How Minimalism and Rules-Light Design are Defining the Future of TTRPGs
TTRPG Design Discourse: Article 6 of 14
We’ve explored narrative-focused design and its emphasis on story over simulation. A natural companion to this philosophy is the minimalist movement—games that deliberately strip away mechanical complexity. But rules-light design isn’t just about making things easier; it’s a sophisticated approach to managing cognitive load while preserving meaningful player agency. This article examines how less can be more.
For decades, the tabletop industry was defined by its “crunch”—dense rulebooks filled with complex math, universal charts, and highly codified systems like D&D 4E or GURPS. But a massive shift is underway. Modern players are increasingly rejecting the “four-hour slog” of tactical combat in favor of minimalist, rules-light systems that prioritize speed, narrative flow, and “rulings over rules”.
This isn’t merely a pendulum swing or a nostalgia trip. The minimalist movement represents a fundamental questioning of what rules are for and how much system a game actually needs. In an industry that once measured quality by page count and complexity, the new vanguard asks: What if less actually delivers more?
Here is how the minimalist trend is currently reshaping the industry and what it means for the next generation of games.
1. Reducing “Cognitive Load”
One of the primary drivers of the rules-light movement is the desire to reduce “cognitive load” for both players and Game Masters. Traditional tactical systems often require “so much book flipping and paperwork” that it can cause a GM’s brain to “short out,” slowing the game to a crawl.
The problem compounds over time. A GM running Pathfinder 1st Edition must track attack bonuses, armor class, saving throws, spell resistance, damage reduction, combat maneuvers, conditions, and dozens of special abilities—all while trying to create an engaging narrative. Players face similar burdens, with character sheets sprawling across multiple pages and requiring reference to multiple rulebooks.
The cognitive cost becomes especially apparent when games cross the three-hour mark. Mental fatigue sets in. Simple addition becomes difficult. The table loses momentum as everyone checks their character sheets, flips through books, and tries to remember which modifier applies to which roll.
In contrast, minimalist designs—like The Black Hack (2016) or Tiny Dungeons (2013)—key everything off a single number or a single type of die (like a d6). By stripping away the minutiae of “weird abilities” and complex stat blocks, these games allow the table to focus on the story rather than the mechanics.
The Black Hack exemplifies this approach. Everything uses the same resolution: roll under your attribute on a d20. Attack? Roll under Strength or Dexterity. Avoid a trap? Roll under Dexterity. Cast a spell? Roll under Intelligence. The GM never needs to look up modifiers or special cases—the core mechanic handles everything.
Into the Odd (2014) goes further, eliminating attributes for most actions. Combat is deterministic based on weapon type. Saves use a d6 system so simple it requires no tables. A complete character can be created in under five minutes.
This simplicity doesn’t mean less meaningful play. Instead, it redirects cognitive resources from calculating bonuses to describing actions, engaging with the environment, and solving problems creatively. Players spend less time optimizing character builds and more time thinking about what their character would actually do.
2. The “No-To-Hit” Revolution
Perhaps the most “revolutionary” innovation in recent minimalist design is the de-emphasis of the “to-hit” roll. In traditional games, players often suffer from the “whiff factor,” where an entire turn is wasted because a d20 roll failed to meet a target number.
The whiff problem plagues many classic systems. In AD&D 1st Edition, a 1st-level fighter needs to roll 10+ to hit an enemy with AC 0—a 55% chance of doing nothing on their turn. As combats drag into round 5, 6, 7, the repeated whiffs create narrative dead air. “I swing my sword.” “You miss.” “I swing my sword again.” “You miss again.”
This feels particularly bad for new players who chose a warrior archetype precisely to be good at hitting things. When the wizard’s spells automatically affect their targets but the fighter misses three rounds in a row, something feels fundamentally wrong.
Newer minimalist titles like Cairn (2020), Into the Odd, and Mythic Bastionland (2021) have eliminated this hurdle by making attacks automatically hit. Instead of rolling to see if they succeed, players roll to see how much impact they have (damage), while using “saves” to avoid hazards.
In Cairn, combat works like this: Roll your weapon’s damage (say, d6 for a sword). The enemy’s armor reduces that damage. Whatever remains depletes their hit points (typically 3-6 for most creatures). If you roll 4 damage and they have 2 armor, you deal 2 damage. The attack always matters; the question is only how much.
