Tricube Tales sales figures for 2024

I've previously posted the sales figures for 2019/2020/2021, 2022, and 2023, and a few other indie designers have expressed an interest, so I thought I'd keep the trend going by sharing the figures from 2024 -- particularly now that Tricube Tales has hit Mithral Best Seller. I think it's interesting to see how the system has grown over the years!

Total Sales per Month

Here are the total sales for the entire product line since last year (I've included December from last year as well, as it wasn't complete in my previous blog post).

• Dec 2023: 1283
• Jan 2024: 864
• Feb 2024: 732
• Mar 2024: 752
• Apr 2024: 1026
• May 2024: 1031
• Jun 2024: 522
• Jul 2024: 706
• Aug 2024: 810
• Sep 2024: 800
• Oct 2024: 731
• Nov 2024: 1827 (boosted by the release of Tricube Tactics)
• Dec 2024: 5132 (massively boosted by the Dungeon Dive's video)

Breakdown by Product

Here is a breakdown of the total sales figures for the main products:

• Tricube Tales: 2759 sales (inc. 588 print copies) since 2019-11-08
• Solo Rules & Deck: 1757 sales (249 printed decks) since 2021-05-14
• Tricube Tactics: 351 sales (93 print copies) since 2024-11-08

And here are their associated print-only products:

• Tricube Tales Micro Edition: 45 print sales since 2023-05-20
• Tricube Tales Solo Rules: 78 print sales since 2023-03-07
• Tricube Tactics Rules Primer: 4 print sales since 2024-12-12

These are the "payment optional" one-pagers on DTRPG (in order of publication) -- people can download them for free, but I'm only tracking actual sales where people paid for them:

• Goblin Gangsters: 1049 sales since 2020-08-27
• Samhain Slaughter: 1079 sales since 2020-10-08
• Chrome Shells & Neon Streets: 1221 sales since 2020-11-21
• Metahuman Uprising: 1125 sales since 2020-12-28
• Rotten Odds: 1059 sales since 2021-01-31
• Tales of the Goblin Horde: 1062 sales since 2021-04-01
• Wardens of the Weird West: 1116 sales since 2021-06-12
• Firefighters: 1037 sales since 2021-07-06
• Horrible Henchmen: 1027 sales since 2021-08-13
• Pirates of the Bone Blade: 1083 sales since 2021-09-15
• Eldritch Detectives: 1162 sales since 2021-10-30
• Wiseguys: Gangster Tales: 987 sales since 2021-11-20
• Interstellar Mech War: 1084 sales since 2021-11-30
• Voyage to the Isle of Skulls: 976 sales since 2021-12-31
• Down in the Depths: 889 sales since 2022-01-24
• Accursed: Dark Tales of Morden: 697 sales since 2022-02-17
• Twisted Wishes: 883 sales since 2022-02-23
• A Welsh Werewolf in Llanfair PG: 929 sales since 2022-04-01
• Interstellar Smugglers: 1010 sales since 2022-05-04
• Winter Eternal: Darkness and Ice: 794 sales since 2022-05-17
• Sharp Knives & Dark Streets: 918 sales since 2022-05-31
• Summer Camp Slayers: 851 sales since 2022-06-28
• Titan Effect RPG: Covert Tales: 831 sales since 2022-07-20
• Sundered Chains: 771 sales since 2022-08-07
• Stranger Tales: 806 sales since 2022-10-06
• Minerunners: 752 sales since 2022-11-01
• Spellrunners: 798 sales since 2022-11-22
• Christmas Capers: 723 sales since 2022-12-18
• Heroes of Sherwood Forest: 709 sales since 2023-01-28
• Tales of the Little Adventurers: 650 sales since 2023-02-19
• Tales of the City Guard: 647 sales since 2023-03-26
• Maidenstead Mysteries: 620 sales since 2023-04-19
• Interstellar Rebels: 643 sales since 2023-05-04
• Hunters of Victorian London: 588 sales since 2023-05-29
• Stone Age Hunters: 547 sales since 2023-06-23
• Paths Between the Stars: 553 sales since 2023-07-01
• Mythical Heroes: 504 sales since 2023-09-15
• Academy of Monstrous Secrets: 452 sales since 2023-10-29
• Eldritch Apocalypse: 439 sales since 2023-12-07
• Champions of Osiris: 376 sales since 2024-01-27
• Conniving Cat Burglars: 424 sales since 2024-04-01
• Tales of the Sewer Samurai: 304 sales since 2024
• Champions of Fenrir: 256 sales since 2024-07-01
• Ghost Banishers: 207 sales since 2024-10-10

