Top 5 Best Indie RPGs Poll

On 12-05-2005, C.W.Richeson queried Roleplaying Open as to which were the 'top 5 best indie rpgs'. Lists came streaming in, and soon many Open regulars were posting examples of excellent games they had enjoyed reading and playing. The following are the totaled results to date. (This tally is current as of post #121 of the original thread)

Vote Tally

The Top Five

• Dogs in the Vineyard (24);
• Sorcerer (22);
• Primetime Adventures (16);
• The Shadow of Yesterday (13);
• Tie: Burning Wheel (12) and My Life with Master (12).

The Runners Up

• FATE (10);
• Polaris (9);
• The Mountain Witch (8);
• A|State (7);
• RISUS (6);
• Trollbabe (5);
• Truth and Justice (5);
• Universalis (5);
• Wushu (5);
• CORPS (4);
• FUDGE (4); The Pool (4);
• Active Exploits Diceless (3);
• Capes (3);
• Dust Devils (3);
• InSpectres (3);
• With Great Power (3);
• Arrowflight (2);
• Breaking the Ice (2);
• Dead Inside (2);
• The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchasen (2);
• kill puppies for satan (2);
• Lacuna (2);
• octaNe (2)
• vs. Monsters (2).

Games With Single Votes

• 1984 Prime;
• Against the Reich!;
• Best Friends;
• Barbarians Versus;
• Bonza;
• Cat;
• Code of Unaris;
• Cold Space;
• Conspiracy of Shadows;
• Delphian Tides;
• EABA;
• Elfs;
• Everstone;
• Dead of Night;
• Dread;
• Dread: The First Book of Pandemonium;
• The Drones;
• Final Stand (.pdf);
• HardNova
• Great Ork Gods;
• in Spaaaaace!;
• Iron Gauntlets;
• Jags Wonderland;
• Kobolds Ate My Baby;
• Little Fears;
• MonkeyWrench!;
• Nicotine Girls;
• Nine Worlds;
• OVA;
• Paladin;
• Perfect 20 (.pdf);
• Piledrivers and Powerbombs;
• Pretender;
• Roleplaying Game Designate: Robots;
• Shab Al Hiri Roach;
• Under the Bed;
• Star Cluster 2;
• The Story Engine (via Internet Archive);
• Unsung;
• Thirty;
• Wuthering Heights.

"Non-indie", Honorable Mentions

• HeroQuest (5);
• The Riddle of Steel (4);
• GURPS;
• Savage Worlds (3);
• Nobilis (3);
• Amber;
• Angel;
• Big Eyes, Small Mouth;
• Everyway;
• Over the Edge;
• The Fantasy Trip;
• Vampire: The Masquerade - First Edition;
• White Box Dungeons & Dragons.

Notes

• Original Thread: Top 5 Best Indie RPGS.
• Only the first five votes in each post were counted.
• If you wish to add your votes to this running tally, please post a list of your top five to the original thread first, then made your additions here on this page.

Thanks

Much appreciation to all those who provided corrections and URLS for the various games! :)

--Karasu