Ideally, tabletop roleplaying games powered by the Cypher System like Old Gods of Appalachia, Numenera, or The Strange are played in person. Cypher has fantastic support for play supplements and it's great fun to get around a table and sling some dice with friends.
But what happens when you have asked all your friends, checked your Friendly Local Gaming Store or the local library, and hit up the community center but nothing seems to line up to find a group to play? Even a Google search for online options yields harrowing results, and you just aren't certain a game will ever get off the ground.
The popularity of online play options from indie favorites to popular systems has exploded in recent years, and there are many excellent resources for players to interact with their preferred games digitally. It’s never been easier to get groups together to play your favorite tabletop roleplaying games like Cypher! To help you find your crew, we've ranked the top 5 places players can go to get connected with groups to play a Cypher System game online.
5. Roll20
Roll20 is considered a pioneer in online play for good reason. It remains one of the most popular online platforms due to its ease of use, robust forums for finding games, and its ability to run a wide variety of tabletop games digitally. It is free to create an account and play on the platform and you can browse the find games section to locate pick up games or ongoing campaigns. You might need to do some digging and play with the filters a bit to find a current Cypher game, but they are out there. You can also try the player directory, which allows individual users to list games they would like to play.
4. Facebook
Facebook has been connecting folks digitally for years and it seems like there is a Facebook group for nearly any topic. That of course, is great news for folks looking to connect and play with others. The Cypher System Gaming group isn't exactly a searchable forum but game offerings and discussions can be found. It is a bit hit or miss, but you can locate a game if you are willing to traverse the comments section.
3. Reddit
Like Facebook, Reddit has been around for a while and so has longstanding r/lfg and r/lfgpremium subreddits. There, players can search for games in a variety of spaces. The listings tend to be dominated by larger publishers, but you can find indie games and smaller studio offerings like the Cypher System in the listings from time to time. There is also space dedicated to Cypher gaming, r/cyphersystem, but take note this is mostly for players to connect for discussion rather than a looking for group directory.
2. Cypher Unlimited Discord Server
Chances are, if you have spent any amount of time looking into the Cypher System, you have come across the Cypher Unlimited Twitch streams or Youtube account. The fine folks at CU have been generating quality Cypher content for years and they have a wonderful discord server focused on discussing all things Cypher. The sections are organized for easy navigation and a fairly robust looking for group forum.
1. StartPlaying
We saved the best of last, naturally– and that brings us to Startplaying.games. StartPlaying was built from the ground up to connect players and Game Masters for any game system in any virtual tabletop. Players can filter by a variety of preferences and can even search by game system, like Cypher. Players can view professional Game Masters reviews to ensure they are a good fit and get the most amazing experience possible. When players search for games here they won't have to settle for just finding any game, they will find the right game for them.
StartPlaying tops the list because it's easy to search, safe, and there are a number of professional Game Masters offering a variety of Cypher System games. Find a Cypher System group and start playing!
