I’ve gone through my (admittedly sparse) data for my own Endies roundup. Perhaps I ought to have done this before I made the post about the awards, but something I’m trying to get a little better about is posting when the iron is hot1 instead of waiting to perfect a piece.

Bring on the numbers.

Total Games Played: 15

Full List

• Promethean the Created by Onyx Path

• This was the second last system we played in a long-running multiverse campaign (which I really ought to write about, because it was an experimental form of play that was interesting). Technically some of us were playing Mage the Awakening. Promethean was the more interesting game. I continue to hold nothing but disdain for the layout of these World of Darkness books. The game itself had some fiddly bits I liked, and a lot I didn’t.

• Fate of the Norns: Ragnarok by Pendelhaven

• Another beautifully illustrated book that was horrifically laid out. This one was the final system in our multiverse game. I think I would have liked it a lot better if we had played it on its own (and if it had a friendlier character sheet). It had a lot of cool stuff: character bingo boards, character mats for runestones that made it feel board game-y, did I mention gorgeous art?

• Band-Aids and Bullet Holes by Sam Dunnewold

• I got to playtest a lot of iterations of this game, and frankly there wasn’t a bad time had – period. Sam has written a fun powderkeg of revenge that rewards my Hollywood-staging-a-scene tendencies. It’s punchy, it’s fast to set up and play, it’s got amazing replay value. Also: my dad would definitely be able to pick up and play this game, despite not being a ttrpg/play pretend guy, therefore I gave this the award: Game My Dad Would Play.

• Thirsty / Toxic Sword Lesbians by April Kit Walsh & Carly Smallbird, respectively

• This was the game I played the most sessions of. I’m including both here because Toxic won’t run without Thirsty – it’s truly a modification. I probably have a longer post cooking about TSL, because the honest-to-gods truth about it is that by the end of the campaign I’d hacked it beyond recognition. I think TSL does “adventure game that isn’t DnD and also invites queer characters” really well! I think it didn’t get as queer or thirsty as I was hoping, which is why we used Toxic Sword Lesbians also. And with Toxic, Carly has really amped up the potential messiness. But ultimately, the shape of TSL wasn’t working for my table, even with Toxic slapped on, so I’ve got a whole hack out there now (why didn’t you play Monsterhearts, Audrey? It sounds like you want the messiness of Monsterhearts. Answer: not playing high schoolers.) Regardless, we had a good time with this game, and I gave it this award: Game I Hacked the Most.

• Metafiction: Fortnite by Marn Lastname/Paddington

• Metafiction is pretty much what it sounds like. It’s a very meta game! It’s built on Interstitial 2e to emulate death games with fictionally aware (and not aware) characters. I got to playtest a version where our characters were dropped into Fortnite, and I played my 13 year old Naruto OC, saying some truly cringeworthy lines and ultimately running Sasuke down with a tank. It was a very silly time all around. If that sounds like a good time to you, check out the VOD of Paddington running the game.

• All Saints Go to Hell by Merrilee Bufkin

• Merrilee, Sera, and I descended into Catholic madness and the result was this very sexy, very fun game about killing saints at the behest of Samael (or, you know, deciding to worship at archangel Michael’s feet instead). We had a single playtest session but it was one of the highlights of my year. I cannot wait to jump back into this one. I gave this one the award: Game Most Likely to Still Be on My Mind in 2026.

• We Three Shall Meet Again by Sam Dunnewold

• This is an asymmetrical game about three witches cursed to share one body. It’s not the first time I’ve played the game, but evidenced by the fact that I played again this year (with some new content Sam wrote), it’s a banger. You should check it out.

• Spine by Asa Donald

• I played this game on my podcast and my next blog post will likely be about my experience with this game. This game was unrivaled in innovation for me this year. I’m saving the rest for the longer blog post, but please. Go pick up a print copy of this game.

