Residue®: Solo Survival RPG

What is Residue®?

Residue is a solo survival sci-fi horror tabletop RPG about wandering endless landscapes, searching ruins, and trying to stay alive long enough to find meaning.

Play as a solitary explorer in a complete, self-contained game of dice-driven hexcrawling, resource management, combat, and exploration through impossible architecture, radiation-scarred zones, and organic, machine-infested ruins, searching for relics from long-forgotten civilizations.

The first and last thing you hear every day is The Hum. A constant signal pulling you deeper into the world. The terrain is abnormal. Distances fold in on themselves. Structures rise where there should be nothing. Corridors stretch beyond sight.

Travel is not a choice. It is the only way to remain, through radiation, corrosion, and machine growth. Brutalist-rot into organic form.

Fragments of who we were lie scattered through the ruins, trapped in quartz and buried in broken sites. You must find them. Meaning is what can still be carried forward before the corruption takes hold.

Deluxe Box Set

As a Stretch Goal a Residue® Comic Book by Mateus Acioli has been added to the Box.

A 96-page softcover zine or a 96-page hardcover book containing all the rules for the Residue® System. Both edition includes additional lore about the land, along with illustrations and collages by Mateus Acioli.

*All extra content that was previously exclusive to the hardcover edition has been unlocked as a stretch goal. Both books will now have identical content.

The inaugural Sector Book for Residue® is titled Fractured Pillars. Each Sector Book contains 12 Regions and 72 Areas to explore. Every Area has its own entry and effect to overcome. Each Region has a Hazard and a Mutation that affects all creatures.

Sector Books are the adventure modules that pair with the Game Systems Handbook. Fractured Pillars is 96-pages.

Quickstart Guidebook

Download the Quickstart Guidebook on our website to get familiar with the Game Systems.

Download the Lorebook "Metabolic Eternal". This book expands the twisted universe of Residue® and introduces the unsettling theology and origins of the anomalies that haunt the world.

Gameplay Video

Watch one day of survival in Residue®. This video goes through a full day in the twisted landscapes of the game to show how the story unfolds, including prompts from the Sector Book, the dice mechanics, and moments of combat, rest and exploration.

Components

There are 12 possible Corruptions in the game. When you run out of protection against corruption, your resolve breaks and you begin to mutate and change. Each time you are exposed to a corrupted place, you gain a Corruption. Corruptions grant powerful benefits, but each one permanently takes up an item slot.

There are 23 different items for scavengers to find in ruins. Normal items can be used by all characters, while Corrupted items can only be used by Corrupted characters. Allowing yourself to become corrupted grants new powers and access to additional items, but carries severe consequences for your body and mind.

Choose between 4 different characters with different starting skills, HP, Strain Threshold, Gear, Luck, and Battery.

Once you receive the Corruption card, this condition cannot be removed.

Roll a compass die to learn where The Hum is coming from, then roll a d8 to learn how far away it is. That result sets your destination: one of eight possible Ruins. Reach the Ruin to scavenge relics that can transform and improve you, and Quartz that contain secrets of the land. Ruins draw creatures and warped anomalies. The closer you get, the more they gather, and the greater the danger becomes.

The Compass die is a custom molded six-sided die for Residue showing the directions: N, S, NE, NW, SE, SW.

An erasable, quad-fold A3 HexMap. A single Sector is approximately 12×16 Hexes. Each time you enter an undiscovered hex, you roll a d12 to determine the Region, then a d6 to determine the Area. Once identified, you read the corresponding Area Entry in your Sector Book to discover what you encounter. These encounters may include combat, skill checks, puzzles, NPCs, vendors, raiders, and more.

There are 19 cardboard tokens in the box used to mark the map with locations, foes, and people you encounter. The Hum marks the destination you are moving toward. When you enter the hex with the Hum token, you discover one of eight possible Ruins. Clear it, then roll to determine where the next Hum is coming from.

After all four Ruins are found, you trace a line between them to reveal the location of the final challenge: The Anomaly. Survive it, and you clear the sector and uncover its mystery. Your ending is shaped by your journey: if you are Corrupted, a different ending awaits, and other keywords you’ve gained may further alter the outcome.

