What timing on opening these --I was just thinking I had one for you. I'm looking for TTRPGs that can be played in a very short amount of time, very little setup on the player side, and are appropriate for middle and high school students! I'd love to run some games at the library, but have a very small allowed window in which to do this.
THEME: Great for Students, Very Short.
Hello there! I put you to the front of the queue because I wasn't sure how urgent the request was, so I hope this is still a timely response!
I tried to focus on games that could be appropriate for students and had very little in the form of rules. That being said, the downside of little rules is that there's not quite often a lot of GM guidance, so it might be good for you to read these a few days before you plan to run them.
Additionally, I recommend some places to find One-Page games at the bottom of this post, because I think you're going to get some very fruitful possibilities there beyond what I just recommend today.
One Spell Wizard, by noxnightly.
In this game, you are a wizard who only knows one magical spell for some reason. You’ve only learned the one and for some other reason use it for everything that you can think of. Will you be able to survive an entire dungeon this way?
It's easy to streamline character creation when all the other players have to do is write one spell! To succeed in One Spell Wizard, you roll 2d6. The closer you get to a 6, the better your success - 5 or 6 points away is an utter failure. The game encourages descriptions of how exactly your spell goes right or wrong, which I feel like me a very fruitful and fun exercise for a number of school-age kids.
As for generating challenges, the game has a quick little d6 table that uses a Mad-Libs style of creation to determine what the players will be up against. I can see this game turning well and truly goofy with this! If you want to give your players a customizable experience that is sure to generate a case of the giggles, I heavily recommend One Spell Wizard.
Super Unnatural, by Sam Robson
You are investigators specializing in paranormal problems. You have been hired to solve a mystery at a famously haunted apartment complex. Together you'll perceive, question and research your way to the answer- hopefully without becoming cursed in the process.
24XX games are another series of games that, as a system, are quick to pick up and play. Super Unnatural is specifically focused on spooky ghost stories, and I know that if given the chance, a lot of kids are more than happy to jump into spooky themes.
As for the style of game, Super Unnatural has three character investigator types, three basic skills, and a series of tables to help GM's create a problem of the week in a few seconds. The idea behind many of these games is to give you a few basic tools and then jump into the story as quickly as possible. If you want a spooky option for your group, consider Super Unnatural.
The Summit, by BATTLEAXE GAMES
Climb the White Fang mountain, and discover the long lost secrets that lie hidden at the Summit!
Take the role of an Explorer—an adventurer, survivalist, and mountaineer. Work with your fellow Explorers to climb the mountain and reach the top, before succumbing to frostbite, injury, or worse. After all, this is no ordinary mountain.
Breathless games have a pretty concise loop, and The Summit runs on Breathless. You need a pack of various multi-sided dice, and a few print-outs, and you're good to go! The Summit is designed to be a one-shot that lasts 2-3 hours, since a horror twist on a fantasy game, so I feel like death is a possibility.
The thing that makes Breathless games pretty concise is the Taking A Breath action. At various times throughout the game, the crew can pause to take a breath, which allows everyone to replenish their resources, but also introduces a new complication. In other versions of this system, I think you could even call the end of each session every time the group stops to take a breath. There are a number of different Breathless games, so if you like this idea, you have plenty to check out!
Elevator Dogs, by Blind Archivist.
ELEVATOR DOGS is a 10-minute, fast-paced, trigger-happy live-action RPG where 3 to 6 players portray a group of anonymous criminals who have just stolen something valuable in a chaotic mission. There is no fixed objective; the interesting part is seeing how the game unfolds and how the characters end up after the 10 minutes it takes for the escape elevator to reach the ground floor of the skyscraper. But I guess surviving is a good starting point.
A game with a timer! Elevator Dogs is meant to be 15 minutes long, tops, from prep to end. The game is also tiny, something you can fold up and keep in a mint tin. This game might be a great introduction for anyone who hasn't role-played before. Alternatively, it's described as a great filler game.
Shepherd's Lantern: Sheep Dog Quest, by Rogue Wave Arcade.
The sheep have been kidnapped by wolves. Are you a bad enough dog to rescue them?
For players that want animals and light-hearted themes, Shepherd's Lantern mixes child-friendly subject matter with a tactical style of play. This is a one-page game based on LUMEN, which is known for both rules that are easy to grasp and a tactical build that encourages strategic thinking.
I think you can teach this game fairly easily, while still allowing complexity to enter the experience. While you're playing sheepdogs, combat is still at the centre of this game; the setting gives your dogs a reason to be out there getting into scraps. If you want to encourage your players to problem-solve, you might get a lot out of this game.
If you were made out of paper, in a world made out of paper… How would you fight paper evil?
Quest-It is a role playing game about sticking Post-Its all over yourself and embodying paper champions fighting evil in a world made out of fiber, glue and ink where neon-cities, ancient castles and gigantic spaceships are all mixed-up.
I love games that find new and easy ways to incorporate a physical experience, and Quest-It does exactly that. Your character in this game is built up of special abilities called Power Post-Its, which are literally post-it notes stuck to your body! You take them off and slap them onto a table when you use them to try and do something risky.
The game itself is a standard fantasy game, with Trials that can deal damage to your characters, boilerplate templates for adventures that the GM will need to build onto, and treasures in the form of new powers every time you defeat a significant quest. One of my favourite things about this game is that when the group overcomes a challenge and fells an enemy, the players have to write their accomplishment on a Post-It and stick it onto the GM! Additionally, unlike some of the other games in this list, Quest-It includes some solid advice for the GM, giving you some short-form steps to follow to help you run a dynamic game.
The Gardening Club, by Wizard of Ox.
Welcome to our very legitimate high school club where we don’t actually do a lot of gardening! We are open to everyone: cheerleaders, talking vegetables and even people who actually garden. We only have one rule: keep our true agenda a secret. Grab a nice cup of herbal tea, water the cacti and search for clues. We must get to the root of things!
You are a group of high school students who, despite being different from each other, have an interest in common: solving mysteries.
Since a detective club would be too on the nose, you made a “gardening” club as a front. Each one of you has different abilities you can use to get to the root of things, as well as code-names that give special powers.
Can you work together and find out what is going on?
The Gardening Club prioritizes characters that are the same age as your prospective players, and it also makes character creation very quick and easy. The game comes with character cards and special abilities that you can print out and distribute so that your players have to do very little writing. Your players roll for a code-name, which gives them a unique one-use ability, as well as a general vibe for their character.
The game looks like it can be played faster or longer depending on how often the players draw clues. You need a deck of cards to generate each clue, and in order to gain a clue, a player needs to make a successful roll on a d6. In order to solve the mystery, players have to sort the clues they gather on a deduction tree to ensure all of the pieces they find form a larger picture. There's technically a lose state, as you can fail too often and land everyone in detention, which makes The Gardening Club feel like it's partially a roleplaying game, and partially a board-game.
If you like the format of this game, you might also check out Urban Legend Club, by onemorepotatochip, which is a one-page game that inspired this one!
The Best Job On Earth, by Hilander.
Cephalopod Squad, by The Mirage Company.
The 2023 One Page RPG Jam
The 2024 One Page RPG Jam
THe 2025 One Page RPG Jam
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