The Black Hack vs Tiny Dungeon
Compare The Black Hack and Tiny Dungeon side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| The Black Hack | Tiny Dungeon | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Rules-Light, Dungeon Crawl, Hackable, Beginner-Friendly | Rules-Light, Beginner-Friendly, One-Shot Friendly, Low-Prep, Fast-Paced, Dungeon Crawl, Theater of the Mind, Heroic, Tag-Based |
| Core Mechanic | Players roll d20 under their attribute scores to succeed at actions. Advantage and Disadvantage (roll 2d20, pick best or worst) modify difficulty. Armour provides a pool of d6 Armour Dice that absorb damage. Consumable resources use a Usage Die chain (d20→d12→d10→d8→d6→d4→gone): roll 1–2 to downgrade. | 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 | d20 + d4–d12 | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Very Low | Very Low |
| Availability | Free core rules | Free quickstart |
| Runnability | 4 of 5 book tools | 2 of 5 book tools |
| License | The Black Hack Open Game License | Proprietary (TinyD6) |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Not yet researched |
| Publisher | Gold Piece Publications | Gallant Knight Games |
| Year | 2018 | 2018 |
| Languages | English | English, Spanish, French, German, Polish |
| Best For | Groups wanting a fast, hackable OSR dungeon-crawling game with modern design sensibilities: roll under attributes, abstract distances, and usage dice that track resources without bookkeeping. | 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 | Highly hackable: spawned an entire subgenre of 'X Hack' games, core rules fit in about 30 pages, Usage Die tracks resources without inventory math, armour-as-dice-pool adds a tactical layer, conversational writing style makes rules easy to learn | 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 | Only 4 classes (Warrior, Thief, Cleric, Wizard) in the core, limited character customization beyond class and background, no setting included, light on GM guidance compared to larger games, may lack depth for long campaigns | 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 |