What is this game?
UNFINISHED is a one-shot tabletop roleplaying game about memory, attachment, and not being able to move on. Players travel together toward a place tied to something that ended badly. Each character wants something from that journey, but getting it comes at a cost.
The game is inspired by Powered by the Apocalypse games we discussed in class, especially Monster of the Week. Instead of fighting monsters, players deal with emotional pressure, memory, and hard choices. The horror comes from relationships and places rather than combat.
Concept
The main idea of UNFINISHED is that places remember. When something ends without closure, that unfinished feeling sticks to the place. Over time, it starts to affect the people who return. The game has a clear point of view. Horror is not about jump scares or violence. It is about staying too long, holding on too tightly, and refusing to let things end.
Players take on different roles that reflect this idea:
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one character is already dead and cannot move on
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one character knows the truth and cannot ignore it
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one character stays behind to keep things from falling apart
These roles are meant to explore different ways people respond to loss.
Design
UNFINISHED is designed to be playable in a single session.
To play UNFINISHED, you need:
- two to five players
- one GM
- two six-sided dice
- printed or digital playbooks
- pens or pencils
- paper for notes
It uses:
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fiction-first rules
- safety- first rules
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success, partial success, and failure outcomes
Each playbook includes character creation steps, moves, gear, relationships, and personal motivation. There is also a GM guide that explains the world, the antagonist, and how to run the game. The game has a clear ending. Players eventually reach the destination and must decide what they are willing to give up. There is no guaranteed “good ending.”
PLAYTESTER ANNOTATED: THE THREE PLAYBOOKS
UNFINISHED – GM GUIDE AND SETTING
Process
This game was developed through multiple drafts and in-class playtesting. I started with one playbook and gradually expanded the system to include additional characters, a shared journey structure, and a GM guide. During playtests, I stepped back as a designer and let players build the world and play through the game on their own to see what rules and ideas they understood naturally.
Playtest Feedback
Players also said the game was really fun, even though the themes were heavy.
The fun came from:
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learning about each other’s backstories
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making difficult choices together
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feeling tension without needing combat
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watching how characters changed over the session
Several players mentioned that the game felt serious, but not uncomfortable. Even with themes of death and loss, the experience was interesting and collaborative.Several players wanted slightly more time during character creation, particularly for developing relationships between characters. Others recommended expanding the relationship section with one or two additional prompts. A few players expressed interest in seeing one more playbook option to choose from, and some suggested including a short sample scenario to help groups get started more quickly.
Reflection:
This project showed me how much emotional tone and structure shape the player experience in a TTRPG. Keeping the game to one session and centering it around a single destination helped the story feel intentional rather than scattered. Watching players invest in their characters and enjoy the game despite its heavy themes confirmed that emotional horror can still be fun, especially when players feel supported by the system.