What Is Ten Candles?

Ten Candles is a zero-prep tabletop storytelling game designed for one-shot 2-4 hour sessions of tragic horror. It is best played with one GM and 3-5 players, by the light of ten tea light candles which provide atmosphere, act as a countdown timer for the game, and allow you to literally burn your character sheet away as you play. Ten Candles is described as a "tragic horror" game rather than survival horror for one main reason: in Ten Candles there are no survivors. In the final scene of the game, when only one candle remains, all of the characters will die. In this, Ten Candles is not a game about "winning" or beating the monsters. Instead, it is a game about what happens in the dark, and about those who try to survive within it. It is a game about being pushed to the brink of madness and despair, searching for hope in a hopeless world, and trying to do something meaningful with your final few hours left.  

The setting of Ten Candles will change game-to-game as the gamemaster selects different "modules" to run for an ever-changing lineup of doomed characters and scenarios for them to play within. The monsters you're facing will change every time you play as well, allowing every session of Ten Candles you play to be unique and to present an entirely new tragic story for you to tell.

These things are true: the world is dark, and you are alive.

Check out some of the links below for more information about Ten Candles:

• How To Play - A basic overview of the rules by designer Stephen Dewey (from the game's original Kickstarter)

• Review (Matthew Colville) - Jennifer Kretchmer's video review on Matthew Colville's 'Games You Might Like' 

• Review (Shut Up & Sit Down) - A 'Shut Up & Sit Down Recommends' review from Cynthia Hornbeck 

• Review (StrucciPlays) - A thorough and fantastic video review by Shannon Strucci

• Actual Play (Geek & Sundry's Ten Candles: Eclipse) - Hosted by Ivan Van Norman, ten Ten Candles sessions of twisted horror

• Actual Play (Hyper RPG's Ten Candles Anthology) - Hosted by Zac Eubank, enjoy this massive horror anthology of Ten Candles sessions

• Actual Play (Hyper RPG’s Mid'summer) - Hosted by Zac Eubank, a Ten Candles session inspired by Midsommar