Alternatives to Dungeon World

Dungeon World helped popularize Powered by the Apocalypse games by capitalizing on players’ familiarity with Dungeons & Dragons. Enough so that it is sometimes used as a reference point by gamers who ask, “Can you recommend a game like Dungeon World but…?” Here are some common answers.

Next-Generation Fantasy PbtA

• If you’d like “Dungeon World 1.5”, try my own Uncommon World* or roll your own with its configuration tool.
• If you’d like to play a take on “Dungeon World 2.0”, try Homebrew World.*
• If you’d like to play a more PbtA Dungeon World game, try Unlimited Dungeons* (supplement) or Chasing Adventure.*
• If you’d like to play an even more Apocalypse-World-inspired Dungeon World game, try Fantasy World.
• If you’d like to actually play Apocalypse World using fantasy playbooks, try Apocalypse World: Fallen Empires.

OSR

• If you’d like to play a two-page version of Dungeon World as it might have looked in 1979, try World of Dungeons.*
• If you’d like to play a World of Dungeons campaign, try Remix.
• If you’d like to play a more OSR Dungeon World game, try Freebooters on the Frontier* or Vagabonds of Dyfed.
• If you’d like to play a Dungeon Crawl Classics style “funnel“ that could kick off a campaign, try Funnel World (supplement).
• If you’d like to play Dungeon World with OSR-inspired random tables, check out The Perilous Wilds and Perilous Deeps (supplements).
• If you’d like to play a non-PbtA “Dungeon Worldy” game, try Beyond the Wall or the Open SRD for D&D 3.5.

For a comparison of the more popular systems, see Table Comparing Dungeon World to 5 Hacks.

Other Styles of Play

• If you’d like to play “solitaire Dungeon World”, try Calypso (supplement) or Ironsworn.
• If you’d like to play power politics a la Game of Thrones in DW, try The Sword, The Crown, and The Unspeakable Power.
• If you’d like to play a Dungeon-World-style one-shot, try One Shot World.*
• If you’d like to play Dungeon World with young children, try Dungeons RPG.*
• If you’d like to play a Dungeon-World-adjacent game where characters all start with the same playbook and add abilities through the fiction, try my Hard-Knock World.

Other Settings

• If you’d like to play a Dungeon-World-inspired game about protecting and growing your Iron Age village, try Stonetop.*
• If you’d like to play a grimdark Dungeon World, try Grim World (supplement).
• If you’d like to play as pirates, try Rapscallion.
• If you’d like to play a Dungeon-World-inspired game in the world of Earthdawn, try Fourth World.*
• If you’d like to play a Dungeon World game in the modern world, try Urban/Modern/Fantasy.*
• If you’d like to play “Dungeon World … IN SPACE,” try Adventures on Dungeon Planet.*

Other PbtA Games

• If you want to play a fantasy PbtA in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender, try Avatar Legends.
• If you want to play a fantasy PbtA but with Redwall critters gone feral, try Root: The Role-playing Game.
• Check out this list of science-fiction PbtA games.

Thanks to the Dungeon World Discord community for the many suggestions over the years. Check out the Apocalypse World site for even more suggestions.

*Started as a Dungeon World hack.

See also:

• Table Comparing Dungeon World to 5 Hacks
• FAQ: The Right Fantasy PbtA for You
• Fantastic Worlds: An Anthology of Resources for Fantasy PbtA Games

Originally published 2021-07-19. Updated 2021-09-04: added Calypso, Funnel World, Grim World, Ironsworn, Perilous Deeps, The Perilous Wilds, Vagabonds of Dyfed; grouped alternatives and marked supplements (as opposed to standalone systems). Updated 2021-10-03: added Uncommon World. Updated 2021-11-24: added Remix. Updated 2022-02-10: added Dungeons RPG. Updated 2022-07-09: added “Other PbtA Games” section.

Image © 2014 Nevit Dilmen and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.