Solo RPG Influence Map Documented relationships between solo RPGs, journaling games, and unconventional tabletop experiences.

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Start here: three ways to read the map

Find a game by name, trace documented credits through Map or Timeline, or compare games using the stated scoring rubric. Interpretive context is kept separate from evidence arrows. See Method and scope for inclusion criteria, evidence statuses and limits.

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Connected works shown. Network includes only works participating in at least one documented relationship.

This interactive graphic contains focusable work nodes and relationship controls. The Connections as text disclosure immediately after the graphic provides the same assertions in a readable list.

Connections as text

A filter-aware list of the same relationship assertions shown as arrows in Network.

Legend
Game type
RPG System (upstream)
Oracle / GM Emulator
Solo Journaling Game
Solo RPG System
SRD / Open Engine
Gamebook / Solo Adventure

◆ diamond = upstream or non-RPG/journaling

UK designer / publisher

Relationship family
Rules and play procedures
Sequel, supplement or derivative
Narrative, theme or worldbuilding
Other documented credit

Evidence
Verified credit
Personal communication
Reported, source check pending
Claim status and source detail are separate. A verified credit may still have only a page-level source with no recorded locator.

Display prominence (curatorial)
Large
Medium
Standard

How to cite this map (MHRA)

The map: Graham, Rosie, Solo RPG Influence Map (2026) <URL of this page> [accessed day month year].

An edge: Name the credit as quoted on the map, then the source. Example: Tomkin, Shawn, Starforged: Reference Guide (Tomkin Press, 2022), Inspiration and Acknowledgments, cited in Graham, Solo RPG Influence Map.

Personal communication: Designer surname, first name, conversation with author, day month year, cited in Graham, Solo RPG Influence Map.

Licence status: CC BY 4.0 is proposed for the original dataset and annotations, pending confirmation of institutional rights. No licence is granted here for third-party game titles, trademarks, artwork, or quoted material.

Evidence summary

Each arrow records one directional relationship assertion. Solid lines are verified credits, dashed lines are reserved for documented personal communications, and dotted lines are reported leads whose primary-source check remains incomplete.

Claim status and source detail are separate. A source can be checked while its exact page, section or quotation remains unrecorded. Open a connection to see both.

Layout, proximity, node size, regions, timeline context and Compare placements help navigation or interpretation. None of them creates evidence of influence.

A missing arrow may reflect the current evidence boundary or the limits of the research so far. It does not prove that no influence existed.

Read the full method and inclusion criteria.

Interpretive framework

This layer poses questions across records. It never creates evidence arrows or changes recorded lineages.

Pilot lens: interpretive provocation asks how different solo-play procedures distribute authority between rules, chance and the player. Its seven work assignments are proposed cases for discussion, not settled classifications.

Use the Reading lens control to highlight the pilot cases across Network, Timeline, Compare and Records and sources. Each selected work explains why it has been proposed.

Arrows run from acknowledged precursor to later work. The map layout is for navigation, not evidence. Optional regions show only recorded lineage memberships.
Method and scope · Student toolkit · Suggest an addition