Your First Spellbook – Announcement and Trailer
Your First Spellbook – a journaling game about creating spells, researching monsters, and hunting them anywhere – has been announced! Your First Spellbook will release on Tuesday, September 29th! Spellbook was designed with three goals in mind: Spellbook is my first journaling game, and I’m excited to put my spin on a well-loved genre in the…
Weekly Update – 9/2/2026
I had to switch the order for a few things because of my Your First Spellbook announcement! Here’s what has been going on. Last Week This Week That’s it! I am neck deep in Your First Spellbook work, which has been a blast so far! -James Join The Community Thank you for checking out the…
Fantasy Civ Solo Maps – Design Diary 7/13/2026
The Fantasy Civ Solo: Quests Expansion is out now! You can purchase it from DriveThru or itch using the buttons below. This blog post is a repost from my Patreon! I write frequent design diaries for my Patreon subscribers, as well as post exclusive games, early access videos and more. You can check out my…
Weekly Update – 8/24/2026
The Fantasy Civ Solo: Quests Expansion launch has gone very well! I am swinging my focus almost completely over to Spellbook (which gets officially announced next week), and starting to do some realistic 2027 planning! Last Week This Week This week I get to dive even deeper into Spellbook, including: And that’s it! Thanks for…
The Blueprint of a Quest – Design Diary 7/31/2026
The Fantasy Civ Solo: Quests Expansion is out now! You can purchase it from DriveThru or itch using the buttons below. This blog post is a repost from my Patreon! I write frequent design diaries for my Patreon subscribers, as well as post exclusive games, early access videos and more. You can check out my…
Weekly Update – 8/17/2026
Trying to get back into a regular schedule…will be tough over the next 6 weeks. But I’m incredibly jazzed to share what I’ve been up to! Last Week Last week was all about the Quests Expansion Release: This Week My focus shifts in wrapping up the Quests Expansion release, towards Spellbook and even some early…
Paper Dice Games Update
August 11, 2026 This blog post is a repost from this month’s newsletter. If you would like to join the newsletter to receive these monthly updates and receive discounts to games, you can do so at any of the links below: Due to generally being busy, I’m a week late on my monthly newsletter. I…
Weekly Update – 8/11/2026
Wow it’s been a busy two weeks. I’ve gotten a lot of work done on a few different projects – here’s what’s new. Last 2 Weeks This Week This week hits the mid-point of my busy summer. Fantasy Civ Solo is out, and Spellbook is likely going to be out in 4-6 weeks. Here’s what’s…
FIRST LOOK – Fantasy Civ Solo: Quests Expansion
First Look Below are some first-look images for the upcoming Fantasy Civ Solo: Quests Expansion! Enjoy! Releases Tuesday August 11th Just a reminder that the Fantasy Civ Solo: Quests Expansion releases Tuesday August 11th! As a huge THANK YOU for subscribing to this newsletter, you’ll be sent a discount on release day! Be sure to forward this to any…
Weekly Update – 7/28/2026
Summer craziness continues. I feel a bit frazzled, but having a lot of fun! Here’s what is coming up. Last Week This Week Head down, working hard! I’ll skip next week’s weekly update, and be back before the release of Fantasy Civ Solo: Quests Expansion. Thank you for being a fan of games! – James…
Weekly Design Update – 7/22/2026
It’s the busy time of the summer, between family activities and other things happening. Case in point, I am posting this update on a Wednesday instead of Monday. Even so, I was able to get a fair amount of design work done – here’s what I accomplished. Last Week This Week I think that’s everything…
Happy Christmas in July!
