Mechs are a surprisingly popular topic among independent RPG designers. Heavily inspired by shows like Mobile Suit Gundam and Evangelion, as well as video game franchises like Armored Core and Titanfall, these games tackle the mecha genre from all angles.
Some cast the players as heroic or gritty pilots pushing their mechs towards victory. Others interrogate the genre’s themes around war, exploitation, and bodily autonomy. Fans of the mecha genre have a cornucopia of roleplaying games to choose from and should be able to find something that fits their taste no matter what they’re looking for.
10 MekTeks by Loren Peterson Puts The Focus On The Support Teams
Pilots take a back seat to the mechanics and repair squads in MekTeks. It uses a deck of playing cards to guide a squadron of mech mechanics as they assess the damage done to their machines during combat, refit the mechs to ready them for combat, and try desperately to get some sleep somewhere in the middle. It’s a nice way to shift the focus from the front lines and invites some thought-provoking choices about whether to save on resources at the cost of risking a pilot’s life.
9 Armour Astir: Advent By Briar Sovereign Is High Fantasy Mecha Action
Fans of the more mystical side of the mecha genre like Visions of Escaflowne will find themselves right at home in Armour Astir: Advent. This Powered by the Apocalypse game blends fantasy and sci-fi as rebellious pilots do battle against a hegemonic authority with their giant steel-clad Astirs. It features an interesting split, with some playbooks giving access to robots and others serving as support personnel, like mechanics, scouts, and officers.
8 Plot ARMOR By Orion D. Black Is A Solo Pilot Experience
Solo journaling games are growing in popularity, and with good reason. Scheduling is one of the hardest things about getting an RPG group together, so playing alone is a great solution. Orion D. Black’s plot ARMOR walks the player through a 32 episode season of a mecha anime.
Along the way, the game gives the player prompts to help them flesh out each episode, until the finale when the protagonist dies. Solo games are a great way to really get in touch with a character, and plot ARMOR offers plenty of juicy opportunities for storytelling.
7 Beyond Reach By Annie Johnston-Glick Is A Love Story Between Distant Partners
Not every roleplaying game requires players to actively talk back and forth. Beyond Reach is “a play by post game about falling in love with someone unattainable to you.” Two players take turns writing blog posts, letters, or chat messages to explore the relationship between a war machine and their pilot. However, to reflect the distance between the two parties, the players do not show each other their messages. Instead, they interact in short sentences describing their emotional reaction to whatever they just wrote. The game can end with one or the other dying, resulting in the letters remaining secret forever.
6 Dusk to Midnight By Riley Rethal Puts The Pilots On The Losing End Of Things
This GMless storytelling game quickly dispenses with any illusions about victory. Dusk to Midnight opens with “you are a squad of mecha pilots, the only ones left on your side of a long-standing war you’re about to lose.” Rather than follow pilots on their journey to victory, the game follows these losing pilots as they either grow disillusioned with the war effort or double down in their loyalty to their faction, crew, and/or mech. It is a somber game and can be played with two to five people.
5 Maharlika By Makapatag Is Tactical Combat Among The Stars
Billing itself as “A technomythical tactical mecha RPG inspired by Filipino Mythology.” It follows the spirit-warrior pilots of Mekanized Weapons, or Meka, as they swear loyalty to a megacorporation to protect the galaxy.
Maharlika features crunchy, tactical combat and cites Battletech and Lancer among its design influences. It also draws heavily from “the neofeudal and neocolonial trappings of modern day Philippines.” Maharlika is just one of many games from the thriving Southeast Asian RPG design community, and it is perfect for any mecha fans.
4 Mobile Frame Zero: Firebrands By Meguey and D. Vincent Baker Pits Player Against Player
The Mobile Frame Zero universe, created by Joshua A. C. Newman, started as a tactical wargame using homemade LEGO mecha models to simulate mecha battles. But Mobile Frame Zero: Firebrands takes that world and adds a narrative and compelling GMless storytelling game over top. Players take turns initiating mini-games with their fellow players to tell the story of rival pilots doing battle, making alliances, and falling in love. The tagline says everything there is to say: “Fight with your friends. Ally with your rivals. Fall in love with your enemies.”
3 Last Shooting By My Name Is Grant Zooms In On A Final Moment
Some games follow the arc of an entire war from battle to battle. Other games, like Last Shooting, follow a single, climactic showdown. It is a two-player game that pits two rival mech pilots against one another in their climactic battle.
Three scenes build up some information about the pilots and set the stakes for the battle. Next, an Ante system allows players to put their resources on the line. Finally, the pilots clash and someone loses. Last Shooting offers a great opportunity to zoom in on one set of characters at the height of their story.
2 Iron Edda Accelerated By TheOtherTracy Replaces Mechs With Giant Skeletons
Most mecha shows take place in some far-flung future, but Iron Edda Accelerated trades this setting for an ancient Norse one, complete with Vikings, frost giants, and gods. Players pilot giant bone mechs made from the skeletons of long-dead giants to save their world from Ragnarok and build a new reality. A new installment in the Iron Edda series, Iron Edda Reforged, is currently under development, focusing on a cyberpunk setting.
1 ECH0 By Role Over Play Dead Is Like The Epilogue To A War Story
Rather than focusing on the actions of daring mecha pilots, Ech0 instead features a long-dead pilot interacting with a group of children. The game’s premise is that a group of young kids stumble upon the digital ghost of a long-dead mecha pilot centuries after their war was won or lost. These children take turns showing the pilot their world while the pilot reflects on how the war has changed this place since last they saw it. The game ends when the children finally find the ruined remains of the pilot’s mech, at which point the ghost’s power fails and they are finally lain to rest.
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