expanded its empire far beyondD&Dand began publishing original tabletop games as Darrington Press in 2020.Till The Last Gaspis one of their recent releases, which sees players go head-to-head in adice-based, storytelling duelthat can be set in multiple locations.
Till The Last Gaspdoes not proclaim itself to be a role-playing game, although storytelling and character-based behavior are not only encouraged but a vital part of the mechanics. It would, however, be easy to play the game using third-person narrative rather than first-person role-play, which was likely by design. However, thinking up some epic characters and seeing where their story goes as they take on a formidable foe definitely makesTill The Last Gaspextra fun. Think honorable warrior or intoxicating anti-hero - what are the duelists fighting for? There are brilliant tips in the manual for players who really want toelevate their charactersand bring role-playing front and center, as well as a trailer demonstrating how players might go about it.
3Town Of Salem
Switching Up Roles And Locations
Town of Salemis a card game adaptation of the popular online social deduction game in which players become a person from the town of Salem and must use their role to discover which players are killing people each night. There are a lot of different cards that can be put into play, making the game easier and more difficult depending on preference and lying abilities.
Town of Salemis a brilliant game to role-play since the roles can easily be adapted to suit any scenario. The first round could be set in Salem with a Mayor and the Mafia, but the next one could beset in a spaceshipwith a Captain and undercover aliens. The game lends itself well to different scenarios, and players can use their new guises to lie and charm their way to winning. This game does need some sort of game master, but it can always be their job to choose the location and narrative of the round.
2Ultimate Werewolf & One Night Ultimate Werewolf
Uncovering Secrets Night After Night
Ultimate Werewolfisa social deductiontabletop game akin toMafiaand other deception-based discussion games.Ultimate Werewolfassigns players different roles that each have unique abilities with the goal of uncovering the wolves that have infested the village and executing any evildoers. Each day, players vote on whether to kill a player, and then events take place during the night that will slowly help players deduce who the killers are.One Night Ultimate Werewolfis almost the same game but instead takes place after one night and does not continue after; players must figure out who the werewolf is on the first try, or the village loses.
Ultimate Werewolfis essentially the perfect training ground for players who want to get into tabletop role-playing. The deck of cards has a plethora of great characters to choose from that have art and abilities that can easily inspire a character. Those who want to take it even further can develop backstories and secrets for their characters and use clever discussion to unearth details about other villagers. With a bit of planning or even just role-playing on the fly, players can raise the stakes of the game and delve a little deeper into the mysteries of the town.
1Betrayal At House On The Hill & Betrayal Legacy
Haunted Individuals Ready To Turn On Each Other
Betrayal at House on the Hillis a multiplayer board game set in a haunted mansion, which is built by players as they pull house tiles in order toexplore the terrifying building. Eventually, one of the players will turn on the rest and begin a haunt, which gives both sides an objective to complete in order to win the game. Its setting, mechanics, and turn-based gameplay make it ideal for role-playing moments. Players can create their own characters and have them interact when they enter the same room or pass by each other. It also makes for another epic betrayal scene, where the betrayer can monologue to their heart’s content.
Betrayal Legacyis a raremulti-session editionof the game that sees players create a family line that returns to the house decades after their ancestors. It allows for 14 games in total, and players are supposed to create characters that are all part of the family tree of the original player.Betrayal Legacyis an even more perfect environment for role-playing since it has players claim family heirlooms and interact with characters they might’ve met previously. However, the game will have players destroy certain components and mark off others - meaning it can only really be used for a single playthrough, which is mainly what makes the game so rare. For character inspiration, the popular YouTube channel Smosh Games has a fourteen-episode playthrough with unique characters from their respective family trees and brilliantly demonstrates how players might go about developing characters for multiple sessions.