This “idiot-proofs” the narrative, ensuring the game constantly progresses at high speed. No turn is wasted. Every action changes the game state. Tension comes from depleting resources (HP, items, luck tokens) rather than from binary pass/fail rolls.
Mausritter applies this to mouse-sized adventures, where combat is deliberately dangerous and usually avoidable. When fights occur, they resolve in 2-4 rounds because every attack does something. The mechanical simplicity keeps focus on the fiction: Are you running? Hiding? Negotiating? Using the environment?
3. Information Design as a “Control Panel”
Minimalism in 2025 isn’t just about fewer rules; it’s about Information Design. Modern producers are adopting “control panel” book layouts, popularized by Old-School Essentials (OSE) and Mausritter.
This design philosophy organizes all necessary information into single-page spreads to eliminate page-flipping. By using bold text, bullet points, and condensed headers, these books function like a technical manual or a dashboard, making it easier for new players to “absorb information” and start playing immediately.
The synergy between minimalist rules and control panel design is no accident. A game with 300 pages of rules can’t fit onto single-page spreads. But a game like Knave (2018), which presents complete rules in 7 pages, becomes nearly frictionless. The entire system fits on a few spreads, meaning a new GM can internalize everything in a single reading session.
OSE demonstrated this approach could work even for moderately complex systems. By reorganizing Basic/Expert D&D—originally spread across multiple books totaling 128 pages—into clean, consistent spreads, designer Gavin Norman made the rules simultaneously more accessible and more comprehensive. Every spell on its own line. Every monster on a consistent template. Combat procedures on facing pages.
This information design serves minimalism’s core goal: reducing friction between intent and action. When you can find the climbing rules in three seconds instead of three minutes, the game moves faster. When monster stat blocks follow identical formats, the GM spends less mental energy parsing them.
4. A Gateway to Solo and Indie Play
The rules-light trend is also the engine behind the “booming” solo and GM-less market. Because these games don’t require an “asymmetrical balance of authority” or a dedicated arbiter, they are much easier to play alone. Systems like Ironsworn (2018) have set the “gold standard” for this, using simple “progress tracks” as a pacing mechanism that can trigger plot twists without needing a second person to manage the story.
Solo play demands different design considerations than group play. In a group, the GM provides pacing, introduces complications, and adjudicates edge cases. A solo system must handle all these functions through mechanics.
Ironsworn achieves this through oracles—random tables that answer questions about the world. “Is the merchant honest?” Roll on the oracle: “Yes, but…” The game provides frameworks for interpreting results, but the player fills in specifics. Progress tracks represent long-term goals, filling as you complete smaller steps, and mechanically triggering resolution scenes when full.
The minimalist approach makes this work. If every action required consulting multiple charts and calculating modifiers, solo play would bog down. But when resolution is “roll 2d6+modifier” and consequences come from oracle tables, play flows smoothly even with one person making every decision.
Furthermore, minimalist games are easier to homebrew. Because the mechanics are not “interconnected with massive complexity,” designers can easily “tinker” with the rules or mash genres together—such as the “Borg” conversions or “cozy” RPGs that minimize combat entirely.
The “Borg” phenomenon illustrates this perfectly. Mörk Borg (2020) presents a minimalist d20 system in apocalyptic wrapping. Its simplicity spawned dozens of hacks: CY_BORG (cyberpunk), Pirate Borg (pirates), Väsen (folklore horror). Each takes the basic framework—d20 roll-under for checks, deterministic damage, quick character creation—and reskins it.
Similarly, “cozy” games like Wanderhome (2021) strip combat entirely, focusing on traveling animal-folk exploring a pastoral landscape. The minimalist engine—token-based actions, no dice, collaborative scene-setting—allows complete genre transformation while remaining accessible.
This hackability extends the life of minimalist systems indefinitely. A traditional complex system requires expertise to modify without breaking. A minimalist system invites modification. Third-party creators can publish compatible content without deep system mastery.
5. Shaping the Future: Narrative First
Industry analysts note that while tactical combat will always have a place, the games currently “exploding” in popularity are those where the story is the heart of the experience. This “rules light, narrative first” approach is currently in vogue because it is more accessible for Actual Play streamers and more welcoming to new hobbyists who found traditional wargaming intimidating.
