System Reference Document V1.0: SRD Written by Matt Sanders in Consultation With Chris Bissette

SYSTEM REFERENCE DOCUMENT v1.
0
SRD WRITTEN BY MATT SANDERS IN CONSULTATION WITH CHRIS BISSETTE
MATT SANDERS CHRIS BISSETTE

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What is it?
Wretched and Alone (W&A) is a System Reference
Document for games based on Chris Bissette’s The
Wretched. These systems typically create solo games
about struggling alone against insurmountable odds
and documenting that struggle.
Generally speaking, they require a block tower, a deck

of cards, one or more six-sided dice, and ten tokens of
some kind. Some games will vary from this.
This SRD is aimed at designers, writers, and publishers

who’d like to publish games that make use of the systems
and ideas from The Wretched in their own setting.
What This Isn’t

Some SRDs are player-facing, intended to teach you how
to play the game. This isn’t one of those. Wretched &
Alone is intended for designers interested in making
their own games using the W&A framework. This SRD is
an attempt to break down the mechanics of The Wretched
into its component parts to make it easier for you to
understand how the system hangs together and which
levers can be moved to change the play experience.
All W&A games teach players how to play during the

course of the game, using the oracle to introduce new
mechanics, explain what different systems do, and
introduce new win/lose conditions. Each game works
differently, and therefore it is not possible to explain
exactly how they function in a document like this.
>>1<<
Licensing
You are free to create Wretched and Alone games. All
we ask for is credit using the Attribution Text below.
The contents of the SRD are available for use under the
Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license.
Attribution Text
Wherever you put your copyright notice, add the
following text:
This work is based on The Wretched (found at

http://loottheroom.itch.io/wretched), product of
Chris Bissette and Loot The Room, and licensed
for our use under the Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
You are free to make use of the Wretched and Alone

logo in your games and promotional materials etc. The
Wretched and Alone logo can be downloaded from
https://bit.ly/WA-Logos, and is packaged with this SRD
when you download it from itchio.
If you use the Wretched and Alone logo in your game,

also add the following text:
THE WRETCHED™️ is a trademark of Chris

Bissette. The Wretched and Alone logo is © Chris
Bissette, and is used with permission.
You are free to colour and resize the W&A logo to suit
>>2<<
your project, but the logo should not be materially
altered in any other way.
All the text should be the same size as the rest of your
copyright section, and not redacted or obscured in any
way.
If you’re publishing electronically you can make

“Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license”
a link to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
and “The Wretched” a link to http://loottheroom.itch.
io/wretched instead of printing the URLs separately.
>>3<<
Limitations
You can’t imply that Chris Bissette or Loot The Room
is endorsing you or sponsoring you unless special
arrangement has been made with you. Don’t use the
Loot The Room logo or the The Wretched logo without
obtaining permission. There is a Wretched and Alone
logo you can use very easily under the terms of this
license.
You may not use any material from The Wretched that
is not included in this SRD, including but not limited
to specific prompts and artwork. You must create your
own original material using the Wretched and Alone
system as a base.
You can’t use the SRD to make anything that would be

prejudicial to Loot The Room or Chris Bissette’s honour
or reputation.
Finally, nazis, homophobes, transphobes, and other

bigots are expressly forbidden from making new content
using the Wretched and Alone system. If you have to ask
whether this includes you, it does.
>>4<<
Theme
retched and Alone games generally place their
W
protagonist in hopeless and bleak situations where they
must do their best to survive or escape.
However, W&A games are not limited to this bleak

outlook. The rules as is create a system where winning
is unlikely, but ideas that have been discussed for use
with W&A include such broad concepts as :
• building up the courage to share your true

feelings at a slumber party. Your own fear and
other distractions get in your way. You lose if the
party ends before you can share how you feel.
• seeking enlightenment. Your struggle is with

your own thoughts and earthly burdens. You
lose is you cannot get past your earthly burdens.
• creating a cure for a disease or blight. Time and

resources are against you, but you have to try.
You lose when humanity or perhaps just yourself
succumb to the disease.
• inventing something that will make people’s

lives better. You wrestle with ideas and problem
solving. Failure doesn’t mean death or dishonour,
simply frustration you couldn’t make your idea
work.
It is more common to lose the game than it is to win.