These are the DTRPG freebies (in order of publication). A few free products help build up my mailing list. However, since I've added a print-on-demand option, they now have a few sales as well:

• Interstellar Bounty Hunters: 4522 downloads (28 print sales) since 2020-09-29
• Welcome to Drakonheim: 3021 downloads (19 print sales) since 2021-03-10
• Interstellar Troopers: 3871 downloads (26 print sales) since 2021-04-26
• Interstellar Laser Knights: 3618 downloads (24 print sales) since 2021-05-04

I also have a few freebies on Itch, which I entered into Jams. Here they are, once again listed in order of publication -- and these now have some print-on-demand sales as well:

• The Fools Who Follow: 1154 downloads since 2020-07-29
• Deep Trouble in Oldport Bay: 750 downloads since 2021-02-20
• Halfling Hustlers: 375 downloads since 2021-07-03
• Guardians of the Shadow Frontier: 1010 downloads since 2021-07-31
• Interstellar Explorers: 695 downloads since 2022-08-02
• Arcane Agents: 309 downloads since 2023-08-15
• Troll Couriers of the Sky Isles: 356 downloads since 2024-08-01

Something I've also started experimenting with is printed versions of the character cards that come with some of the one-pagers:

• Minerunners (cards): 19 print sales since 2023-03-07
• Sharp Knives & Dark Streets (cards): 21 print sales since 2023-03-07
• Spellrunners (cards): 19 print sales since 2023-03-07
• Christmas Capers (cards): 3 print sales since 2024-12-12
• Eldritch Apocalypse (cards): 5 print sales since 2024-12-12
• Interstellar Rebels (cards): 4 print sales since 2024-12-12

Much like the printed one-pagers, the printed character cards are a niche product that barely sell enough to cover their production cost (particularly as I need to have them shipped from the US to the EU). But once again, I really like them, and I'm happy to create them even if only for my own use (e.g., when I run games for my son or a local gaming group).

Some Thoughts

As always, with each new release, the entire product line marches forward. The first one-pager hit Gold Best Seller (501+ sales) at the end of 2022, but by the end of 2023, there were 23 Gold Best Seller one-pagers. One year later, 13 of the one-pagers have now reached Platinum Best Seller (1001+ sales) while 24 are Gold Best Sellers. The main Tricube Tales book has also finally reached Mithral Best Seller (2501+ sales), which is something I never imagined would happen back when I first published it in 2019!

Last year I started offering print-on-demand versions of the one-pagers, although I observed they didn't sell particularly well, and that's still very much the case. I've sold 917 in total, but that's only around 15-30 of each -- some are more popular than others, but none of them are profitable. Still, they look really cool, so I plan to continue offering a print option!

I'm also glad I finally finished Tricube Tactics. It's done better than expected (as I recognized from the start it's a very niche product), but most importantly it's provided me the foundation I need to create a full "Tricube Tales & Tactics" version of Saga of the Goblin Horde! That's something I plan to start working on this year.

It was also last year that Geek Gamers posted a YouTube review of Tricube Tales, giving the sales a significant boost. At the beginning of this month, The Dungeon Dive posted a YouTube review, and as can be seen from this post, Tricube Tales sales went through the roof!