Playable Character.

Even though the world is desolated, a few vendors still roam the landscape. You may encounter up to two possible vendors during your journey and acquire new gear. Vendors follow movement patterns, so they may not be in the same place the next time. There are also four NPCs you can meet in each Sector, and whether they are hostile or not depends on keywords you have, like Corrupted, or on certain knowledge acquired through Quartz.

Raiders can appear in 3 of the 72 Areas. They will stalk you within a Region, but rarely beyond it. When you encounter Raiders, you can give up resources or choose to fight. Fighting is not recommended. If you trigger another Raider entry, they relocate and appear in the new Area.

There are 2 tables with 24 creatures to face. They are usually rolled randomly. Each gains a mutation from the Region they are in.

Player/Resource Boards

Two double-layered, erasable player boards let you slot dice as you commit them to actions and manage resources. The Resources board includes space for your Resource dice and your items. The Character board has space to record skills, HP, Luck, and Strain, plus a slot for your character card.

A black wooden token marks your character’s position on the map as you journey through the Sector.

Gameplay

You roll a pool of dice every morning that represents your stamina for the day as you travel through a dystopian, twisted landscape, facing Creatures and solving puzzles while your resources dwindle and you try to resist the Corruption of the environment.

All you want is to find the ruins and, there, learn and understand. Understanding is one of the few pleasures left in this world.

As you travel, you place dice on your character sheet and commit them to actions. Those dice can only be recovered by taking Strain. Once you hit your Strain Threshold, or decide it’s enough, it’s time to rest.

When you rest, you must pay your Strain. This represents the toll this place takes on you. You can drink water, eat rations, or let the corruption of this place soothe your soul.

You then roll a number of times equal to your Strain for each of these resources. Whenever you roll a 1 or 2, that resource goes down until nothing is left, and you start to suffer conditions like starvation, dehydration, and more.

Whenever you start your journey, you roll a compass die to determine where on the hex map you are travelling. Then you roll a d8 to determine how many hexes away The Hum is coming from.

When you arrive at a Hum location, roll a random Ruin to place there. Once you discover and clear four Ruins, trace a line between them on the map to reveal the final location where the Anomaly lies. There, you will face your final challenge. Decisions, conditions, and keywords gained during your journey will change the game’s finale.

For more details please download the Quickstart Guidebook.

Stretch Goals

*Check the Updates for more info on post-campaign Stretch Goals.

Campaign Stretch Goals Unlocked:

• 2x Extra Items
• Foiling Stamping (Softcover, Hardcover, All Boxes, Tokens)
• Extra Lore Pages Added and Free Lorebook Zine.
• Residue® Orginal Soundtrack + Cassette Add-On.
• Ribbon on Hardcover Books.
• Hardcover Slipcase for Hardcover Books
• 18-page Residue® Comic Book Added to all Boxes.
• Extra Character: Kes Uru (Total Cards 55)
• Residue® Font released with an open license at launch.
• Metal Meeple added to Collector's Material Upgrade Box.
• Molded Box Inserts.
• Open License Document (SRD) for Third Party Content

Tiers

Tiers Breakdown

Touchstones

Heavily inspired by Mothership RPG and Blame!, the Residue® experience is best described as a mix of Call of Cthulhu, Mad Max, and Dune.

Collector's Upgrade Box

As a Stretch Goal, a Metal Meeple will be added to the Collector's Upgrade Box.

This is the inspiration we will be providing to create the 3D mold and cast. We hope to even replicate the imperfections.

The Endless Edition

The Endless Edition will have a limited print run of only 1000 copies. We have no plans of taking it to retail or reprinting this edition. If not completely sold during the Kickstarter run, then it will only be available directly through us (our website or at the few conventions we attend).

Secret goal: The Endless Edition will have an exclusive box that will fit the Collector's material upgrade and both hardcovers with the slipcase inside. The box will be...big, and one of the reasons we are not planning for it to go to retail. 

We will take our time with this box. We gave our creators carte blanche to add glossy finishes, foiling, embossing or debossing, and any other finish they want to explore. We want it to be the most refined and strange thing you can find on the market. For that, we ask for your patience. New updates about the box cover will be posted as we progress.