This is intentional, and the game is about the journey,
the hope and what you can save before the end. Failure
states greatly outnumber successes.
>>5<<
Rules as an Unreliable Narrator
Part of the desired play experience is the pursuit of
victory or escape, even though this is almost impossible.
Bear in mind, some of humanity’s greatest achievements
have come from the seemingly impossible. The rules
should encourage the idea that the player can “win” the
game even when this is highly unlikely.
An afterword or debrief can be utilized to explain that

there was never any hope of winning the game, and that
this is a feature rather than a bug.
>>6<<
Core Mechanics
The Die
This determines how many tasks you must face each
day. It also used for tests to see if you are successful on
the salvation mechanism tied to the Ace of Hearts
Salvation (Ace of Hearts)

Each game has a way of winning. This mechanism
arrives with the Ace of Hearts. Ten tokens are placed on
the Ace. At the end of each round, the player rolls and
can remove a token from the card if they roll a 6. Once
all ten tokens have been removed, salvation arrives in
whatever form the setting dictates. This may come with
a final pull from the tower. Collapse at this stage would
snatch salvation away at the last moment.
The Oracle (a deck of playing cards)

The deck provides the tasks and challenges you face.
Generally, a deck has four topics/areas, each mapped to
a suit. The Kings of each suit are one of your countdowns
to failure. When all four Kings are revealed something
in your setting ends your quest. This may mean death,
giving up, becoming lost, or something else.
The Ace of Hearts acts as a salvation mechanism (see

above). The Aces of the other suits give some bonus or
help in your plight.
Odd numbered cards usually require you to pull from

the tower, and even numbers are usually safe.
>>7<<
The Block Tower
The block tower is one of your countdowns to losing.
Some of your tasks from the deck will make you pull
from the tower. It represents the fragility of your path
to completing your task. When the tower falls, you fail.
Most likely in permanent and irreversible ways.
Block towers and accessibility

Not everyone has a block tower, and not everyone is
able to interact with one. In The Wretched, the block
tower is optional for this reason. We encourage you to
keep the block tower optional and even make alternative
resolution methods available if you can.
There was some discussion of this as part of Wretched

& Alone jam:
https://itch.io/jam/wretched-jam/topic/796498/dice-
substitute-for-jenga-towers
Tokens
The tokens are used to track the progress of the
salvation mechanism on the Ace of Hearts. Tokens can
be anything physical that players can easily keep track
of, but it is recommended that you suggest something
fitting to the theme of your game. For example, The
Wretched tasks the player with trying to repair their
ship, and the suggested tokens are screws, nuts, and
bolts.
The Journal
Wretched and Alone games are best recorded and
documented. Depending on the theme and topic of the
game, this might be video/audio logs, a handwritten
diary, a typed document or something else entirely. Find
>>8<<
what works best with the theme and give guidance on
how to do it. Encourage roleplay and creating something
evocative.
Win Conditions
Winning Wretched and Alone games is rare, and it is
supposed to be. The salvation mechanism from the
Ace of Hearts offers a <1% win rate. In the original The
Wretched, the other win condition is impossible; he
player’s own hope creates delusion that is embodied as
an unreliable narrator in the game setup text. Whether
you wish to make the second win condition achievable
or atler the chances of winning is up to you.
Special Thanks
We’ve received really useful feedback on the Wretched
& Alone SRD from a number of sources. If you are one
of these people, we’d like to say a special thanks to you
for helping make this better.
>>9<<

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What is the core mechanic of the system?

What is the core mechanic of the system?

What are the main components used in a game?

What are the main components used in a game?

SYSTEM REFERENCE DOCUMENT v1.

MATT SANDERS CHRIS BISSETTE

Generally speaking, they require a block tower, a deck

This SRD is aimed at designers, writers, and publishers

What This Isn’t

All W&A games teach players how to play during the

This work is based on The Wretched (found at

You are free to make use of the Wretched and Alone

If you use the Wretched and Alone logo in your game,

THE WRETCHED™️ is a trademark of Chris

If you’re publishing electronically you can make

You can’t use the SRD to make anything that would be

Finally, nazis, homophobes, transphobes, and other

However, W&A games are not limited to this bleak

• building up the courage to share your true

• seeking enlightenment. Your struggle is with

• creating a cure for a disease or blight. Time and

• inventing something that will make people’s

It is more common to lose the game than it is to win.

An afterword or debrief can be utilized to explain that

Salvation (Ace of Hearts)

The Oracle (a deck of playing cards)

The Ace of Hearts acts as a salvation mechanism (see

Odd numbered cards usually require you to pull from

Block towers and accessibility

There was some discussion of this as part of Wretched

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