Cinderedge review: a fun solo journal TTRPG

QuasiReal Publishing brings their newest solo adventure from the land of Ancerra: Cinderedge!

Announced on October 7th, Cinderege is a solo journal RPG where the player writes out the last days of a Ward Keeper, a guardian who maintains a magical ward protecting the world from apocalyptic flames.

With over 150+ prompts, players journal the final days of the Ward Keeper, creating a variety of narrative experiences that are unique for each play-through. Players progress through 3 chapters as their resources dwindle, their minds shatter, and they lose their grip on reality. The mechanics of the game force players to sacrifice resources and their memories to restore their sanity and preserve the ward. Each journal entry brings something new as players give up parts of their identity to survive just one more day.

How long will you survive?

Cinderedge was created by Grant Mielke, CEO of QuasiReal Publishing, creator of MythCraft TTRPG, and host of the top actual play podcast "The Homebrew". It's still currently on Kickstarter, and will be available for backing through October 31st. The game is already fully funded, and stretch goals have been reached.

You can download a free preview of the game from the Kickstarter page.

Some of the rewards include a digital copy of the game, a physical copy of the book, a leather-bound journal, custom playing cards, and a set of dice to help run the adventure.

Cinderedge review

What is there not to love about this solo journal RPG? The artwork and graphics are amazing, the rules are simple and easy to follow, and you only need two d6 dice, a standard deck of playing cards (including jokers), a pencil, and some scrap paper.

Ward (ha) of warning: this book comes with a content warning that includes themes like death, self-harm, suicide, insanity, mental illness, paranoia, animal cruelty, and substance abuse. Since the player ultimately writes the story as they play, the usage of said tones is totally dependent upon the writer and how they want to express their own story. The game does, however, caution players not to overdo it.

Having worked in the healthcare industry and dealt with mental illness myself, I can see how easy it can be to take it a step too far. If a prompt is too much, or you don't like what the prompt is saying, you can always switch the prompt with a new card, or possibly write your own version of the prompt. As long as it stays close to the story you are writing, it's all fair game.

Unfortunately, this game only has one way to end. But who can say that there isn't some beauty or resilience when it comes to the end?

The story is purely in the hands of the player. I took a light-hearted approach and dabbled in some of the themes listed above. However, I never took it past what I was comfortable with. In the end, my warden did what he could to save the ward by sacrificing himself and becoming one with the Ward.

There are a few different endings based on which stats ran out. The endings are either neutral or bad. In this game, there is no happy or good ending.

As a forever DM, being able to write a dark, angsty journal was really fun. I sometimes have a hard time writing or wanting to dabble in those kinds of themes, but this allowed me to take it as far as I was comfortable. This game really does give the power of the story to its players.

I would definitely recommend this to any creative writer or player who doesn't mind dark themes. If those kinds of themes can be triggering, then maybe this isn't the game for you.

So, what are you waiting for? Head over to Kickstarter and support yet another amazing project from QuasiReal Publishing.