Watch Well Games #89
Cool Indie Corner returns. Play-Through Report #6 for Outgunned RPG.
Welcome to our community newsletter!
Hi there. I’m K.J. with your newsletter for this second Friday of August.
Today:
Cool Indie Corner returns.
Play-Through Report #6 for Outgunned RPG.
But first, a pencil is not a bicycle. Read more in “What’s Up, K.J.?”
🤔“What’s Up, K.J.?”
Drawing. Or some other form of creative ambition. It seems like everyone is doing it. And once you do it, it’s like the phenomenon that happens when you buy a certain make and model of transportation and suddenly find dozens of others on the roads right next to you.
And while you’re looking around, you begin to note the custom spoilers or rims or the higher-tier trim. ‘Hey, we’re not really driving the same mode of transportation. Or are we?’ These upgrades can make those same vehicles look far better or more unique. They stand out from the rest. Before you know it, you find yourself wrestling with negative forms of comparison, which we all know is poison to our souls.
Back to drawing. Growing up, I drew all the time (yeah, K.J., just like everyone else). When adulthood hit, I spent time doing other things. Adulthood things.
Some years later, upon deciding to draw again, I picked up a pencil and made a mistake. A pencil is not a bicycle. I couldn’t successfully apply the idiom “it’s like riding a bike” and see fairly quick results that appeased my senses.
There was more going on, and I’m willing to be vulnerable here. Due to unexpected life events, how I now physically see and understand shapes and colors is very different than it was years ago. This has made doing visually creative endeavors a bit more challenging.
I say this not to complain or garner sympathy, but rather to encourage you, dear reader. Ever since I started (re)learning to draw, I’ve rediscovered a joy long buried. Yeah, it’s janky. But it’s joyful. And it’s mine. See Notes if you’re curious. Or just look at this sampling:
Perhaps you’ve surveyed the creative space and see that yeah, a lot of folks have custom spoilers and that higher-tier trim, and rightly so (and probably a degree and/or decades of experience to back up their solid skill set). Celebrate them and what they make. Then join me, as we merge with traffic on the open roads and go create.
What game, art, map, dice, or story have you been wanting to make?
Making👩🏼🎨
Discovering the unusual and the fascinating in RPGs is part of what makes playing them enjoyable. This week, I began a ‘new creatures’ drawing challenge. I made list (left in pic) then rolled my d20 several times to generate combinations (bottom middle). Meet this friendly chark, a dog-cow creature from a distant, unknown land. Loves fetch. Will trade milk for a new ball. 🤍
More to come soon. If all goes well, I may even write up some stat blocks.
Read💝
Kitty came to us in October 2021. She left us April 2026. I pre-ordered this children’s book a few months before her departure because I had been admiring the lovely artwork Brandon James Scott was posting in Substack’s Notes. Little did I know it'd be a keepsake we now own to remember her by.
✨Cool Indie Corner: Entry 1
“Bone Riders is a game for one or more players. It is about skeleton cowboys that solve problems with their guns and also with their bones.” - product’s back cover page
Gimmicky games are one thing. Whimsical games like Bone Riders by Offworld Bogil are another. It’s a quick read and doesn’t require a calculus degree in order to understand the mechanics. Rejoice with me upon receiving this news, dear readers, and let’s now take a quick tour of the game.
The pitch: “Bone Riders is a game about skeleton cowboys that solve problems with their guns and also with their bones. You can play it on your own or with a couple of friends...”
Format: PDF on itch.io. It’s free, but you can easily select an amount to offer up as payment.
System: Custom-made by the game creator. Nothing complicated.
Mechanics: Simple rolls needed. Make sure you have a d4, 2d6 (at least), d8, d10, d12, d20, and d100 for the various roll tables and mechanics.
Playtime: This will vary depending on how many players there are and how much you put into it.
Player count: 1-3 players, but the writer states it can be more if needed/wanted.
Character creation: Random roll tables for name, horse, horse’s name, hat, shoes, accessories, and how much money you begin with. There’s no character sheet, so you’ll need a way to record and keep track of these.
Complexity: Not difficult, but several smaller components to keep up with. Once I’m finished playing, I will have a better understanding of this.
Prep time: It should not take long, but this will largely depend on how immersive you want to be.
Setting and tone: Western. Wild West. Old West. But not historical or accurate because skeletons weren’t whisky-drinking cowboys in the 1800s.
Core Loop: SOLOtude posted their five-session solo series playing Bone Riders on Substack. I recommend reading these posts to see how the core loop can play out.
