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Caltrop Kaiju Review: A d4-Powered Monster Mash That Actually Respects Your Schedule
I've played hundreds of solo TTRPGs that promise 'quick play' and deliver three hours of dice rolling misery. Caltrop Kaiju delivers on its ten-minute promise while somehow not feeling shallow. I'm as surprised as you are.
Paul
February 17, 2026
7
Overall Score
"Caltrop Kaiju is what happens when a designer actually understands what 'focused' means and has the discipline to execute it."
First Impressions (Or: Why I Downloaded This Instead of Deleting It Immediately)
Look, I'm exhausted. I've reviewed approximately nine thousand solo TTRPGs this month, and most of them think 'solo play' means 'roll dice for two hours while consulting seventeen tables and pretending you're having fun.' So when Caltrop Kaiju promised a ten-minute tactical puzzle about outrunning a giant monster, I was skeptical. But you know what? I played it in twelve minutes—close enough—and actually wanted to play again immediately. The premise is simple: kaiju shows up, you need to observe it to find its weakness, relay that info to the military base, and not die. Two d4s. One piece of paper. No seventy-page rulebook about emotional trauma mechanics. Button Kin Games clearly understands that sometimes people just want to solve a problem and move on with their lives, and I respect that more than I can adequately express in this paragraph.
The Tactical Puzzle Mode: Finally, Actual Decisions
The core gameplay loop is deceptively smart. You're moving around a grid while the kaiju rampages predictably but dangerously. You need to get close enough to observe it multiple times without getting stomped, then make it to the military base to report your findings. Every move matters because the kaiju isn't waiting for you to have an emotional breakthrough—it's destroying your hometown whether you're ready or not. The d4 rolls determine movement and observation success, but here's the thing: the randomness creates genuine tactical decisions rather than just 'roll and pray' nonsense. Do you risk moving closer for a better observation angle? Do you play it safe and take longer? These decisions have weight, and when you successfully thread the needle between information gathering and survival, it feels earned. This is what I wanted from every 'tactical' game that just gave me modifier math instead. The ten-minute promise isn't marketing—it's design discipline, and I haven't seen that since approximately 1997.
The Journaling Mode: Where Things Get Surprisingly Deep
Here's where Caltrop Kaiju does something genuinely clever that I didn't expect from a game jam entry. The same ruleset supports a longer journaling mode where you narrate your character's observations, fears, and decisions as you dodge kaiju attacks. You're still playing the same tactical puzzle, but now you're building a story around why your character is doing this, what they're thinking, what the city looks like as it crumbles. I'm normally allergic to journaling games because they often feel like creative writing homework disguised as gameplay, but this works because the tactical puzzle gives your narrative actual structure and stakes. You're not just writing whatever—you're explaining how you barely avoided that claw swipe, why you chose this observation point, what that mistake cost you. The mechanics and narrative support each other instead of fighting for attention. I played it both ways, and honestly? Both modes are legitimate. That's rare. Most games that claim to be 'modular' are just bad at one thing instead of okay at everything.
What Actually Works Here (Reluctantly Admitting Quality)
The clarity of Caltrop Kaiju's design is what saves it from being another forgettable solo TTRPG. The rules fit on basically one page. There's no ambiguity about what you're supposed to do or how the systems interact. The kaiju's movement is predictable enough to plan around but dangerous enough to punish mistakes. The observation mechanics create tension without drowning you in modifier math. And crucially, the game knows when to end—you either succeed and relay the info, or you get crushed trying, and either way you're done in a reasonable timeframe. This is Button Kin Games understanding that respecting the player's time is itself a feature. The dual-mode design means speedrunners and narrative enthusiasts can both find something here without compromising either experience. I keep comparing this to other solo TTRPGs I've suffered through, and Caltrop Kaiju wins on efficiency and focus every single time. It knows exactly what it is and executes that vision without apologizing or padding the runtime.
Where It Shows Its Limitations
That said, this is still a game jam project built around d4s and paper, so let's be realistic about its scope. After you've played through a few kaiju encounters, you've basically explored the system's tactical depth. The randomness keeps things varied, but you're not discovering radically new strategies on play five. The journaling mode extends longevity if you enjoy that style, but if you're purely here for the puzzle, you'll solve it and move on. There's also no progression system, no campaign mode, no unlockables—you get the core experience and that's it. Which is fine, honestly. Not everything needs to be a hundred-hour epic. But if you're looking for something with the depth of a full RPG system, this isn't that. It's a focused, elegant puzzle that does one thing well rather than twelve things poorly. I'll take that trade every time, but some players want more meat on the bones. Also, you need d4s, and if you don't own any, you'll need to buy them or use a dice app, which slightly undermines the 'just need paper and pencil' promise.
