🪦 Below The Surface
8 Twisted Tales From Under Our Feet
What’s Inside: Prepare for exile and death with a grim collection of TTRPG’s and board games to awaken your morbid curiosity.
1. Sewer Sanctuary
Upcoming Page | Ancient power lurks as the rivers run sour
Developed by Laura Lang at Endless Forms, Sewer Sanctuary is heading to Gamefound as a story-rich, standalone and rules-light tabletop roleplaying game. What caught my eye, besides the beautiful artwork and setting, is the quote “This dungeon crawler reminded me of Zelda-like temple adventures.” At that point, I was already sold.
Built for 2+ players
2-4 hour playtime
Explore the town of Mar’leef, uncovering rumours that lead you deep into the sewers…
Delivers 70+ pages with quickstart rules
2. Turn it Off
Upcoming Page | Something stirs in the depths of the sea
Eldritch horrors are some of my favorites, and Turn it Off looks particularly promising. Wrapped in a handful of stunning paintings, the ready-to-run adventure found huge success on Itch.io. Its journey to Gamefound will fund a hard-cover printrun. If you did want to test it, you can Name Your Own Price over on Itch and take it for a spin.
A ready-to-run adventure location that can be played as a one-shot or dropped into an existing Knave 2e campaign
6 evocative paintings and a full map of the lighthouse
3 twisted NPCs
✅ Lingo check: "Knave 2e" stands for 'Knave Second Edition', and is an exploration-driven fantasy RPG and worldbuilding toolkit, inspired by the best elements of the Old-School DnD movement.3. Whispers In The Walls
Live Page | If only the walls could talk…wait, they do!
Whispers in the Walls, a short solo mystery experience, is now available in physical print for £12.00 at TableTopBookshelf. While a custom-designed deck of playing cards has been created to enhance gameplay, it's entirely optional - any standard deck will work just fine. As you draw cards, you’ll follow prompts that guide you to write from the perspective of a private investigator unraveling a strange and unsettling case. Listen carefully - what are the walls, ceiling, and floors trying to reveal? The saddle-bound book includes:
10 new illustrations
Completely redesigned layout
Built in player journal
Extensive editing and fixes
New rolling tables to help generate rooms and items
4. You Will Die In This Place
Upcoming Page | An endless abyssal labyrinth awaits
One of the standout campaigns in this week’s newsletter, You Will Die In This Place delivers a tense survival-horror tabletop experience set within the decaying remnants of the Vaulted Kingdom. With stunning artwork and strong writing throughout, the game includes printable miniatures (offered free to followers) as well as a development preview on Itch.io.
5. Webs of Death
Upcoming Page | Not one for arachnophobes
I don’t come across gamebooks all that often, but Webs of Death stood out. Not so much for its Kickstarter page - which is unbelievably minimal - but because of Simon Birks. An experienced creator on the platform, Birks has launched 82 fully funded projects to date - some on the nose, others soaring past their goals. It bodes well for their latest campaign. Gamebooks are often a go-to for me when playing with my kids as they’re perfect for quick sessions or when traveling, and I’m genuinely intrigued by the idea of trying to escape an underground nest of spiders.
✅ Lingo check: "Gamebook/s" is a work of printed fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making choices. The narrative branches along various paths, typically through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages.6. I Need Your Skin: Book 1
Live Page | Defy ageing with a piece of your flesh
With just 12 days to go on the campaign, I Need Your Skin says it will appeal to anyone who enjoyed Smile, The Substance or A24 style movies. Having read through the opening pages (all beautifully drawn) that description feels fairly accurate.
“Nora Perkins has a fear of ageing, and she thinks a clairvoyant can help her. A deal will be made for a small piece of her FLESH.”
With a digital print costing as little as $5 and one of the four printed covers for $15 (or all four for $55), it feels like a good pricepoint when the campaign goal is just short of $1,000.
7. WHERE YOU DIE: A Horror Story About Certainty
Live Page | Would it actually be nice to know where you were going to die?
WHERE YOU DIE: A Horror Story About Certainty spans 100 pages and is already live on Kickstarter, with just three days left in its campaign. The good news? It’s fully funded, thanks to the support of over 100 backers who helped it find early momentum.
“This is a story about someone trapped between the fear of dying and the fear of truly living. How far can you run from a place before you end up right back where you started?”
The campaign also includes the chance to collect all five titles in the LITTLE HORRORS series. Each one is a visual treat, especially Crooked Little Town, which met its funding goal back in January.
8. What Lies Beneath
Live Page | Dust, bones and dried death. The crypt is waiting
What Lies Beneath is available now on DriveThruRPG for just $6. The branching narrative experience challenges players to master a distinctive mix of mechanics, from classic skill checks and cerebral puzzles with limited dice actions, to hands-on dexterity tests where you’ll literally flick dice at targets. Curious? You can check out a generous preview here.