Shadowrun vs Tiny Dungeon
Compare Shadowrun and Tiny Dungeon side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Shadowrun | Tiny Dungeon | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Cyberpunk, Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Crunchy, Tactical, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy | Rules-Light, Beginner-Friendly, One-Shot Friendly, Low-Prep, Fast-Paced, Dungeon Crawl, Theater of the Mind, Heroic, Tag-Based |
| Core Mechanic | Roll a pool of d6s equal to attribute + skill, counting 5s and 6s as hits. Meet or exceed a threshold to succeed. Situational advantages generate Edge points rather than modifying dice pools directly; Edge is spent on tactical effects like rerolling dice, adding successes, or imposing penalties on opponents. | Roll 2d6: if any die shows 5 or 6, you succeed. Advantage grants 3d6; Disadvantage drops you to 1d6. No attributes, no skill list: Traits grant situational Advantage, and weapon Mastery/Proficiency determines combat dice. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Very High | Very Low |
| Accessibility | High | High |
| Runnability | Very High | Low |
| License | No open license | Proprietary (TinyD6) |
| Cost | $$$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Catalyst Game Labs | Gallant Knight Games |
| Year | 2019 | 2018 |
| Best For | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. | Groups wanting fast, minimalist fantasy with almost zero rules overhead: character creation in minutes, core mechanic in one sentence, and tons of optional modules to bolt on. |
| Highlights | The setting fuses megacorporate intrigue with magic and metahuman races, so a single team mixes street samurai, mages, and deckers. Distinct subsystems model Matrix hacking, spellcasting, drone rigging, and astral space, each carrying its own rules depth. The Edge economy converts situational advantages into a spendable resource for rerolls, extra hits, or penalties on opponents. | Entire core rules fit in ~20 pages, character fits on an index card, huge trait list for customization without complexity, 17 included microsettings, extensive optional rules (martial disciplines, magic schools, ship combat) let you dial complexity up |
| Considerations | Matrix hacking runs on its own timescale and can leave non-decker players idle during a run. Character creation spreads across attributes, skills, magic or resonance, gear, and lifestyle, making the first build long. Dice pools grow large at high skill, so counting hits on a fistful of d6s slows resolution. | Binary pass/fail with no degrees of success, fantasy-only (other TinyD6 games cover sci-fi), no built-in advancement by default (optional), very light on tactical depth |