📖 Overview
Avery Alder is a Canadian tabletop role-playing game designer and writer known for creating independent story games that explore themes of identity, power, and relationships. Her work has influenced the indie RPG movement and helped expand the scope of what tabletop games can address.
Among her most recognized titles are Monsterhearts, which adapts teenage supernatural drama through a queer lens, and The Quiet Year, a map-drawing game about post-apocalyptic community building. She also created Dream Askew, a GM-less game examining queer community in a collapsed civilization, and Simple World, a framework for building custom narrative games.
Alder's design philosophy emphasizes accessibility, emotional storytelling, and mechanics that support marginalized perspectives. Her games frequently incorporate elements of collaborative worldbuilding and explore dynamics of community, belonging, and social change.
Her work has garnered multiple award nominations and wins in the indie gaming space, including an Indie Groundbreaker Award. Beyond game design, Alder has written about game theory and design principles through her blog and various industry publications.
👀 Reviews
Readers connect strongly with Alder's handling of identity, relationships, and power dynamics in her games. Players note her mechanics effectively support emotional storytelling without complex rules.
What readers liked:
- Clear writing that makes complex social dynamics accessible
- Games create meaningful stories about marginalized experiences
- Rules systems that new players can quickly understand
- Monsterhearts praised for blending teen drama with supernatural elements
- The Quiet Year noted for generating rich community narratives
What readers disliked:
- Some find the social justice themes too overt
- Price point considered high for page count
- Dream Askew's GMless format challenging for traditional players
- Content warnings needed for sensitive themes
Ratings across platforms:
Monsterhearts: 4.4/5 (Goodreads, 200+ ratings)
The Quiet Year: 4.3/5 (DriveThruRPG, 150+ ratings)
Dream Askew: 4.1/5 (itch.io, 75+ ratings)
"Her games helped me tell stories I didn't know I needed to tell," notes one DriveThruRPG reviewer.
📚 Books by Avery Alder
The Quiet Year
A map-drawing roleplaying game about a post-apocalyptic community trying to rebuild and survive through the seasons.
Monsterhearts A tabletop roleplaying game focused on teenage monsters exploring their identities, relationships, and supernatural powers in a high school setting.
Dream Askew A diceless roleplaying game set in a queer enclave during the collapse of civilization, where players take on roles within the community.
Simple World A framework for creating custom tabletop roleplaying games using the Powered by the Apocalypse system.
Ribbon Drive A road trip roleplaying game where mixed-tape playlists guide the story and character development.
A Place to Fuck Each Other A two-player roleplaying game about intimacy and connection between characters in a specific location.
The Teenage Prophecy of Tamara Blake A collaborative storytelling game about a teenage girl who discovers she's part of an ancient prophecy.
Abnormal A roleplaying game examining self-discovery and identity through supernatural transformation.
Dream Apart A companion game to Dream Askew, set in a Jewish shtetl with elements of mysticism and folklore.
Monsterhearts A tabletop roleplaying game focused on teenage monsters exploring their identities, relationships, and supernatural powers in a high school setting.
Dream Askew A diceless roleplaying game set in a queer enclave during the collapse of civilization, where players take on roles within the community.
Simple World A framework for creating custom tabletop roleplaying games using the Powered by the Apocalypse system.
Ribbon Drive A road trip roleplaying game where mixed-tape playlists guide the story and character development.
A Place to Fuck Each Other A two-player roleplaying game about intimacy and connection between characters in a specific location.
The Teenage Prophecy of Tamara Blake A collaborative storytelling game about a teenage girl who discovers she's part of an ancient prophecy.
Abnormal A roleplaying game examining self-discovery and identity through supernatural transformation.
Dream Apart A companion game to Dream Askew, set in a Jewish shtetl with elements of mysticism and folklore.
👥 Similar authors
Emily Care Boss creates story games focused on relationships and interpersonal dynamics. Her games like Breaking the Ice and Shooting the Moon share Alder's interest in emotional storytelling and queer themes.
John Harper designs games with clear procedures and evocative settings that empower players to drive the narrative. His work on Blades in the Dark demonstrates similar attention to mechanical elegance and story emergence as found in Alder's designs.
Nathan D. Paoletta develops games exploring identity, power dynamics, and social structures. His games World Wide Wrestling and carry examine systemic forces and character relationships in ways that parallel Alder's focus on personal politics.
Jason Morningstar creates games centered on group dynamics and collaborative storytelling without traditional GM roles. His designs like Fiasco and Night Witches share Alder's interest in distributed narrative authority and emergent drama.
Meguey Baker builds games examining relationships, community, and social structures through focused mechanics. Her work on A Thousand and One Nights and Under Hollow Hills demonstrates similar interests in marginalized perspectives and transformative play.
John Harper designs games with clear procedures and evocative settings that empower players to drive the narrative. His work on Blades in the Dark demonstrates similar attention to mechanical elegance and story emergence as found in Alder's designs.
Nathan D. Paoletta develops games exploring identity, power dynamics, and social structures. His games World Wide Wrestling and carry examine systemic forces and character relationships in ways that parallel Alder's focus on personal politics.
Jason Morningstar creates games centered on group dynamics and collaborative storytelling without traditional GM roles. His designs like Fiasco and Night Witches share Alder's interest in distributed narrative authority and emergent drama.
Meguey Baker builds games examining relationships, community, and social structures through focused mechanics. Her work on A Thousand and One Nights and Under Hollow Hills demonstrates similar interests in marginalized perspectives and transformative play.