Indie TTRPG of the Week

Sleepaway Camp, Summer horror the 13th

sleepaway camp

the real monster was in the end, generational trauma

Genre: Horror

Touchstones: Modern and classic horror films alike

What is this game?: Sleepaway camp is a game about fighting against a cryptid serial killer who has harmed you before to protect the generation after yours

How's the gameplay?: Sleepaway is built on the Belonging outside Belonging engine, meaning that there's no GM, players instead control actions, reactions, and consequences by trading "Tokens", which are given by creating consequences or roleplaying your characters well, and are spent to create advantages in the world around you or to show intimacy. The serial killer of Sleepaway, a shapeshifter known as the Lindworm, is not roleplayed by anyone, instead controlled by a deck of cards

What's the setting (If any) like?: A summer camp! in the real world!, there's presumably cryptids and the like, but its mostly just real life, urban fantasy if you will!

What's the tone?: It's a horror story, tone is going to feel dire, dark, and grim, but at the end of the day its a story about generational trauma, so you do get to break the grimness at the end of the day... hopefully

Session length: 1-4 hours

Number of Players: I think maxing out at around 4-5 players is recommended but I'm not a cop, I'm just a humble country-side TTRPG farmer

Malleability: Sleepaway heavily leans on its own setting, malleability isn't LOW but you probably want to stick with the setting in the book

Resources: "Offseason" adds some hints on how to play online (though much of it is fairly self-explanatory, but you also get some bonus goodies for only around $5), Uncanny also adds some extra content, the game is simple enough to not need too much to play, though!

Sleepaway is a great game! its a fun lil time for everyone involved, its mechanics really fit with its tone in a way that not a lot of games try to do, the Lindwurm being entirely outside the player's control being a major example, its a great game that I recommend to anyone who wants something spooky, but still likes those old summer vibes