While most RPG fans are probably familiar with the classic high fantasy genre, RPGs cover every genre from modern noir to sci-fi to even mecha anime. In fact, mechs are a surprisingly popular topic among independent RPG designers. Heavily inspired by shows like Mobile Suit Gundam and Evangelion, as well as video game franchises like Armored Core and Titanfall, these games tackle the mecha genre from all angles.
Some mecha TTRPGs cast the players as heroic or gritty pilots pushing their mechs towards victory. Others interrogate the genre's themes around war, exploitation, and bodily autonomy. Fans of the mecha genre have a cornucopia of roleplaying games to choose from and should be able to find something that fits their taste no matter what they're looking for.
Updated September 14, 2022 by Declan Lowthian: The world of indie RPGs is constantly evolving and changing, and it has something to offer everyone. This list has been updated with some extra information about some of the best mecha-themed RPGs that any Gundam, Evangelion, or Code Geass fan is sure to love.
10 MekTeks
By Loren Peterson
Pilots take a back seat to the mechanics and repair squads in MekTeks. It uses a deck of playing cards to guide a squadron of mech mechanics as they assess the damage done to their machines during combat, refit the mechs to ready them for combat, and try desperately to get some sleep somewhere in the middle.
MekTeks is a nice way to shift the focus from the front lines. Throughout gameplay, it invites some of the same thought-provoking questions that mecha anime asks about whether to save on resources at the cost of risking a pilot's life.
9 Armour Astir: Advent
By Briar Sovereign
Fans of the more mystical side of the mecha anime genre like Visions of Escaflowne will find themselves right at home in Armour Astir: Advent. This Powered by the Apocalypse game blends fantasy and sci-fi as rebellious pilots do battle against a hegemonic authority with their giant steel-clan mechs, known as Astirs.
Armour Astir features an interesting split, with some playbooks giving access to robots and others serving as support personnel, like mechanics, scouts, and officers. A fully playable demo version is available to download absolutely free, so players who are curious about Armour Astir can give it a try before they buy.
8 Plot ARMOR
By Orion D. Black
Solo journaling games are growing in popularity, and with good reason. Scheduling is one of the hardest things about getting an RPG group together, so playing alone is a great solution. Orion D. Black's plot ARMOR walks the player through a 32 episode season of a mecha anime all by themself.
Along the way, plot ARMOR gives the player prompts to help them flesh out each episode, until the finale when the doomed protagonist dies. Solo games are a great way to really get in touch with a character and try out a new RPG format, and plot ARMOR offers plenty of exciting opportunities for storytelling.
7 Beyond Reach
By Annie Johnston-Glick
Not every roleplaying game requires players to actively talk back and forth. Beyond Reach is "a play by post game about falling in love with someone unattainable to you." Two players take turns writing blog posts, letters, or chat messages to explore the relationship between a war machine and their pilot.
However, to reflect the distance between the two parties, the players in Beyond Reach do not show each other their messages. Instead, they interact in short sentences describing their emotional reaction to whatever they just wrote. The game can end with one or the other dying, resulting in the letters remaining secret forever.
6 Dusk To Midnight
By Riley Rethal
This GMless storytelling game quickly dispenses with any illusions about victory. Dusk to Midnight opens with "you are a squad of mecha pilots, the only ones left on your side of a long-standing war you're about to lose."
Rather than follow pilots on their journey to victory, Dusk to Midnight follows these losing pilots as they either grow disillusioned with the war effort or double down in their loyalty to their faction, crew, and/or mech. It is a somber game that captures the more tragic aspects of mecha anime that fans know and love.
5 Maharlika
By Makapatag
Billing itself as "technomystic Science Fantasy mecha RPG inspired by Filipino Mythology," Maharlika is a flashy and exciting mix of cyberpunk and mechs. It follows the spirit-warrior pilots of Mekanized Weapons, or Meka, as they swear loyalty to a megacorporation to protect the galaxy.
Maharlika features crunchy, tactical combat and cites Battletech and Lancer among its design influences. It also draws heavily from "the neofeudal and neocolonial trappings of modern day Philippines." Maharlika is just one of many games from the thriving Southeast Asian RPG design community, and it is perfect for any mecha fans.
4 Mobile Frame Zero: Firebrands
By Meguey and D. Vincent Baker
The Mobile Frame Zero universe, created by Joshua A. C. Newman, started as a tactical wargame using homemade LEGO mecha models to simulate mecha battles. But Mobile Frame Zero: Firebrands takes that world and adapts it into a cooperative and compelling GMless storytelling game.
Players take turns initiating mini-games with their fellow players to tell the story of rival pilots doing battle, making alliances, and falling in love. Firebrand's structure is sure to appeal to both mecha fans and newcomers alike. The tagline says everything there is to say: "Fight with your friends. Ally with your rivals. Fall in love with your enemies."
3 Last Shooting
By My Name Is Grant
Some games follow the arc of an entire war from battle to battle. Other games, like Last Shooting, follow a single, climactic showdown. This two-player game pits two rival mech pilots against one another in their final fated battle.
First, players walk through three scenes together to build up information about the pilots and set the stakes for the battle. Next, an Ante system allows players to put their resources on the line. Finally, the pilots clash and someone loses. Last Shooting offers a great opportunity to zoom in on one set of characters at the height of their story.
2 Iron Edda Accelerated
By TheOtherTracy
Most mecha shows take place in some far-flung future, but Iron Edda Accelerated trades this setting for the ancient past of Norse mythology, complete with Vikings, frost giants, and gods. Players pilot giant bone mechs made from the skeletons of long-dead giants to save their world from Ragnarok and build a new reality.
A new installment in the Iron Edda series, Iron Edda Reforged, is currently under development after a successful Kickstarter campaign. Iron Edda Reforged trades the original's fantasy setting for a unique fusion of mythology and cyberpunk that will surely appeal to fans of either.
1 ECH0
By Role Over Play Dead
Rather than focusing on the actions of daring mecha pilots, Ech0 instead features a long-dead pilot interacting with a group of children. The game's premise is that a group of young kids stumble upon the digital ghost of a long-dead mecha pilot centuries after their war was won or lost.
The children players take turns showing the pilot their world while the pilot reflects on how the war has changed this place since last they saw it. The game ends when the children finally find the ruined remains of the pilot's mech, at which point the ghost's power fails and they are finally lain to rest.