Such reviews can be extremely valuable for indie game designers, particularly those like me who have only a relatively small following of their own.

What's Next?

Now that Tricube Tactics is complete, my next big project will be using it to create a full standalone version of Saga of the Goblin Horde with Tricube Tales & Tactics baked in. Combining my most popular (Mithral Best Seller) game system with my ENnie Award-winning game setting feels like it should be a recipe for success.

But I also have other plans! I can't work on only one thing at once, it burns me out, so I always juggle a few different projects. One of these projects is Tricube Terrors, which is an expanded monster manual for Tricube Tactics (I didn't have enough room to fit in more than a dozen monsters at the back, and didn't want to turn half the book into a bestiary, so I thought it would be better to split them off into a separate book).

There's also Tricube Tricks, which will be filled with various optional rules I've discussed or played around with over the years, and Tricube Tutorial, which will contain advice for running the game, particularly for newer GMs (this is something I left out of Tricube Tales originally as it was aimed at readers with prior GMing experience, but I've since encountered several people who picked it up as their first RPG).

In terms of Tricube Tales one-pagers, I've been a bit lax the last few months due to the push for Tricube Tactics, but I have a couple that are very close to completion (one is in cooperation with another publisher, the other has a bonus sheet specifically designed to showcase Tricube Tactics). There are also a few that I plan to work on next year.

I've already released Champions of Osiris and Champions of Fenrir, these are "double feature" one-pagers (i.e., each contains two versions of the one-pager, one in the modern day and one in the past) and they are both urban fantasy scenarios (one covering mummies, the other werewolves). Next year I'd like to release Champions of Lilith (covering vampires) and Champions of Avalon (covering mages). These one-pagers all take place in the same "world" and are designed to be mixed and matched.

Another one-pager I'd like to release is something related to elves, set in the same (SotGH) world as Minerunners and Sharp Knives & Dark Streets. This will include character cards and a Six-Scene Scenario, as I'd like to adapt it into a SWADE micro-setting at a later date.

I've also been collecting ideas for a follow-up to Pirates of the Bone Blade, and this will also be a larger product, as I have sufficient artwork for character cards and an island map. 

There are several other one-pager ideas I've had floating around for a while that I'd like to finally get down on paper -- one involves playing dragons, for example. Another is an expanded fantasy scenario with three Six-Scene Scenarios (one city-based, one wilderness-based, and one dungeon-based), as I don't really have a "vanilla" fantasy one-pager yet.

But sometimes it's best not to plan too far ahead. RPG design is still something I view as a hobby, I do it because I enjoy it, and many of the one-pagers are inspired spontaneously by something I'll read or watch on TV.

However, one thing I really will try to do next year is post more often on my blog. In fact, let's make it a New Year's Resolution to post at least once per month!

Tales of the City Guard: A one-shot adventure

On Friday I decided to run Tales of the City Guard for my gaming group, and as it was just before Easter, I gave it an Easter/spring equinox theme. I set the adventure in Summerford (the same settlement used in Horrible Henchmen and Tales of the Little Adventurers), and I modified a stock art map the players' reference, adding the locations from all three micro-settings. I also decided to include references to Saga of the Goblin Horde, as Summerford was always intended to be set in the same world.

Introduction

Summerford is still dealing with the aftermath of an attack -- an undead army had marched on the town and caused considerable damage (a reference to a Horrible Henchmen adventure I ran for the same group in the past). But that was months ago, and the townsfolk are now trying to put it behind them.

Celebrations for the Spring Equinox have already begun, and there are many visitors to the town, with people dressing up in costumes, and children painting eggs.

Overview

A party of adventurers has returned from a trip to the mountains, with treasure they’ve collected, along with a special delivery for the mayor (a dragon's egg). After they arrive they'll start spending gold and getting drunk, but as they are special guests of the mayor, the guards can't throw them out.

