What is A Perfect Rock?

A Perfect Rock is a tabletop roleplaying game about finding a new planet to call home.

Gameplay is a unique blend of adventure and world-building. You will navigate a sprawling star map, uncover secrets in the stars, and build planets from rocks (real rocks!) you've collected. And on your journey, you will explore your starship and remember the home you left behind.

A Perfect Rock is about exploration and adventure, but also about discovering your home.

Thematically inspired by Interstellar, The Expanse, Outer Wilds, and Subnautica.

Gameplay inspired by i'm sorry, did you say street magic, In This World, and tons of awesome point-crawl adventures.

The Pitch

Creative play:

• 🪨 Make planets from rocks you’ve collected! (or use the Rock Oracle Deck, or a deck of cards)
• 🚀 Build planets, your ship, and your home's history through play.
• 🐆 Draw keepsakes to remember which planets you want to live on.

Rewarding exploration:

• 🗺️ Navigate a sprawling starmap filled with secrets.
• 🪐 Create fun and strange planets that are usually not perfect…
• ✨ Explore multiple paths through the stars, each with a unique experience.

Easy to learn and start playing:

• 🎲 Simple rules: no stats, no math, just a d6 and your imagination.
• ⏩ GMless: Get started quickly with no preparation and no game master needed.
• 👥 1-4 players: Play solo or with up to 3 friends.

The Gameplay

Learn the basic flow of play in this 1 minute teaser video.

The mechanics are simple to learn and encourage creativity:

1. Create your home planet, explorer, and starship.
2. Choose a star you'll travel to. Each star has unique world-building prompts, planets to explore, and secrets to find.
3. Explore the planets by surveying aspects like sky, flora, or fauna. How deadly, strange, or perfect are they?
4. As you journey between the stars, explore your ship by creating important people, memories from home, and influences from extra-terrestrial elements.
5. As your ship's fuel runs out, everyone must make a decision: what planet will be their new home?

See how planet exploration works in the one-page version of A Perfect Rock.

What’s in the Kickstarter?

All images below are mockups and the final product may change.

A Perfect Rock Links

• A Perfect Rock is funding on Kickstarter from Feb. 11 to March 6, 2025: https://deepdark.games/rock-kickstarter

• A Perfect Rock website: https://deepdark.games/rock

• The one-page version of A Perfect Rock on itch.io: https://deep-dark-games.itch.io/a-perfect-rock

• Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/ElgEvaZ6gSk

• Watch the 1 minute gameplay teaser video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cTrUpFB07U0

Social Media Links

• Independently published by Deep Dark Games: https://deepdark.games
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deepdarkgames

The Trailer

Press Assets

Download assets here.

The Team

What people are saying

Praise for A Perfect Rock:

Caroline Hobbs, Less Than Three Games:

A collaborative gem, A Perfect Rock asks us to explore things we take for granted - the sky, the ground, the plants and animals that surround us. With the wonder we felt as kids playing with our rock collections, we explore what it means to be tiny beings in this vast and wild universe, looking for our perfect place.

Adam Bell, Adam Bell Games:

A Perfect Rock strikes a perfect balance between worldbuilding and character-driven roleplaying. Making each planet is fast and fun, but the real joy comes from using these new worlds to explore what matters to your characters.

Justin Vandermeer, Shouting Crow Press:

Absolutely impeccable design work from Nick, as usual. It's also perfect for world building prior to a space-faring campaign.

M. Allen Hall:

A Perfect Rock is an inspirational game of fantastic exploration. We had a blast creating new worlds out of an old rock collection, and the society we built aboard our ship could easily be a setting for more stories in the future.

Matt Latham:

A Perfect Rock is pretty darn close to perfect. This is a wonderful game. From its unique gameplay and aesthetic, to its cozy and positive vibes - it brings you on a journey. My verdict? Engage!

Praise for the one page version of A Perfect Rock.

J.M., player:

I played A Perfect Rock with my 7 year old, and it may have unlocked a lifetime love of RPGs in a little kid! Seriously the best time ever.

Brian Tyrrell, Stout Stoat Press:

Really love the simplicity of the rules!

gladdeglanshans, player:

Loved it! Played it on the beach after looking for four interesting rocks. Really enjoyed using the unique features of every rock during storytelling. I’ll absolutely bring this on future vacations.

Sorcier Sympa, player:

This game is fabulous.

From Nick

Last August, a question arose in a Discord conversation: how would you design a game using rocks?

Add that design challenge to my love for world-building games (plus the serendipitous timing of the 2024 One Page RPG jam!), and A Perfect Rock was born. It quickly became one of the most popular games of the jam, and player feedback solidified it: making planets from rocks is fun!

But I wanted to explore more. A one-page RPG is a great exercise in tight design, but there is a big galaxy out there. How can we mesh the simple, accessible design with more opportunities to explore the thematic question: what makes a perfect home? Is anything ever really perfect?

My core design principles haven’t changed, I still want to create accessible games that encourage creativity in players of all experience levels. But a new goal emerged: how can I combine the feeling of adventurous exploration with collaborative world-building?

A Perfect Rock, the full version, is my answer to those questions.

Follow up

If you have additional questions or would like to schedule an interview, please email nick@deepdark.games.

Everything in A Perfect Rock is Human Made.