Overview:
Unlocked Bones is one of the cooler one-page solo RPGs I’ve seen. In this spooky indie game, you play as a freshly risen skeleton, summoned by a necromancer to cause chaos and get up to general skeleton hijinks.
Designed to be set as your phone’s lock screen, the game has just four stats (determined by the time you start playing), and four possible encounters. The core mechanics are simple- just roll your 6-sided die to determine what you encounter, then roll on one of your three actionable stats to determine whether or not you succeed.
Failure causes you to crumble to dust, but luckily the fourth stat, death force, allows you to reanimate. Once your Death Force runs out, however, you go from undead to just dead.
Despite the thin prompts, I had a lot of fun with this game! I was able to play on my phone by using an online dice roller, plus my Notes app. With just one tool and a few stolen minutes, I was able to develop my own story during work breaks, while standing in a checkout line, and even while lying in bed.
For a ‘pay-what-you-want’ game with a suggested price of $1, Unlocked Bones delivers bite-sized fun for spooky season, or any time you want a quick gaming session.
I started with the following stats:
Blood Magic: 0
Bone strength: 5
Scare Tactics: 2
Death Force: 4
Read on for my actual play:
Actual Play:
“Rise now!” the necromancer said to you, a pile of bones. He was illuminated from behind by the setting sun and looked quite impressive as he commanded: “Go forth and spread undeath!”
- Roll 5: Open graves
- Roll 2 on Bone Strength: Success
I rose, bones clattering madly, and swore as I tripped over an empty grave, landing in a heap at the bottom. I reconstituted myself and climbed out of the grave, noting my steps more carefully this time.
- Roll 1: Anti-bone Human
- Roll 1 on Scare Tactics: success
As I exited the cemetery, a mourner made eye contact with me and became pale. Cackling, I dislodged my jaw, tossing it about in the air while I jangled merrily. Her face went white beneath the mourning veil as she fainted. I relieved her of her fancy funeral hat and continued on.
- Roll 2: Anti-bone Human
- Roll 3 on Bone Strength: Success
“Oi! It’s what got Marge!” A groundskeeper pointed a finger at me, shakily, as I pointed my empty sockets in his direction. My hat flopped severely as I grabbed the outstretched finger and wrenched it behind his head. I disposed of him quickly and hurried away.
- Roll 3: Anti-bone Human
- Roll 1: Success on Scare Tactic
“Oh for fuck’s sake.” As I approached the cemetery exit, I saw another weeping mourner walking back to her car. She took one look at me and shrieked. Her scream was cut off suddenly and she stared at me- or more accurately, my hat. “You stole that!” she sputtered indignantly. “Stealing! At a funeral! This generation, I’ll tell you-“
I leaned into her face and parted my jaws. The scream of a thousand locusts emitted from my throat, as did a black sludge, origin unknown. She screamed and ran straight into an iron spike on the ornate gate separating the cemetery from the parking lot. I clacked my teeth together and grinned as the howls subsided.
- Roll 4: Rat Swarm
- Roll 3: Success on Bone Strength
A scurrying sound erupted behind me.
Fuck.
I had summoned the rats.
I shuddered, my figure rattling hollow as a unit of rodents assembled before me.
“Ah, thank you for coming”. I stared at the intent crowd. “However, I called you here on accident you see- I don’t have my wallet on me. I’m good for it though, you know me!” I chuckled nervously, my words running together.
Technically the rats couldn’t hurt me, but I think I must have had a phobia of them when I was a human because they really creep me the fuck out. They delight in it, too. I could see the rat king’s eyes glittering in the center of the crowd, calculating and mean.
After a moment’s pause, he ran forward and rapidly climbed my bones in a corkscrew fashion. He squeaked as he spiraled back down the other leg. The mass of rats followed him, my bones banging about clumsily as the wave of rodents engulfed me and subsided.
- Roll 5: Empty Grave
- Roll 8 on Bone Strength: Fail
After making sure my limbs were more or less where they should be, I realized too late that I had circled back around through the cemetery. I lost my footing on an empty gravesite and fell. I landed again at the bottom, smarting, and realized that I had actually broken something.
My jaw bone.
“Serves me right for summoning those rats earlier,” I thought sourly as I tossed a piece over my shoulder. Everything else seemed ok as I attempted to climb out,
- Roll 6 on Bone Strength: Fail
but I lost my purchase near the top and repeated the whole damned event. This time a hefty chunk of my skull got knocked loose.
- Roll 2 on Bone Strength: Success
- Roll 3: Anti-Bone Human
- Roll 9 on Bone Strength: Fail
I swore as I climbed again, especially wary of the hollow spot of earth where I had lost my purchase earlier. As soon as I emerged, I heard a yelp from nearby.
Great.
“How many people are AT this funeral?”, I thought as another mourner moved towards me. I looked around me for a weapon as he bellowed and tackled me.
I literally exploded under the weight, pieces of me ricocheting off tombstones and finally settling yards from me. Bewildered but satisfied at the violence, the man turned away as he fumbled for his phone, no doubt to call the authorities.
I needed to get the hell out of Dodge.
- Roll 3: Anti-Bone Human
- Roll 3 on Bone Strength: Success
I slipped between the bars of the wrought-iron gate, staying in pieces until I was on the other side, and began to absentmindedly reassemble myself as I strolled away from the cemetery.
My skull back in place, I saw the bright floodlights of a gas station in front of me. A woman stumbled down the sidewalk, a brown paper bag in her hand as she shoved me roughly out of the way.
“Ey, what the fuck?” she asked as her hand passed through my ribs, stuck like a raccoon paw.
I turned my head to peer at her, grinning wickedly as I shoved her back. Her shoulder popped out of its socket sickeningly as she crashed against the perimeter fence of the cemetery, and I dragged her limp body along, tied at the wrist, until it separated from her arm.
- Roll 2: Anti-Bone Human
- Roll 10 on Bone Strength: Failure
“EY, what the FUCK!”
I turned to see a man slipping on the gore on the sidewalk, exiting the gas station.
“I swear to fucking god,” I thought as I whirled around to attack him. He grabbed the brown paper bag the woman had discarded, and swung it wildly at my head. The whiskey connected sickeningly and my skull splintered into pieces.
“You BITCH!” I thought, concentrating on recombobulation.
But…oh no.
I was out of juice.
That stupid necromancer had summoned me to a cemetery in the early afternoon, leaving me to complete this freaking obstacle course? And he wasn’t even around to revitalize me once I failed on this hapless fucking mission?
I vibrated with rage, having the effect of pocket change being dropped on the ground. I jingled with impotent fury and the last of my energy escaped me, doggedly haunting the guy with the whiskey who now stood, completely dazed at the thought of having…murdered? A skeleton? Maybe?
“If I can’t haunt him, I can at least make him miserable.” I willed a shard of bone deep into the lining of his shoe- right where it would bother him all day and be impossible to remove.
“I will rise again,” I thought wickedly, as he reached down to scratch his ankle.
Final Thoughts
Honestly, I’m shocked by how much fun I had and how much of a story I was able to build with repetitive prompts. If you’re looking for a quick, super-portable solo RPG to play on your phone, Unlocked Bones is a must-try. The low barrier to entry and quick sessions make it a great pick for Halloween- or any time you need a spooky roleplaying fix!
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Check out our guide on the Top 5 Free Solo RPGs for Beginners to kickstart your next solo adventure!
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