The adventurers were hunting in the mountains, where they stumbled across a group of goblins carrying treasure and a dragon's egg. It was a tough fight, but the goblins were already injured, and the adventurers managed to kill them -- however, the goblins were actually a Redfang gang that Chief Bignose had sent to steal the egg from some hareborn (i.e., Egg Hunt!). When Chief Bignose discovers the egg is missing, he sends a crew into Summerford to cause damage and recover his egg!

The goblins sneak into Summerford and cause quite a bit of trouble, setting fire to the Phoenix Tavern and a few other buildings. During the height of the celebration, the egg will be revealed, painted by Summerford's finest artists -- and as everyone cheers and the fireworks go off, the egg will suddenly begin to hatch, calling for its mother.

Map of Summerford

The following map was originally Angelus Rebuilt from Elven Tower Cartography, but it also made a good fit for Summerford, and the license allows me to change the labels.

Character Creation

The players create their characters as described in Tales of the City Guard, except they're all sergeants, and they each have 3 guard tokens. The concepts in Tales of the City Guard are relative -- a "rookie" means they're a rookie sergeant (i.e., they've only just been promoted to officer), while "officer" means they're a lieutenant.

The guard tokens can used like the gang tokens in Tales of the Goblin Horde.

Scene 1: Guard Duty

On the first day, the PCs are on guard duty at the southern gate, dealing with various visitors passing through. I could have asked the players to make crafty challenges to spot any threats or problems, but I preferred to handle the first scene through roleplaying. Most of the visitors are unremarkable, but a few special encounters can be used to spice things up:

1. A completely naked "nobleman" strolls through the gate -- he's covered in mud, with one eyebrow shaved off. Claims he was at a party, and would rather not talk about it.
2. A group of peasants who claim to have captured a unicorn, which they plan to sell at the market (it's clearly a donkey with a horn stuck on its head).
3. The party of adventurers mentioned in the overview (human paladin, dwarven cleric, elven mage, halfling rogue) pulling a cart with a blanket thrown over it, underneath is a dragon egg and a load of treasure, but all their paperwork appears to be in order.
4. A trope of actors, including the famous "Cassandra" (two halflings who sit on each other's shoulders, another reference to a Horrible Henchmen adventure I ran in the past).

Feel free to add more encounters! That evening the guards meet at their local tavern for a drink, where they can grumble about the long hours and low pay. Each player can roll a d6 on the following table (or choose a result if they wish) and use it to help narrate a short story about why the joined the city guard -- they can also roll on the twist table for further inspiration if they wish:

1. Your mother and/or father were soldiers or guards, and you wanted to follow in their footsteps.
2. You grew up on the streets, but a grizzled guard took you under their wing.
3. You are noble-born, but your parents forced you to sign up for a few years to learn some discipline.
4. You used to be a criminal, and were given a choice—serve one year in the city watch or spend a year in jail. You did your time in the watch, but you liked it and decided to stay on.
5. You served in the military but didn’t like something about army life, so you transferred to the city guard.
6. You signed up because you needed a job, and nothing else appealed (or perhaps you didn’t have any other options).

Scene 2: Chaos in the Streets

Over the next few days there are various incidents around the town, and the guards have to rush around dealing with them. I handled this by creating 9 event cards as follows:

1. A child got stuck up a tree while trying to get her pet cat down, make a standard agile or brawny challenge to get her down safely.
2. A tavern is on fire, and there are people inside! Roll a standard crafty to rescue them or a standard brawny to extinguish the fire.
3. A gang of young thieves has been stealing from the tourists; make a standard crafty challenge to give them a stern telling off, or a standard brawny challenge to chase them down and scare them.
4. Pickpockets in the marketplace! Make a hard brawny challenge to catch them.
5. A dishonest merchant has been conning tourists; make a hard agile challenge to hide and catch him in the act.
6. A house is on fire and it's beyond saving, but there are people trapped on the top floor. Roll a standard agile challenge to reach them from a nearby building or a standard brawny challenge to rush inside and rescue them.
7. Investigating a crime scene where someone was murdered, make a hard crafty challenge to spot the clue that leads to the criminal (a bloody handprint with a missing finger).
8. A gang of thieves have stolen fireworks that were intended for the celebrations! Make a standard agile or crafty challenge to shadow one of their members and recover the fireworks.
9. A wheel has come off a wagon, and it is blocking the road; make a standard brawny challenge to help lift it while the owner replaces the wheel, or a standard crafty challenge to pressure some other people to help.

