Solarian Games

18/05/2024

MI-5 vs MI-6

Our article explores the world of espionage and uncovers the differences between MI5 vs MI6 & how the security services work to keep the UK safe.

04/05/2024

If you’re around Easthampton MA today, stop by Eastworks to check out the Big Skeleton comic book show.

The gang from Arcane Con are selling lots of OSR coolness!

(L-R: The guy in chainmail is Steve of Under The Dice zone, next to him is Ben of Empty Castle Press, the person in glasses is Eon of YouCanBreatheNow Games, then Bryan of Arcane Sword)

20/04/2024

Awesome first day at Rising Phoenix Con. Lots of demos of Kiss My Grits, and one of the most cinematic Top Secret games I’ve ever run at a con.

And Peter Bryant as the ultimate game show host running ‘Tis But a Scratch in the bar!

19/04/2024

Rising Phoenix Game Con starts today! Come see us at our vendor table starting at noon.

12/04/2024

Solarian has been working on A LOT of stuff the past couples months. Here's a heads up on what to look forward to in the very near future...

We've been working with our good friend Scott Kongable on three new missions. "Operation Emmy Night Broadholly" is in layout right now. It's a full length mission. Black Ops mission "The Infil" - name to changed - is in final stages of editing and is about to go into layout in the next two weeks. It's similar to the drop in size. We have the first draft of "The Asset" - name to be changed - another Black Ops mission.

The art is almost done for "Kiss My Grits". A massive amount of playtest has also been completed and it will be going to Kickstarter very soon.

James is working on an upgrade to Anarchy for a new print run sometime soon along with work on Witchlight.

There's other stuff as well (Moar Blood, 'Tis But a Scratch, Tales of the Fallen Empire, and others) but I'll save that until we get back from Rising Phoenix Convention next weekend. If you're in the North East and you want to visit us, please swing by the convention.

What are you most excited to see?

11/04/2024

Before we had to consolidate our focus, we had a podcasting network. During that time we had a podcast called Wargaming Recon. This was an excellent show and one of the longest running wargaming podcasts ever. We are still very good friends with the creator, Jonathan Reinhart, and still actively support the podcast. Please consider backing their Kickstarter if you're interested in wargaming.

Wargaming Recon's 2022 season will be remastered with exclusive content.

08/04/2024

We just saw the poster for Rising Phoenix Con - hope to see you there this month!

25/03/2024

Nick Seidler ran our upcoming game, HACKNOIA, at Gary Con this weekend. All the players made sure to wear their official Hacknoia sunglasses to avoid taking a -1 penalty to their rolls!

Hacknoia is in development right now, written by Merle Rasmussen and Nick Seidler, we'll keep everyone updated on its progress 😎

25/03/2024

Safe travels, Bombidell.

24/03/2024

Thank you Luke Gygax and Bouchra Gygax for being such wonderful hosts at GaryCon. It's been a home away from home for us since even before we started Gygax Magazine. It's an incredible amount of work making a game convention fun and run smoothly with almost 5,000 people, and they're just the best.

There were more games of Top Secret being played than ever this year, thanks to everyone running it, including Merle Rasmussen (THE Administrator), Scott Kongable, (um, me, actually) Jayson Elliot, and others.

Looking forward to even more secret agents next year!

19/03/2024

We're saddened to learn that James Ward has passed. To call him a giant in gaming would be an understatement.

Jim was there at the beginning, playing in Gary Gygax's early games before Dungeons & Dragons was released. He wrote one of the first supplements for D&D, Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes, and later co-wrote Deities & Demigods for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. And of course he created the legendary science fiction RPG, Metamorphosis Alpha.

We were lucky enough to work with Jim at Gygax Magazine, and enjoy gaming with him over the years. He always made time for old and young gamers alike, and brought immeasurable joy to people all over the world both through his writing and in person.

Remember James M. Ward in your thoughts and prayers, and give thanks for the life he lived and his contributions to gaming as a whole. He will be deeply missed.

18/03/2024

Your characters come across this on a city street. What's at the bottom of the staircase?

18/03/2024

"Welcome to Fear City," a pamphlet warning tourists of the dangers of visiting New York City in 1975.

It was created as an intimidation tactic by police unions and city employees to get a bigger budget from the mayor - but this also looks like a great idea for a role-playing game, don't you think?

What kind of adventure ideas can you think of for "Welcome to Fear City?"

28/02/2024

TotalCon 2024 "Class Photo" - how many people can you spot?

27/02/2024

Tabletop Audio is great for setting the mood in your game, and it's completely free. We love it.

(link in the comments)

27/02/2024

Solarian had a great time at Total Confusion Game Convention (TotalCon) this year! Thanks especially to Steven Parenteau, Angelia Parentau, Jenn Ge**er & Ben Ge**er for putting on a great con and treating us like family.

The Solarian game room was packed all weekend with games of Top Secret, as well as some of our in-development games: Moar Blood, Witchlight, Kiss My Grits, 'Tis But A Scratch, and Grit & Grimoire.

Scott Kongable was the star GM of the room, running Top Secret games seemingly non-stop. Mary Lindholm, Will Conway, and Mike Kafes ran the room expertly. Hanae Ko was awesome in charge of the merch table - thanks to everyone who came by to say hi in the vendor hallway!

It was great to see Joey Royale, Brian Shutter, and John McGuire -- get their games Weird Heroes of Public Access, Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland, and 3-2-1 Action! -- and especially our friends Chet Minton, Scott Legault, Jonathan Reinhart, Diesel LaForce, Allen Hammack, Ian McGarty, Jayson Rocky Gardner, Steve Lastnik, Richard Auffrey, Steve Wollett, David Benevidies, Jamie Delorge, Brian Courtemanche, and Dan Roy.

Thank you everyone who said hi and played games this year, can't wait until the next one.

23/02/2024

Come find our table at the vendor hallway at TotalCon this weekend!

10/01/2024

Terribly sad news today. Jennell Jaquays has passed away. She was one of the brightest lights in the game industry, as an artist, writer, and video game designer & developer.

Her work is too numerous to recount in detail, but she created or contributed to many of the games we love, from ColecoVision games to Quake, tabletop games at Judges Guild and TSR, Chaosium, Flying Buffalo, West End Games, and more. Anyone who's been around the gaming scene long enough has something Jennell created that they love.

There's a huge void in the world now that she is gone, and our hearts go out to her spouse Rebecca Heineman and all her loved ones.

We celebrate the joy Jennell Jaquays brought to the world, and mourn her untimely passing.

04/12/2023

Help us playtest our new card game!
Kiss My Grits is a casual family game about a greasy spoon diner.

We've set up a series of online playtests for this month, you can sign up for a free online game with Jayson (the designer) using this link:

Play our new card game online with the designer and help out by giving your feedback

24/11/2023

The box set for Top Secret® is on sale, along with our hardback books and most issues of Gygax Magazine.

Please share!

Help us have a great holiday season so we can keep making new games 😎

https://solariangames.myshopify.com/

23/11/2023

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate!

Hope you get to roll some dice this holiday weekend.

(Art by Jack Crane, 1982)

26/10/2023

Our good friend Jeff was on a podcast. Check it out!

If you don't know about Jeff Talanian and Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperboria, you should definitely check this out.

I welcome Jeffrey Talanian, one of the pillars of old school gaming renaissance, and the creative mind behind Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperbore...

23/10/2023

To all my fellow creatives. This is something I must remind myself from time to time. We can't be amazing every day, but we must strive to keep up the good fight!