A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Wretched Wasteland

Wretched Wasteland is a role playing game supplement written and published by Stuart Watkinson. This is a solo role playing game system that uses the Wretched & Alone SRD which is based on The Wretched.

The supplement is available from itch for AUD$3 but was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle. There are two PDFs. The first is the main PDF and is 20 pages long. One page is the front cover, three pages are the front matter, two are blank and one is legal. The second PDF is a single page and is a map to print out.

Who? explains the setting. The player is a scout from a post-apocalyptic compound and has discovered a Raider camp. They need to get back home to warn them, but have already been spotted by Raiders.

What? explains that Wretched Wasteland is a game about survival in a post-apocalyptic world and gives its inspiration.

When? explains that the fighting started on April 12th, 1985. Wars started with Mega-Mechs and finished with nuclear weapons. Most of humanity, and the world, are dead.

How? explains that to play you will need a standard 52 card deck, a six-sided die, a tumbling block tower and a token to mark progress on the map. There is only one way to win and many ways to die.

The Map has the map that is in the separate PDF. It is ten hexes in a row that must be progressed along. To start with, trolling 4,5 or 6 will advance a tile. Then 5 or 6. Then 6. Rolling 1 sends the character back a tile.

It Begins explains the falling block tower represents physical and mental health. It collapsing means game over. The deck is shuffled. The Ace of Spades is automatic failure and death; the Ace of Hearts is needed to win, but not automatically.

The Log explains how the game is journaled.

The Day explains each day is in two parts; the first is the journey, the second logging what happened.

The Survival Guide explains the suits. Hearts are daily struggle, Diamonds are relics of the past, Clubs are the Raiders and Spades are Wasteland Wonders. Each individual card’s meaning is then gone into. Many require blocks to be drawn from the tower.

Wretched Wasteland in Review

The PDF lacks bookmarks and, though short, these would have been appreciated. Navigation could be better. The text maintains a single column format and appeared to be free of errors. There is a single illustration. Presentation is okay.

This game, like all games using the Wretched & Alone SRD, is easy to fail at. Success is unlikely at best; failure, whether through the tower collapsing or drawing the Ace of Spades, is more likely. These games do have content warnings as they are not cheerful by design. If you don’t like the idea of journaling games in general, and ones that you’re highly likely to lose in specific, then this game should be avoided, especially if you have a general dislike to the sometimes rather depressing theme. Otherwise, this is a good example of the genre. Wretched Wasteland can be found by clicking here.