Hi! I’m Rene ("Rainy") and I'm here to share my love of solo roleplaying games with you! Join me on solo actual play series, interview friends and folks from the TTRPG hobby, and explore game design, and all the ways you can play more games.
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This game was thrown at me A LOT during its crowdfunding, and I totally get why. The pitch is a game about exploration and observation of wildlife and rediscovering a world after a mysterious event fractured different cultures and places for a century or more. Now, the Mappa Mundi Institute sends out Chroniclers to journey through the world, find wildlife, locate legendary creatures, and return with information about their habits, behaviors, and ecological niches.
It was pitched in another interview as "What if Pokemon but no battling?" Just the Pokedex quest, and ... yea sign me up.
The solo supplement is a little crunchier than my usual preference, but I think that there's a lot of cool stuff in this game that probably translates to group play very well. It's incredibly collaborative, narrative, and the skill tree progression looks pretty cool! Check it out, and I hope you enjoy my little trek to find the ornery Vodyanyk!
I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)
Rene Plays Games Theme written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands
Princess With A Cursed Sword | One-Player One-Shot
Season 1 · Episode 81
Wednesday, September 16, 2026 • Duration 45:56
Solo September is fully in swing! Time for another one-player one-shot and this time it's one of the solo games I've had in my collection and on my list for the longest: Princess With a Cursed Sword by Anna Anthropy!
In this solo journaling game, you play a - you guessed it! - princess given a cursed sword and tasked with finding where it belongs to get rid of it. I had a great time making Princess Camille and delving into the dark tombs of the past to see an ancient deal finished. I hope you enjoy, and DEFINITELY think you should try this one.
I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)
Perspective Checks | Games, Life, and the Human Experience with SuperDillin (One Shot)
Season 2 · Episode 36
Wednesday, September 9, 2026 • Duration 01:10:30
Welcome to another episode of Perspective Checks where I sit down with friends and folks from the TTRPG world and discuss what they love about this wonderful hobby!
This month's episode is with the incomparable SuperDillin, host of One Shot Podcast as well as one half of Dorkspawn, the video game book club podcast! Oh and he also recently cowrote the newest addition of the Ultimate Roleplaying Series - The Ultimate RPG Villain Backstory Guide with James D'Amato. Besides being just very cool, Dillin plays a lot of games over on One Shot and appearing elsewhere as an AP icon, and we talk about games as a hobby, a community, and a preferred vehicle for exploring all things about the human experiences.
This chat is honestly mostly just me gushing over all the cool things Dillin is involved with, but we do talk about some really interesting things in the world of tabletop games from the intentionality and creativity of indie games, the "everyone's hot and nobody's horny" problem that drives Dillin to encourage sexuality and romance heavily in his games, and more.
Here's a list of some (hopefully most) of the things we talked about in this episode:
The One Ring 2e | Episode 11: Tree of Light, Tree of Woe (The Finale)
Season 1 · Episode 80
Friday, September 4, 2026 • Duration 01:08:49
Beneath the Tree of Woe, the wicked towering tree at the heart of the forest of Eryn Vorn, Iorlas wields his ancestral blade, Nimloth's Tear, against the Flame in the Dark, an ancient nameless thing of evil.
With a sword named for a white tree, a memory of light, Iorlas goes into battle against a shadow that has accumulated the dark shadows of hate for Ages.
I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)
Quick pivot to play a recommended one-player one-shot of Tiago Junges' Ronin, recommended by this month's Perspective Checks guest Cezar Capacle!
Ronin is a solo TTRPG that was the mechanical and framework precursor to the excellent NOTORIOUS & OUTSIDERS which I played on this podcast. You play the part of a Ronin, a masterless samurai of Sengoku period Japan on a journey to achieve your goal.
I condensed what could have been a whole series into one hour, but I highly recommend you play this game and let me know how your story goes! I want to play more of it now, and I already have the successor to Benjiro, Little Bear Ronin to do it with :)
I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)
Where to Follow Rene Plays Games:
[Bonus] The One Ring DMs After Dark One-Shot
Season 1 · Episode 78
Monday, August 24, 2026 • Duration 02:58:33
Sure, we've had one one-shot, but what about second one-shots?
