Mountaintop Isolation: A Wretched & Alone Solo Game
You have been invited to a ski cabin weekend with your old high school friends. It is late at night by the time you find your way high up on the mountain to the remote cabin, and you are the first to arrive. You fall asleep by the crackling fire you built with the few logs available inside. When you wake up, the fire has died down to embers and you hear a whistling noise outside. A glance out the window reveals a whiteout blizzard that has created 4- to 6-foot drifts of snow. There is no cell phone reception, and the landline in the cabin appears to no longer work…
Mountaintop Isolation is a solo GM-less journaling game in which you will document your time trapped isolated and alone in a mountaintop cabin. While succumbing to the elements is the most likely outcome, survival and escape down the mountain isn’t completely impossible. The game is intended to be challenging and thought-provoking as you write out your character’s story.
Throughout the game, you will roll dice, draw cards from the oracle deck, and pull blocks from the tower (with optional rules for those without a tumbling block tower), and record your experiences for posterity.
Content Warnings
This game includes themes of fear, isolation, suspense, despair, bullying, claustrophobia, starvation, paranoia, mental instability, and potential death, including freezing to death.
Mountaintop Isolation is game that explores the darker and more intimate themes of survival. It is encouraged to take breaks and make safety checks with yourself along the way. If any of the cards or themes ever become overwhelming, please skip over them and make sure to check in with yourself. Please prioritize your safety over the completion of the game. As always, be kind to yourself and self-care.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $5.95 USD. You will get access to the following files:
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Development log
- Spanish translation of Mountaintop Isolation is here!Feb 21, 2023
- Translations are coming!Feb 01, 2023
Comments
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I just loved Mountaintop Isolation. It was my first solo journaling ttrpg, and I enjoyed it tons. By playing you get to flesh out a lot about your character, and the option to do video entries makes it even more authentic. It can be heart-wrenching, introspective, and even scary at times. When you really get into it, the solitude feels real. I'll be on the lookout for any other ttrpg by La Lionne Publishing!
Me encantó Soledad en la cumbre. Fue mi primer juego de rol de diario en solitario, y me lo pasé genial. Al jugar consigues descubrir muchísimos aspectos de tu personaje, y la opción de grabar las entradas lo hace sentir aún más auténtico. Puede ser desgarrador, introspectivo, y hasta escalofriante de vez en cuando. Cuando estás sumergido en el juego, la soledad se siente real. Voy a estar atenta a cualquier otro manual de rol de La Lionne Publishing!
I have just released the first episode of my playthough of this wonderful game on my podcast, A Game of One's Own! It was a brilliant experience.
https://pod.link/1679157782/episode/cda60824f18aff1224de3b7d71b1e30f
Mountaintop Isolation is the first W&A game I've played, and I couldn't be more pleased about my introduction. The rules are simple and clearly presented, allowing you to jump into play after minimal setup (you have a deck of cards, a tumbling block tower or tokens, a d6, and something to record entries with? Congratulations, you're ready to play!).
The overarching themes of the game are present throughout the prompts, allowing you to build a narrative that is both fraught and terrible - and that promises to get worse as time goes on. One question my character kept coming back to was "where are my friends, and why did they invite me". That answer shifted slightly over time, and not for the better.
I played this game about three weeks ago and it has been on my mind ever since! Definitely suggest giving it a go, and if you'd like a more detailed review you can check mine out [here].
I'm quite new when it comes to solo journaling games, but Mountaintop Isolation's premise piqued my interest, so I gave it a go.
The rules are presented clearly and concise, and you'll be pulling bricks or tokens in no time to determine the fate of your protagonist. The prompts are inspiring and weave together well. Every in-game day was a new surprise, and as I played I found myself going "just one more card!", which I think is the sign of a captivating game :D
Mountaintop Isolation is a fun, easy, and exciting solo journaling game. I enjoyed my playthrough of this game so much, I decided to record it as a little actual play. If you want to listen to what kind of stories can be inspired by this game, check out part 1 below!
Having never played a solo rpg before and loved the idea of being trapped on a snowy mountainside, I thought I would give this game, which is well thought through, with clear instructions and a dread filled rpg, a play!
It was better and more isolating and dread inducing than I thought it would be, so very well thought out and cleverly put together, loved the option of having tokens rather than a toppling tower, firstly as I don't have one and secondly I don't think my nerves would have taken it. I will read through the diary entries I have made through the game and put more of my thoughts into it, I am sure it will make for a spooky thriller.
I am looking forward to playing it through again to see the different outcomes.
I’m so glad you enjoyed your thrilling time atop the desolate mountain!! 🥰 Everyone I talk to loves the alternative to the tumbling block tower, and I’m so glad to hear that! I know they’re not for everyone, or people simply don’t have them, and wanted to be sure to make the game as accessible as possible! 💕
Mountaintop Isolation is a game that asks you to be alone with yourself in a crises. You are stranded in a cabin alone with barely enough supplies to survive while the snow piles in all around you. It's a game that challenges you to document your thoughts and activities while you edge ever closer to the small chance of escaping and the overwhelming dread that this might be your final destination. What I love about this game is how you can get creative with how you document your time in the cabin. Do you solely make a video journal? A written diary? Or maybe even mixed media as you embrace making a tangible art piece of your experience? This is an amazing game that has been carefully crafted to provide a very real horror experience that, as with all things that force us to be alone with our thoughts, can inspire some truly beautiful introspective and reflective moments. I love that safety is prioritized in this game because it can bring anxiety and other such trauma if you're not in the right head space. Always take care of yourselves first! But if and when you are ready to dive in fully, you will find an absolutely unique and personal experience with Mountaintop Isolation that you can document for your future self! I can't recommend this game enough. Good luck my stranded travelers. May luck guide you to safety.