Designing A One-Page Boxing RPG

Journeyman Devlog

Jul 24, 2025

Hey all,

Last week, I decided to do something I’d never done before: join a jam.

Not a video game jam (I’m still not brave enough for that), but the One-Page RPG Jam 2025, where the only rule is to create an RPG that fits on a single page. I joined because it sounded easy enough (it wasn’t), and I thought I could wrap it up in two days (I couldn’t).

So I created Journeyman, a solo narrative boxing RPG.

It took five days to make and release, and in this issue, I’ll share how I went about it.

What is a One-Page RPG?

Before we begin, let me briefly explain what one-page RPGs are. As the name suggests, the goal is to create a tabletop RPG whose rules fit on a single page. How you use that page is entirely up to you: some people go with a landscape layout and use just the front side; others divide it into sections and turn it into a tiny zine. Some well-known examples include:

Day 1: Brainstorming & Playtesting

The idea of a boxer trying to pay off his debt had come to me the night before. My brain was exhausted, but instead of going to sleep, it decided to keep generating random ideas. By the time I fell asleep, I had a rough pitch and a general flow of the game in mind.

I spent the first day mapping those ideas out. The overall structure and dice system were inspired by Home, a game by Nick created by Nick Gralewicz. Home is a map-making game where you play as a mech pilot. What inspired me most was the game’s cinematic feel and the way its mechanics supported that.

I also wanted Journeyman to have story-generating mechanics and a clear structure. The game has two phases: training camp and fight. During training camp, you build the dice pool you’ll use in the fight. The dice represent how well different parts of your training (sparring, cutting weight, etc.) go. You have a few moves that can affect the pool. For example, Train Harder: spend 2 Will to add 1 die to your pool.

Fights last 8 rounds. In each round, you and your opponent roll all dice in your pools, and you narrate the scene based on the result.

Another thing I definitely wanted to include was a clear goal for the player, and this turned out to be the hardest part. My first idea was a simple one: “pay off your debt.” But as I tested it, I realized it was kind of boring. Since the game is dice-based, whether you pay it off or not depends entirely on RNG. If luck was on your side, you could clear your debt easily; if not, it just felt frustrating.

So I added a second, optional goal: becoming a champion. Paying off your debt still isn’t too hard: winning just three of your ten fights is usually enough. But if you want to become a champion, you’ll need to take risks and spend your winnings (and hope your luck holds).

So the question becomes: is paying off your debt enough for you, or will you risk everything to go for the title?

Day 2: Writing & Layout

I opened a blank Obsidian note and started writing the rules as briefly as I could. Around the halfway point, I realized something that might be considered important: there was no way this would all fit on a single page.

So I stopped writing in Obsidian, opened a blank Canva project, and decided to do the writing and layout at the same time. I chose Canva for the layout because I’m already familiar with it and most of its features are free. (As far as I know, it’s not the most recommended tool for this kind of work, but for a small project like this, it worked just fine.)

My idea was to make a foldable pamphlet, which meant I had six panels to work with. One would be the cover, one the character sheet, and one reserved for oracles, which left me with three panels for the actual rules. I split those into Setup, Fight Camp, and Fight, and crammed in as many mechanics as I could.

There were a few sections I wanted to give their own dedicated space, but I had to remove them or trim them down to a single sentence. By the end of the day, about 80% of the layout was done, but since I had cut so many rules, I had to test the game all over again.

Day 3: More Layout

I finished the remaining 20% of the layout and tested the game again with the updated rules.

For small visuals in the PDF, I used Canva’s free image library. My girlfriend drew a few illustrations too (free labor, hehe). By the end of the day, the first version of the game was almost done.

Day 4-5: More Playtesting, Final Touches & Release

On the fourth day, I did the final layout touches, changed the color palette for the tenth time, and created the Itch page. On the fifth day, after a final round of checks, I suppressed the urge to spend another month polishing everything, and hit publish.

It’s not a perfect game, and it definitely needs more playtesting. But it’s fun, and overall, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.

It feels good to release something.

If you get a chance to play it, don’t forget to share your thoughts with me!

Final Thoughts and Four Things I Learned

While I was writing this issue, I hadn’t received much feedback apart from a couple of nice comments from people who played the game. So honestly, I still don’t know if the game is good or bad, or even if it’s fun. But it was a great game design exercise for me, and I really enjoyed making it.

Here are a few small notes from what I learned during the process:

Even a small game with light rules needs a lot of playtesting, and it’s really hard to know if it’s balanced until others try it.
Creating a single-page RPG is an excellent game design exercise, because you don’t have to worry about coding, music, rendering, performance, or any of that. All your focus is on the game itself.
Canva is great for this kind of small project, though it can be a bit tricky to figure out at first. Its font and image libraries were more than enough for my needs. (That said, the only other layout tool I’ve used is a (very) old version of Quark, which I could only access by connecting to another (very) old computer via TeamViewer. It was a nightmare.)
Sleepless nights are ideal for brainstorming.

The jam runs until August 18th. Let me know if you're participating!

(If you're interested but don’t know where to start, check out One-Page RPG Jam helpful resources written by

Exeunt Press

Me

Playing:

Though The Alters has a really intriguing story, its mechanics started to feel quite repetitive after a while. By the time I reached Act 3, I realized I didn’t want to go through the same motions I had in the previous acts, so I ended up quitting. Still, I think it’s a solid game that offers good value for its price. The story, dialogue, and atmosphere make for a worthwhile experience. It’s just longer than it needs to be, and the mechanics get old. (And those anomalies… they were the main reason I dropped the game so close to the end.) Up next: Avowed.

Reading:

I finally started The Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio, which had been sitting on my list for ages. It feels like the child of The Name of the Wind and Dune. I really enjoy detailed writing style so far.

Listening:

Thanks for reading!

And that’s it from today’s issue of GameDev’s Journey. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful. If you did, please like and leave a comment. Reach out for suggestions, objections, questions, or just say hi.

But regardless, thank you so much for reading, and have a great game dev journey!