THIS IS THE FREE TEXT-ONLY EDITION OF THE GAME

"I screamed at the figure of hate like everyone else. But it was wrong. It took me a long time to realize this. Everything is wrong. We are alone. They hear. Everyone – anyone – is your enemy. We are afraid to think. And I. Am. So. Alone."

These are the opening words of the award winning game Oceania 2084. A game that is a spiritual successor to George Orwell's book 1984. The Austere Edition, the free version, is a text-only/minimal visual design version of the game. It is released as a pay-what-you-want PDF download and is the full ruleset with all the different sheets needed to play the game.

If you like the game you can support me by buyingOceania 2084 - Surplus Edition(the graphically designed PDF and Hardback Book). It was funded through Kickstarter in spring 2024! Order your copy of the hardback book here:place your order.

What is Oceania 2084?

Oceania 2084 is an asymmetric tabletop role playing game for 3 to 8 players, where one player becomes Big Brother and the others play members of a fragile resistance struggling to survive inside The City. The game blends narrative first storytelling with a tense resource system inspired by rogue-likes, giving each session the feeling of living under constant pressure and surveillance.

The world is oppressive, dark and often terrifying, but the heart of the game lies in the bonds players form with one another, and in the small moments of defiance that make resistance meaningful. Oceania 2084 is built around social relationships, moral risk, and hope held against overwhelming force.

How the Game Works

Oceania 2084 uses a semi collaborative and adversarial structure where the players create members of the underground movement and Big Brother controls the institutions that work to crush them. Both sides act within a point based framework that escalates tension as the story unfolds.

Players take the roles of resistance members:

They define their Deviations, which describe how and why they do not fit into the regime's ideal.
They navigate relationships, gather support, and attempt actions that will expose them to risk.
They experience consequences that grow in severity as Big Brother tightens control.

Big Brother acts as antagonist and world pressure:

They wield the Ministries, surveillance, and institutional force.
They spend and earn points based on the actions of the resistance, allowing them to introduce new dangers and complications.
They shape the story by showing how the system pushes back whenever someone steps out of line.

Conflict does not rely on traditional dice resolution. Instead, the game uses risk, reward, and resource management to create tension. Dice are still involved, but as a way to heighten uncertainty rather than determine success in a conventional manner.

What play feels like

Oceania 2084 is an intense and emotionally grounded experience. It is political in the sense that it explores power, truth, fear, and how people survive inside systems designed to break them. The smallest choices can feel monumental and moments of trust or honesty carry real weight. The atmosphere is heavy, but the game is not about despair. It is about choosing to resist even when victory seems out of reach.

The Setting: The City

The City is inspired by Nineteen Eighty Four, Brave New World, and We, but it is not confined to any one of them. It is intentionally unnamed and largely undefined so that each group can imagine a version of totalitarianism that feels personal and grounded. What is fixed are the Ministries, the institutional presence of Big Brother surveillance, and a framework for determining how your particular City behaves. Everything else emerges from play and collective imagination.

Actual play from Wandering Monster:

https://www.youtube.com/live/_-jGsgilZVE?si=e_nGk-d7qv59HBr8

Said about the game

"OCEANIA 2084 impressed me deeply for how it immerses players in the heart of a stifling, dystopian society. It expertly taps into emotion, making the fear of Big Brother tangible." -La Tavola Rotonda

"Reading Oceania 2084 gave me chills, starting at the point where players have to declare their characters’ deviation, thereby defining the setting’s opinions about deviancy. [ ... ]. Every design choice just as relentless."-Paul Beakley(Indie Game Reading Club)

"Oceania 2084 and its author are something we deeply need, now more than ever.- No Dice Unrolled

"Oceania 2084 provides a masterful tabletop game design for confronting abstract concepts of truth, manipulation of beliefs and agency."- Dr Dan Epstein, The Long Game Project

"I am always amazed at his ability to translate complex social interactions and literary styles in his work, and this is no different."- Josephine Baird, Lecturer and Researcher at Department of Game Design - Uppsala University. Game designer and Consultant. Podcaster. Writer, presenter, and actor

"This game provides truly some of the strongest TTRPG storytelling elements I've ever seen."-Heart II Soul Studios

Formats and editions

***Surplus Edition:***The version you are currently looking at. A fully illustrated and layouted edition of the game. Available as a PDF on itch.io and DriveThruRPG.

Surplus edition, hardback collectors edition:A limited hardback printing is also available.

Austere Edition:**A free text only version of the full ruleset

Handout Compendium:**A small supplementary PDF with player handouts and reference sheets