In case you’ve been under a rock for the past few years, Dungeons & Dragons (or D&D) has picked up a new and younger audience who want to tell comfy stories inspired by games like Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing.

What if we told you that rather than keep clinging to D&D when it’s clearly no longer telling the kind of stories that you want, there’s a flourishing OSR community and plenty of players who like old school aesthetics?

Shadow of the Demon Lord

Vibes: Dark Souls, Berserk, Pan’s Labyrinth

Everything sucks, not the game, the game is great; but in Shadow of the Demon Lord happy endings are rare. The empire is in decline, overthrown by orcs, the remnants of the Witch-King’s followers are wreaking magical havoc, and behind it all The Demon Lord is closing in, his shadow looming over creation in anticipation of returning everything to nothingness.

Players (I’m reluctant to use the term ‘Heroes’ in this game) will try and carve out a legacy in this blighted world. They’ll burn bright, and then either fade into obscurity, or cling to some bit of power they unearth in order to have some impact on the dark tides which threaten to consume everything.

You can check out Shadow of the Demon Lord here.

Adventurer Conqueror King

Vibes: Conan the Barbarian, Xena: Warrior Princess, Fire and Ice

Adventurer Conqueror King (lovingly referred to as ACKS by fans) is an unapologetic love letter to early versions of D&D. A time of chainmail bikinis, territory management, and racial classes.

In ACKS, players will fill the shoes of classic heroes, hunting dragons, defying evil sorcerers, and more. This one is a great introduction to anyone who wants to play “old school D&D” without finding 40 year old splatbooks.

You can check out Adventurer Conqueror King (ACKS) here.

Dungeon Crawl Classics

Vibes: The Dungeons & Dragons cartoon, The Flight of Dragons, Dragon’s Lair

Very few OSR systems capture the old school vibe the way Dungeon Crawl Classics does (though ACKS comes close). To this day, DCC is releasing regular adventures, similar to how TSR used to release small adventure modules as small stand-alone releases.

DCC is notoriously unforgiving (as most OSR systems can be) and players are generally recommended to start with four character sheets at the ready for when your aspiring fighter walks face-first into an acid trap.

You can check out Dungeon Crawl Classics here.

Stars Without Number

Vibes: Alien, Dune, Destiny

Old school doesn’t restrict itself to just fantasy! Stars Without Number is a sci-fi game that leans heavily into the same sort of brutal aesthetic that old school fantasy does.

Encounters are lethal, stories are dramatic, and sometimes the only thing you can trust is your rifle.

You can check out Stars Without Number here.

Godbound

Vibes: Exalted, His Dark Materials, American Gods

While traditionally OSR games tend to emphasize how players aren’t special heroes stronger than anyone else, Godbound turns that assumption on its head. In Godbound, players are individuals who have received some form of nascent divine spark and will learn how to wield it.

However they are far from the only deity-level threats in the world, and while the problems of mortals may grow ever further away, their new divine purviews will draw the attention of similarly powerful beings.

You can check out Godbound here.

The OSR movement (short for Old School Renaissance) has been going for quite a while now. Mainstream RPGs have become more approachable, and while this isn’t necessarily a bad thing it’s left some fans with a hunger for the way tabletop games used to be.

Ultimately, you can play D&D or any other game however you want. You can run comfy adventures in Shadow of the Demon Lord, you can run a Call of Cthulhu style mystery in Bubblegumshoe if you really want. But the point is that you’re not stuck playing D&D just because it’s the most mainstream TTRPG out there.

If you’re not into gritty RPGs and looking to take things in the other direction with some comfier and more social games. Check out our sister list: 5 Comfy Tabletop RPGs so you can quit playing D&D.