Open data for every table
RPG Data Project provides high-quality, openly reusable data about the popularity and adoption of tabletop role-playing game systems. Our purpose is to benefit the whole tabletop RPG community by making that evidence free and accessible to everyone.
The project publishes at rpg-data-project.org, with no charge to browse or download its releases. Published project data is available under CC0 1.0 Universal, so others can use it in their own research, tools, and projects.
Who it is for
- Game makers and publishers, from independent creators to larger studios, looking to understand interest in systems and genres over time and the market around their games.
- Players curious about the communities and potential player pools around the games they love or want to try.
- Event hosts planning programmes and deciding which games to put on the table.
- Shop owners looking for evidence to help inform stocking decisions.
These questions deserve useful evidence and honest limits. An online community count can indicate interest; it cannot tell us how many books sold, how many people actively play, or how many players live nearby.
A regular view, with a lasting record
We plan to update online-source data every month and conduct an anonymous player survey once a year. The two will be presented as different kinds of evidence, with their own methods and limitations.
Releases have permanent, date-based addresses. The homepage shows the latest published top 10 game families, with observation dates, platform breakdowns and access to the release archive.
What we are starting with
The first signals are membership counts for public Discord servers and public subreddits associated with a system or a wider game family. These measure online community size, with overlapping audiences and uneven coverage. They are not a census of players or a sales chart.
The index compares broader game families. Our game family classification maps individual systems to these families, with standalone and unclassified entries kept explicit. From v2, the same release also contains researched public Discord servers and their system and family associations. From v3, public subreddits and their associations join the same bundle, with evidence and resources for later subscriber checks. Each monthly index links to the exact combined version it uses, preserving the meaning of older results. Server relevance does not by itself settle ranking eligibility or how shared audiences should be counted.
We have a provisional catalogue of core books. The proposed inclusion criteria are an English core-book release available online to buy or download for free, and recognition as a tabletop RPG system in the usual sense. The criteria and final system list are still being worked out.
Read the methodology for the calculation, coverage and open questions.
Where the project stands
The October 2026 index is our first published snapshot, using measurements from 18–19 October. It adds overlapping community memberships for tracked systems in each family. The data portal provides versioned rankings, system totals, observations and classifications. Coverage is partial and a repeat collection schedule is still being established. The annual survey remains planned.
Help make it useful
Good open data takes care, subject knowledge, and constructive scrutiny. We welcome help with checking games and editions, identifying communities, reviewing methods, analysing data, and making the website accessible.
Find out how to volunteer or write to rpg-data-project@pm.me.