We will share WIPs in our Discord, in our Backer Exclusive Residue Channel to get opinions on the final design.

Hardcover Slipcase

With our 250% stretch goal, we are now able to add a slipcase to hold both Hardcover Books together for our backers. The slipcase will also fit inside the Endless Edition.

Original Soundtrack

To celebrate hitting the 200% milestone, we are adding a new add-on to the campaign: the Residue® Original Soundtrack - Cassette Edition. We will do a limited run of 100 physical copies of the soundtrack, which you can add to your pledge if you wish, or you can wait and receive the free digital version to all backers when Residue® launches.

The soundtrack will feature 8 original tracks, and each Sector Book will have its own soundtrack. This tape will be the Original Soundtrack for Sector Book 01: “Fractured Pillars.”

You can hear a WIP of track V. "Apotropaic Chant" here.

The Team

Gabriel Gueiros (he/him) [Writer & Game Designer] is the co-founder of Weird Place. After more than 10 years working in the film industry as a visual effects artist on Hollywood productions such as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. II and Spider-Man: No Way Home, he left the industry to pursue his passion for analog gaming and started a small indie TTRPG publishing house with his partner, Le Yang. Gabriel previously wrote and released Fluff n’ Fury and is now focused on bringing Residue® to life.

Mateus Acioli (he/him) [Writing, Layout, Graphic Design & Illustrations] is a graphic designer and comics artist whose work blends design and visual art, often mixing illustration, typography, and experimental graphic elements. He has created projects for cultural institutions, museums, and publications, and is also involved with ONNO (a VHS film collective), CRISE™ (a contemporary art duo), and Livros FANTASMA® (as an editor).

Le Yang (she/her) [Editing & Consulting] is the co-founder of Weird Place. While Gabriel focuses on game design and publishing, Le leads Weird Place as a creative studio, hosting, editing, and writing most of the content for the Weird Place Youtube Channel. Le also works as an editor on the studio’s books and as a consultant.

Runner & Baci (husky/shiba) [Moral Support]. These two dogs have no direct involvement in producing the game, but they provide warmth on cold Canadian winter days while Gabriel and Le pack and fulfill orders.

Weird Place is a Latino and Asian immigrant–owned independent TTRPG publisher and creative studio based in Montreal, QC. We celebrate the art of analog gaming and are proud recipients of this year's Horizons Fellowship, a Board Game Association program with mentorship from industry professionals. 

Thank you for supporting our games and us.

Made by humans

No AI was used in the creation of this game. All art, assets, and text were created by human beings.

Shipping

Prices are in USD. Shipping is not included in your pledge amount. Please note that all shipping prices shown are estimates. Shipping costs may change due to carrier pricing, fuel surcharges, or final package weight. Shipping and applicable taxes will be collected after the campaign through the BackerKit Pledge Manager, where you’ll be able to confirm your address and see the most accurate shipping total for your location.

Due to shipping limitations and challenges, we cannot ship to: Afghanistan, Niue, Venezuela, Belarus, Russia, Yemen, Bhutan, South Sudan, Cuba, Sudan, Haiti, Turkmenistan.

Fulfillment

Canada orders will be fulfilled directly from Canada by Weird Place. US and international orders are planned to be fulfilled by Studio 2 or Quartermaster Logistics and their regional partners.

Duties, VAT, and taxes

US and Canada orders are shipped domestically and will not incur customs fees. EU and UK orders will ship Delivered Duties Paid (DDP), meaning no surprise customs fees on delivery. EU VAT will be collected through BackerKit, as required by law.  Australia and New Zealand orders may have GST collected at checkout, depending on final fulfillment arrangements. Backers in other regions may be responsible for local taxes or import fees, depending on their country.

Manufacturing

Our planned manufacturer at this time is Boda Games, a trusted tabletop manufacturer with a strong track record producing high-quality RPG and board game products. Boda has worked on projects such as Shadowdark RPG and board games like Arcs. The company specializes in board games, card games, and premium printed materials. Final manufacturing details will be confirmed closer to production.

Media Kit

Our media kit and press release are available at this link.