• SuZi by Sage the Anagogue

• Yeah, I’m linking to itch.io blocking this game as part of the ridiculous payment processor targeting queer and sex games (a reminder to call them at lodge a complaint). This is a game I loosely playtested right before Sage published it, and I played it three times in a row. It is one half of a larger game. This half has you playing a SuZi, a service robot who, frankly, is probably going to have a rough life. As you go through her life path, you can only end the game in one of two ways: being too damaged to function anymore, or breaking free of your programming. The second half of the game would have players who played the solo half bringing their SuZis together for a group adventure. I can’t say enough about this game. The toyetic properties of the excel sheet you play in were novel to me. The choices I was making for my SuZis were brutal (if there was a choice at all). I ended up with one SuZi that I think might be unrecognizable as a person to others, and I wonder what it might be like to play her in a group, to find or reject personhood or the validation of others. I think about the SuZis I played a lot2. I gave this game the award: Need More Immediately.

• Dream Askpocalypse

• This one hasn’t fired yet but I am including it because I FINALLY get to play in one short week. This is hackup of Dream Askew and Apocalypse World 2e/Burned Over that I’ve been putting together with friends, and I’m very excited.

• Hometown Holiday by Nick Tourville

• Including this one because it’s on the schedule! I’ll be running it for some friends on stream on December 16. I play this game every year in December because I love cheesy Hallmark holiday movies and this game is such a fun pick up and play way of creating one.

• Good Society + Interstitial (with a dash of Firebrands)

• Played this one on stream with my friends and a good time was had by all. If you want to see Eowyn getting into it with Jason Todd, check it out.

• I Have the High Ground by Jess Levine

• Played this one in the hospital before giving birth. I think the nurses were curious about it. Say it with me: I have a whole post about this. Great duet game! I gave this game the award: Best Game to Play in the Delivery Room.

• Filing Jointly by Happy Birthday

• The TSL group all played this one with our characters (and I with some NPCs) after we wrapped season one. A very funny concept, doing paperwork to itemize character relationships.

• Sock Puppets by Kurt Refling

• Despite the cool factor of runestones in Fate of the Norns, I gave Sock Puppets the award: Coolest Components. You really cannot beat a game that asks you to make a whole-ass puppet and then play out a children’s program with behind the scenes puppeteer drama. I wrote a post about running this one on stream and the beauty of trying something new.

Reading by the Numbers

I read more games than I played this year, big surprise. This was year two of working my way through my massive PDF library and categorizing games as for playing, for reading, for looking at, or freeing up the hard drive space. My numbers here were not as high as I thought, but then, I did get through some pretty long books when it comes to reading, on top of my regular fiction/nonfiction reading, having a job, freelance, and children. Plus I GUESS having a social life.

A few tiny accolades here:

Vampire Cruise by Amanda Lee Franck : Most Likely to Get Me into OSR

What to say about this one that hasn’t been said? It’s evocative, it’s fresh, it stands out from hundreds of other OSR modules, I feel like I could play it without a system if I wanted.

**Himbos of Myth and Mettle by Maxwell Lander **: Best Replacement for D&D (and Thirsty Sword Lesbians)

The writing in this game is so solid. Better than a lot of things I read this year and in years past – I think I screenshotted no less than five pages as writing inspiration, purely from a “GM advice” and “play culture” standpoint.

Daggerheart by Darrington Press : Gimme the Physical Copy

Look. I get it. Everyone wanted to eat 5e’s cake this year. Daggerheart is the one that I think comes closest. I’m a sucker for cards during play. The box set they made is gorgeous. I have friends who want to run this, and friends who want to play this. I don’t think I’m escaping this game any time soon.

Looking Back, and Ahead

This took longer to write than I expected! But I had a blast reflecting on my year in games. I played more distinct systems than expected. I think in part this is because in my head I am still that person who plays years-long campaigns of Pathfinder, despite the fact that I haven’t been that person in almost 10 years! The version of myself in my head needs to get with the times: I’ve been writing and playing indie games for almost as long as DnD at this point!

I was going to get into a review of last year’s game wishlist/resolutions, but this post is quite long enough, I think, so say it with me one more time: I’ll have a post about that.

I’m excited to see more Endies posts as they arise!

(Thanks to Hendrek, Asa, and Charlie for posting on bsky so that I may continue being a social media luddite – I’m pleasantly surprised by the reception to The Endies so far.)

1. I really do wish I’d spent a little more time with the Canva template and told people you have to make a copy of it – whoops. First thought not always best thought, first design definitely not best design. But here we are – a thing that exists is better than the thing I didn’t make. ↩︎
2. I will stop saying in the text “I probably have a post about this”, but: I probably have a post about this. Take a shot (we’re up to four). ↩︎