Audio-Visual Presentation: Your Imagination, Hopefully Functional
There's no art, no music, no sound effects, because this is a text-based solo TTRPG that you play with dice and paper. Your 'graphics' are whatever you sketch on your grid, and your 'soundtrack' is whatever you're listening to while you play, which in my case was aggressive silence punctuated by muttered complaints about dice rolls. That said, the writing is clear and evocative enough to conjure the kaiju scenario without needing illustrations. The rules text paints a picture of desperate observation and narrow escapes, and the journaling mode encourages you to flesh out the destruction yourself. So while there's nothing to technically 'rate' here in terms of production values, the game does enough with pure text to make the scenario feel real. If you need flashy visuals to engage with a game, this obviously isn't for you. But if you can handle reading rules and using your brain to fill in the cinematic moments, Caltrop Kaiju gives you enough prompts to build something memorable. Just don't expect a soundtrack, unless you count the clattering of d4s as music, which I sometimes do when I'm particularly tired.
Rating Breakdown
Quality
7
For a game jam entry requiring only paper and two d4s, this is shockingly polished—clear rules, tight design, zero ambiguity about what you're supposed to be doing.
Innovation
8
A solo TTRPG that works as both a ten-minute tactical puzzle AND a journaling game with the same ruleset is genuinely clever, and I haven't seen that dual-mode approach done this elegantly before.
Value
9
It's free, playable in minutes, and you probably already own d4s from that D&D starter set collecting dust—this is basically free therapy for people who miss actual gameplay.
Gameplay
7
The core loop of observing the kaiju while dodging death and racing to relay information creates genuine tension, and the d4 randomness adds legitimate tactical decisions rather than just chaos.
Audio/Visual
5
It's a text-based TTRPG requiring paper and pencil, so there's nothing to rate here except your own handwriting and imagination, both of which I assume are adequate.
Replayability
6
Each kaiju rampage plays out differently thanks to dice variance, and the journaling mode adds replay value, but once you've cracked the tactical puzzle a few times, you've basically seen the system's limits.
What Didn't Annoy Me
Actually delivers on the ten-minute promise without feeling shallow or rushed
The dual-mode design genuinely works for both quick tactical play and longer narrative sessions
Rules clarity is exceptional—no ambiguity, no consulting forums to understand basic mechanics
Free and requires minimal materials you probably already own
Creates legitimate tension and meaningful decisions despite simple components
Respects your time like it's a valuable resource, which apparently makes it revolutionary in 2024
What Made Me Sigh
Limited tactical depth once you've cracked the core puzzle after a few plays
No progression, campaign mode, or unlockables for extended engagement
Requires d4s specifically, which not everyone owns despite the 'minimal materials' claim
The randomness can occasionally produce unwinnable scenarios through no fault of your strategy
Replayability relies heavily on your tolerance for slight variations on the same core experience
Final Verdict
Caltrop Kaiju is what happens when a designer actually understands what 'focused' means and has the discipline to execute it. This is a ten-minute tactical puzzle that respects your schedule, or a two-hour journaling game that respects your narrative instincts, and somehow it's legitimately good at both without compromising either mode. For a free game jam entry requiring two d4s and paper, this demonstrates more design intelligence than half the $20 indie games I've reviewed this year. Yes, it's limited in scope—you'll exhaust its tactical depths relatively quickly—but that's the point. It's a sharp, elegant experience that knows when to end. I'm genuinely impressed, which you should know by now means something coming from me. If you own d4s and ten minutes, download this. If you don't own d4s, maybe buy some, because they're useful and this game actually justifies their existence. Button Kin Games made something smart here, and I'm annoyed I have to admit that so enthusiastically, but here we are. Play it.
Caltrop Kaiju
Genre
Puzzle
Developer
Button Kin Games
Platform
Physical game
Release Date
Jan 1, 2025
Rating
7
/10
Tags
solo-ttrpg
puzzle
kaiju
journaling-game
tactical
dice-game
print-and-play
quick-play
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