Ten Candles | |
Designer: | Stephen Dewey |
Publisher: | Cavalry Games |
Date: | 2015 |
Genre: | tabletop role-playing game, horror, tragedy |
Playing Time: | 2-4 hours |
Skills: | role-playing, storytelling |
Ten Candles is a horror tragedy tabletop role-playing game by Stephen Dewey. No characters survive the play session.[1] It uses fire as a game mechanic. In the dark, players literally burn character trait cards and use ten tea candles as a countdown timer to the end of the game.[2] [3]
Ten Candles was nominated for 2016 ENNIE Awards in four categories: Best Game, Best Rules, Best Electronic Product, and Product of the Year.[4] Charlie Hall for Polygon recommended Ten Candles for Halloween parties[5] and compared its building tension to the game Dread.[6] Jess Weatherbed for The Verge recommended it as "the scariest experience I have had across any RPG."[7] A Wired article about the use of games in mental health care discussed how a player's experience of Ten Candles helped them cope with mortality.[8] Rebekah Krum for Comic Book Resources listed Ten Candles as one of the ten most immersive tabletop games[9] and one of ten TTRPGs perfect for the Halloween season.[10]