Hocus Pocus

Hocus Pocus is a simple, creative one-page fantasy tabletop RPG that uses the word game dordle instead of rolling dice or drawing cards.

Following in the footsteps of TTRPGs that use chess, dominoes, crosswords, tumbling blocks and other games/toys/puzzles to resolve uncertainty and inspire creativity, Hocus Pocus blends my love of word games and my love of messing around with unusual game mechanics to see what happens.

You Are a Powerful Sorcerer!

The stories you tell in a game of Hocus Pocus take place in a world where the effects of casting a spell are diverse and unpredictable. You’ll use your imagination to interpret the two words provided by a game of dordle as the result of your spellcasting.

If you’re not interested in coming up with creative ways to frame your successes and setbacks, or if you want to try any solution other than casting a spell, this game is not for you. If you want to be surprised by wild magic in ways both wondrous and comedic, with your character's success or failure dependent on your own puzzle-solving skill, give it a try!

Hocus Pocus might also be a good rules-light system to play through any adventure modules you have sitting around and gathering dust. See if your spells can break the intended challenges of the adventure!

As always, be kind to your fellow players and use the TTRPG Safety Toolkit for support to ensure everyone gets the most out of your game.

Acknowledgements

dordle by Guilherme S. Töws is a variant of the popular word game Wordle by Josh Wardle. Hocus Pocus is an independent, non-commercial production for the One-Page RPG Jam 2026 and has no affiliation with either designer.

N.B. please use the correct version of dordle! After Wordle and its derivatives exploded in popularity the internet was flooded with copies, and as a result you can find the same game uploaded anonymously on a bunch of poorly made, ad-filled sites. The version linked at the top of the page is the original.