Okay, the joke doesn't land, but you get it! I ran some of the DMs through a one-shot of The One Ring 2e! Amber, Chris, Jess, and Kent play as members of a new fellowship in the time between the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings far away from anywhere you may be familiar with in Middle Earth! West of the Shire, west of the Blue Mountains lies the lands of Lindon, where the elves set sail from the Grey Havens to the Undying Lands, but north of those elven lands lies Forlindon, a northern territory of elves long banished or self-exiled from the rest of their eternal kindred.
The Lady of Forlindon has called for aid from beyond to solve a problem in an abandoned dwarven mine in the Blue Mountains, and our heroes take up the call! What ancient horrors lurk in the dark caves of dwarves? Listen and find out!
I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)
Where to Follow Rene Plays Games:
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The One Ring 2e | Episode 10 - Entmoot
Season 1 · Episode 77
Wednesday, August 19, 2026 • Duration 56:16
Iorlas encounters a population of Ents long separated from their kin in Fangorn Forest out on the cape of Eryn Vorn. It takes some time, but he convinces them to bring him to the heart of the forest where the corruption is most foul... but their interactions are not unnoticed.
I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)
Perspective Checks | Mausworn & Creative Habits with Cezar Capacle
Season 2 · Episode 35
Wednesday, August 12, 2026 • Duration 01:03:34
Welcome to another episode of Perspective Checks where I sit down with friends and folks from the TTRPG world and discuss what they love about this wonderful hobby!
This month I'm honored to have sat down and talked with one of my absolute favorite game designers Cezar Capacle! You've heard me play multiple of his games on this feed such as Wraithound and Midnight Melodies, and believe me I will play more of them!
Cezar is a Brazilian game designer now living on the island of Madeira and not only does he put out a lot of games, all of which are incredibly quality, his breadth of genres and mechanics and concepts is truly a marvel to behold. We talk about his philosophy of letting all of your ideas bounce around in your head like a game design hadron collider to his work ethic of diligent vs. inspired creativity which helps him capitalize on those a-ha moments. Honestly, if you take nothing else from this episode, this was an amazing tip to just show up and do the work so you find your groove, hone your craft, and then the rest will come easily when the muse comes to bless you with great game ideas.
But most importantly, we talk about his upcoming game Mausworn: Brave Tails on Perilous Trails, a Mausritter-meets-Ironsworn game of mice adventurers on epic quests. This game feels like it was made FOR ME, and you can be I'm going to play it on this podcast when I can! Instead of just taking bits and mashing up the two systems, Cezar has carefully crafted OSR sensibilities and Ironsworn's narrative generation into a whole new thing and it. sounds. amazing.
The One Ring 2e | Episode 9 - Unwelcome in Eryn Vorn
Season 1 · Episode 76
Wednesday, August 5, 2026 • Duration 45:27
After the ambush in the barn, Iorlas rides southeast toward the dark forested cape of Eryn Vorn. Long have the steads and rolling hills of Minhiriath laid unpopulated after the Great Plague, and the massive pine forest on the high cliffs of Eryn Vorn looms over the sea like a shadow...
En route, Iorlas encounters dangers and grim sightings that may be the reason none enter these lands...
I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)
Ironsworn: Legacies | 3: The Raiders of Fisher's Grove
Season 1 · Episode 75
Wednesday, July 29, 2026 • Duration 46:54
I've decided to continue my playtesting of the (few years out) upcoming Ironsworn: Legacies!
Five months after releasing the enormous elder shadow wolf god from the glacier, Tessa and Farina - along with some new friends - continue to track the beast.
They find themselves in the coastal village of Fisher's Grove, but their pursuit of Inkanis, the Wolf God is halted by raiders holding the small village hostage. Tessa makes things worse.
If you want to, please head over to the Ironsworn Discord channel which you can find a link to on the Ironsworn website to get in on the playtesting!
I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)
I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)
Rene Plays Games Theme written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands
I hope you enjoy this chat, I would love to bother and chat with Cezar every day about games if I could. Go get his games and tell me (and him!) how excellent your experience was, you won't be sorry.
I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)
Rene Plays Games Theme written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands
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