Critical Role, the highest-profile actual play stream, runs D&D 5E*—not particularly rules-light. But the cast regularly ignores rules in favor of dramatic moments. The appeal isn’t mechanical mastery; it’s collaborative storytelling. This creates tension with *5E‘s 300+ page rulebook.
Genuinely minimalist games solve this by aligning mechanics with narrative intent. Apocalypse World (2010) and its descendants use “moves”—structured prompts that trigger on fictional events. When you “seduce or manipulate someone,” you roll 2d6+Charm. On a 10+, they do it. On 7-9, they need proof or payment. The mechanics directly serve the story.
This makes actual play more watchable. Viewers don’t need to understand complex rules to follow the action. They see characters attempting things, rolls determining complications, and immediate narrative consequences. The transparency reduces the learning barrier for potential new players watching.
For new players generally, minimalist games reduce intimidation. A 300-page rulebook signals “you must study this before playing.” A 20-page rulebook signals “we can start in 20 minutes.” The lower barrier to entry has brought diverse audiences into the hobby—people who would never have approached traditional wargaming.
The success of Free League Publishing exemplifies this trend. Their Year Zero Engine games—Alien, Blade Runner, Twilight: 2000 4E—use consistent minimalist mechanics across different genres. Each game’s core resolution fits on two pages. The rest is setting, tables, and procedures specific to the genre.
6. The Economics of Minimalism
Minimalist design also offers economic advantages for indie creators. A 20-page game costs less to produce than a 300-page tome. Printing runs become affordable. PDF distribution becomes trivial. Art budgets can focus on covers and key pieces rather than filling hundreds of pages.
Knave sold thousands of copies as a $3 PDF and modest-priced print-on-demand book. The low price point encouraged impulse purchases. The minimal page count meant readers actually finished it—unlike the many “aspirational purchases” that sit unread.
This accessibility extends the market. A player might hesitate before buying a 60 core rulebook for an unfamiliar system. That same player might easily risk 5-15 on an interesting indie game. The lower barrier multiplies opportunities for creators to find audiences.
However, minimalism also faces market challenges. Many players still equate “value” with page count and production values. A 30 book with 50 pages feels expensive compared to a 50 book with 300 pages, even if the thinner book provides a superior play experience.
Some minimalist designers thread this needle through production quality. Mausritter is slim but gorgeously produced, with hardcover binding, quality paper, and evocative art. Troika! pairs minimal rules with surreal, memorable setting detail. The “value” comes from craft and creativity rather than bulk.
The Counter-Trend: Complexity as Feature
Not everyone embraces minimalism. Many players actively seek crunchy, complex systems. Pathfinder 2nd Edition (2019) and Lancer (2019) have found success by leaning into tactical depth, detailed subsystems, and extensive character options.
For these players, minimalism feels limiting. They want mechanical expression of character concepts. They enjoy system mastery as a challenge. They appreciate clearly defined rules that eliminate ambiguity.
This creates a healthy diversity in the market. Minimalism isn’t “winning” so much as claiming its proper place alongside tactical complexity. Both serve different play styles and aesthetic preferences.
The future likely involves further specialization. Games will more clearly signal their complexity level, allowing players to choose appropriate systems for their desired experience. The key innovation of minimalism isn’t that it’s objectively better—it’s that it proved simple systems can deliver rich, satisfying play, opening design space many assumed required complexity.
As we move through 2025, minimalism has evolved from rebellious outsider to established pillar of the hobby. Its principles—reducing cognitive load, eliminating dead-end mechanics, prioritizing accessibility—now influence even complex games. The question is no longer “Can a game work with minimal rules?” but rather “How much game do we actually need for the experience we want to deliver?”
And increasingly, the answer is: Less than we thought.
Continue Reading
Next in Series: From Wargames to The Slog: Tactical TTRPG Design – Having explored one path (narrative simplicity), we now examine the other: tactical complexity and the art of crunchy systems.
Related and Upcoming Articles:
- Cognitive Load – Why minimalism reduces mental overhead
- Control Panel Design – How presentation makes simple systems even more accessible
- OSR Modern-Classic Hybrid – Minimalism meets old-school play