For the first day, I drew two cards for the morning and two cards for the afternoon, and each of the four players could choose one of each (i.e., one of the morning events and one of the afternoon events) to tackle -- with the caveat that at least one player had to deal with every event.

For the second day, there were two events in the morning and three in the afternoon. The cards provided a prompt, but the scenes were described in more detail during play.

Each evening the guards gathered in a tavern to share stories over drinks. I had them each roll on the twist table and narrate another entertaining incident they had to deal with during the day.

Scene 3: The Mayor and the Egg

The celebration is underway, and the PCs are all on patrol, looking out for pickpockets and providing crowd control. This scene focuses more on roleplaying and interaction with townsfolk. At the height of the celebration, the mayor brings forth the dragon egg, which has been painted by the town's artists, although the artistic style is very abstract. This leads to much discussion by the gathered crowd about what exactly the artists painted.

I asked the players to describe what they thought the painting looked like -- and had them all roll on the twist table for inspiration!

Scene 4: Goblins!

Suddenly there's a huge commotion, as a huge wooden tower bursts into flames and topples over -- the crowd scatters, and there are screams and shouts. The guards see a contraption behind the fallen tower, along with a massive bugbear and several grinning goblins! The players probably want to attack (mine certainly did), but more screams catch their attention and they look back to see another group of goblins stealing the egg! The goblins have loaded the egg into a cart and they're running off with it, with a canitaur (a goblin/dog centaur) pulling it at great speed.

This can be handled as a chase sequence and a combat. The approach I used for the chase was to assign 3 effort tokens per player, they then had to make agile challenges for the first round (to duck and weave through the crowd), crafty challenges for the second round (to spot which way they goblins had run), and brawny challenges after that (stamina to keep running).

Once they'd cornered the goblins, I assigned 6 effort tokens and allowed the players to choose their combat style, but the challenges were all hard -- these are hardened Redfang goblins!

Scene 5: Hatching Time

When the guards finally return with the egg and give it to the mayor, it begins to wobble, and then cracks open! A little hatchling pokes its head out and starts to chirp -- a minute later, the crowd goes silent as a loud roar echos in the distance. Not long after, the dragon swoops in on the town, burning houses and looking for its hatchling!

When I ran this, one of the players grabbed the egg and ran for the southern gate. She almost made it! I treated it as a hard brawny challenge with 3 effort tokens, and gave her 3 rolls -- she managed to eliminate 2 of the tokens, making it as far as the slums before the dragon struck. She was also able to take cover in a house at the last minute, although one of her guards was incinerated.

Once the dragon reclaims the hatchling it flies away, leaving the guards to deal with several fires. I assigned this task 6 effort tokens and allowed the players to choose which trait they rolled to deal with the fire (agile for using ladders and planks to rescue trapped citizens, brawny for fighting the fires, or crafty for organizing bucket brigades). The players were able to eliminate all the tokens, so I decided the damage to lives and property was minimal.

Conclusion

As this was a one-shot, I asked everyone to roll once more on the twist table and use the symbol to narrate what their characters did after the adventure. For example, one of the players rolled a chained prisoner symbol, so he described how the mayor tasked him with finding and arresting a scapegoat to blame for the attack. Another rolled a sleeping icon, so he said he went for a nap! Another player decided to quit the city guard and go back to the army.