The Christmas in July sale is here at DriveThru RPG! Everything at Paper Dice Games is on sale! There are a ton of great games on sale at DriveThru right now! I hope you find something you enjoy – thank you for being a fan of games! -James Hron
Weekly Design Update – 7/13/2026
The next month and a half will be incredibly busy – not only in my household, but for PDG! Here’s what is coming up! Last Week This Week This week I have a busy work schedule for my day job – but I will do what I can! I hope there’s something here that seems…
Fantasy Civ Solo: Questions Expansion
Fantasy Civ Solo: Quests Expansion The Fantasy Civ Solo: Quests Expansion is officially announced, and will be released on Tuesday August 11th. Check out the amazing final cover art from Alex Odinson below! I’ll be diving into the details about the game over the next few weeks with this newsletter – stay tuned! Found Your Empire Sale In…
Weekly Design Update – 7/6/2026
My focus is shifting from the free RPGs for Free RPG day over to the upcoming Fantasy Civ Solo expansion! Last Week This Week There is a lot of design and development happening this week! More games coming your way soon! Thank you for being a fan of games! -James Join The Community Thank you…
July 2026 Update – Paper Dice Games
This blog post is a repost from this month’s newsletter. If you would like to join the newsletter to receive these monthly updates and receive discounts to games, you can do so at any of the links below: There are a ton of updates and news this month! Thank you for being a part of…
Star Solo Development Roadmap
Star Solo Release Phases – A General Timeline If you didn’t get a chance to see it, it was Free RPG day over the weekend! There were some incredible games that were released for free – one of which was the newest update for Star Solo. As of me writing this article, Star Solo has…
Weekly Design Update – 6/29/2026
Last week was crazy! This week is a bit quieter, but I still have a few milestones I’m hitting for future projects! Let’s dive in. Last Week I apologize for all the links, but a lot of stuff became available on Saturday for Free RPG Day! This Week I hope you have gotten your hands…
2 Free Solo RPGs for Free RPG Day 2026
Free RPG Day is here – and in celebration of this wonderful day, I have 2 AWESOME FREE games for you, as well as another Patreon reminder! Star Solo Update It’s here! Star Solo development is back on the schedule, and the newest version is available now! Star Solo is a solo space tabletop role playing…
Weekly Design Update – 6/22/2026
So much design work is getting done! Here’s what I accomplished! Last Week This Week This week is going to be incredibly busy. I still have a sizeable amount of work to do before Free RPG day this weekend, and there are some awesome releases looming in July/August! This week is going to be nuts…
Weekly Design Update – 6/15/2026
It was a busy week! Two projects are heavily under way – both free, and both being released on Free RPG day on Saturday June 27th! Last Week This Week This week is almost entirely focused on game development. It is sunny and gorgeous and I am filled with energy to make great games for…
Weekly Design Update – 6/8/206
I can get some work done this week! The household is now settling into a regular summer schedule. I anticipate a lot of work being accomplished this week! Last Week This Week It’s raining outside but I’m feeling all sunshine and rainbows! I love designing, developing and publishing games! Thank you for being a fan…
Strike it Rich Sale, Patreon, Monthly Update
Mithril or volatiles and goblins or moon men – no matter what you search for or what you fight, design and draw your mine and see if you can survive the dangers around you! The Strike it Rich sale is live! 25% off Dwarf Mine and Apollo Mine. You can find the sale (or send it…
Introducing: Solo RPG Play Rankings
After completing a march madness style tournament bracket for solo RPGs, I wanted to create a continued way for people who play solo RPGs to share what they are having the most fun with right now. So, in this post, I am introducing the results from the very first Solo RPG Play Rankings! The purpose…
Weekly Design Update – 6/1/2026
Summer is here! At least in my household it is! This represents, at least for last as well as week and this week, less free time for me. Oh well, I can still get a few things done! Last Week This Week After I finish this week, the focus will be heads-down on Star Solo,…
Weekly Design Update – 5/27/2026
I’m in a week or two of transition as we move into summer! Here’s what I’ve been up to. Last Week I hit a few different milestones last week for my designs, including: This Week This week, being a holiday in the US, is shorter than usual. And I have a playtest convention I’m heading…
Relationship Tracker Tool for Solo RPGs
Years ago I was faced with a problem while playing Solo RPGs: I had too many NPCs to track, and didn’t have a good – or fun – way to track them. After a few years of tinkering, I’ve created a tool that can both help track NPC relationships in your solo games, and add…
Weekly Design Update – 5/18/2026
More sickness hit us at the end of last week, but I was able to hit a few design milestones, moving me forward with what’s next. Last Week Last week I was pretty productive early in the week – which was perfect because illness hit late in the week. Here’s what I completed: This Week…
Weekly Design Update – 5/11/2026
Some sickness in the family and rough night sleep leads to more conceptual design work from last week. Onward and upward for this week as everyone is feeling better! Last Week Due to some illness in the family (I think we’re all good now!), I didn’t get much done on my upcoming releases. However, that…
Weekly Design Update – 5/4/2026
It’s May! And Friday was May Day! Check out what happened at the most wonderful of all gaming holidays below! Last Week Last week, the free Ancient Artifacts that don’t ruin your campaign one-page release launched! I did a quick proofread and adjusted a few things (I feel like I am improving my graphic design…
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