Gamemaster considerations: It’s GM-less, and I tend to shy away from these types of RPGs. That said, this one could work for me if I decide to play solo (a rarity) or with close friends whom I frequently run games for.
Originality (i.e. does it do something new?): I’ll need to finish the game before giving a full answer here. However, so far it reminds me of RPGs I like, such asTales From the Loop and Outgunned, where the tension grows as in-game time progresses. Bone Riders feels similar because the potential dangers increase as the adventure advances.
That said, it keeps the rules (incoming pun) bare bones, and this is something I really appreciate - and with greater intensity as life goes on because I’m growing more hesitant to spend copious amounts of time reading copious amounts of material anymore before I even get a game to my table.
Layout: Minimal and clean - and I really like this.
Art: Minimal and simple - and this too is a positive. I’m not looking for an artbook-but-it’s really-a-tabletop-roleplay-game or vice versa. The small amount of artwork feeds into the game’s concept that comes across as being wonky, good fun.
Who is this game for? Almost everyone. While I see this being something folks could run for younger players, I would modify a few things first: change the gun to a non-lethal device (a stun gun or a Stormtrooper’s laser pistol), switch the whisky to fruit snacks or juice, and modify poker to another age-appropriate activity (climbing trees, Lego building, or napping).
Here’s the link to the free PDF on itch.io:
Have you already checked this one out? Let me know your thoughts:
📢Breaking news! Offworld Bogil released Boned in the Dungeon, a follow-up to Bone Riders, just as I was wrapping up this newsletter. It too is free on itch.io:
✨Cool Indie Corner: Entry 2
I normally don’t buy comics nowadays, but I will read ones that catch my eye.
And this one very much did.
The Corrupted is a prequel to Oddipelago, an upcoming colonial era Indonesian-inspired TTRPG adventure/setting/game by Citaaticat and IsaacIsAfraid. It’s also easily something you can pick up for a few bucks and read during your lunchbreak. Prepare to see bespoke black-and-white artwork by Citaaticat within the 24 pages.
The Corrupted was a Anugerah Komik Bandung 2026 Nominee in three categories: Best Peskom 2026 Comic, Best Story, and Best Newcomer.
Physical copies are currently only available in Indonesia, so the duo made a digital version available on itch-io for all of us to enjoy:
Did you miss my preview report for Pelgrane Press’s Merryshire Detective Club?
It’s already funded, so no worries about whether it will exist or not. You can read my brief write-up about this new RPG from a well-established publisher here:
🎲Play-Through Report: Outgunned RPG Session 6 Summary
Catch up with the previous play report here:
Starting Location: Buttercliff, Kansas (what remains of it) - 1884
Ending Location: Kansas, just north of its southernmost border - 1884
Fun fact: Picture above is from the real Red Hills (also known as the Gypsum Hills) in the southern Kansas region. While the names of the towns are fictional, I still try to provide photos of real locations to my players if possible.
NPCs met:
Bart Wilson, right-hand man of Santiago Vasquez (aka Despiadado)
Highlights:
Outside Buttercliff, Pyotr, Flint, and Kenko chased on horseback a man who had abducted Diego. They quickly closed the distance and caught up to him.
Kenko, initially having an advantage of both speed and stealth, tried to overtake the perpetrator to cut him off. Unfortunately, she took a tumble and got hurt in the process.
Back in Buttercliff, O.B. and Lazarus tended to the wounded in the aftermath of the tornado that ripped through the town. The priest answered O.B.’s philosophical and religious questions about why the tornado hit Buttercliff.
From speaking with Grover Davis, both O.B. and Lazarus learned who took Diego. Bart Wilson, the sheriff relayed, is an evil man - even more so than Despiadado. Facing Bart would be worse than death itself, he claimed.
O.B. and Lazarus also learned from the sheriff that all four members of the Red Rabble Gang were gone from their jail cells. He doesn’t know their whereabouts or their statuses (living, injured, deceased).
All the PCs regrouped right as the initial three pursuers were about to close in on Bart. However, O.B. and Lazarus were not stealthy enough and gave away the group’s position.
Pyotr gave chase to the (once again) fleeing perp. Rounding the corner of an escarpment, he halted abruptly, as Bart had stopped to confront him. Bart threatened to harm Diego if the group continued to follow him.
Thanks for reading Watch Well Games.
I’ve been enjoying literature about children’s illustrators (something I’ve long daydreamed of being). This children’s book features a hedgehog.🦔
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