I’m Playing a Game
- gregorymaness
- Sep 24, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 5
“What does it look like I am doing? I’m playing a game.”
As I have mentioned a number of times before on this blog, I have collected some tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) over the last few years and I have been slowly inching towards returning to the hobby as an active participant and playing in my first session in decades with others either in-person or online. Moreover, I have expressed an interest in trying my hand at solo roleplaying and I have completed the introductory solo adventure found in the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set (I had a great time, by the way).
I have finished reading the rules for the EZD6 roleplaying game and I have a little ways to go in getting through the rules for the Pirate Borg roleplaying game. I intend to reread the rules found in the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set and go through the introductory solo scenario a few more times before moving on to new adventures in that setting of Lovecraftian/cosmic horror. I hope to play all of these games in the not-too-distant future.
I have also started reading the rules for a number of other TTRPGs that I currently own, but stopped for one reason or another and have yet to return to reading those rules in their entirety. I hope to eventually get around to reading the rules for most, if not all, of the games that I own and playing those games in solo play and/or in a group.
However, it turns out that all of my exploration and my sometimes halting steps in returning to the gaming table constitutes play. While I suppose that I instinctively knew that, this was confirmed in another book that I just started reading, Solo Game Master’s Guide by Geek Gamers. Geek Gamers (p. 14) states that,
If you are getting involved with an RPG rule set in any way, you are playing.
Going through rules and thinking about what to do and downloading a PDF—and not doing anything more than that—is not a failure. It is not a waste of time. It is part of playing.
If you create characters but never use them in a session, that is still experiencing the RPG world. That is part of playing.
If you read rule sets but never run sessions with them, that is still experiencing the RPG world. That is part of playing.
This is true. Just reading the rules for a TTRPG and thinking about the setting(s) and possible adventures that could be undertaken gets the imagination going. And I have had a lot of fun just creating characters for a number of different games that were never used in an actual game. Sometimes I used these characters to gain a better understanding of the rules and to test possible scenarios for a game. I sometimes had characters that I had created face off with one another so that I could get a better idea as to how a particular game’s combat system and mechanics worked in practice. I have also enjoyed creating characters for a couple of games that I have yet to play. I have never played in a single game of the Traveller TTRPG. In the Traveller TTRPG, a character could die during character creation and never make it into a session! Character creation in Traveller is, in effect, a game! But I still enjoyed creating those characters that never saw the gaming table and imagining the adventures that they had been on prior to them taking shape in my mind and being written down and captured as a collection of abilities, attributes, skills, traits, possessions, and personal histories on a blank sheet of notebook paper or a pre-printed character sheet. It is indeed play. All of it. And while I have enjoyed my modest collection of TTRPG books, materials, and accessories, it is reassuring to be reminded that merely interacting with my collection is a form of play and to be treasured.
If you are interested in learning more about solo roleplaying, I have included a couple links to the Geek Gamers YouTube channel. In addition, I have included links to the United States online store for Modiphius Entertainment Ltd if you want to pick up a copy of Solo Game Master’s Guide for yourself and/or a friend and/or a family member.
Geek Gamers YouTube channel
“Solo GM Guide sneak peak”
Solo Game Master's Guide (SOFTCOVER)
Solo Game Master's Guide (PDF)
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