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ARCADE
The Glitch Review: A Tabletop RPG That Thinks It's an Arcade Cabinet (And Actually Pulls It Off)
I've been reviewing games since before some of you were born, and I never thought I'd be sitting here praising a TTRPG that fits in a cassette case. Yet here we are. The Glitch somehow captures arcade chaos on paper, and I'm only slightly annoyed that it works.
Paul
January 28, 2026
7.5
Overall Score
"The Glitch is that rare indie game that actually delivers on its premise without drowning in pretension or feature bloat."
First Impressions (Or: When Paper Beats Pixels)
Look, I've been playing video games since Pong was considered cutting-edge technology, and I've watched the tabletop RPG scene explode with more micro-games than I can count. Most of them are lazy cash-grabs riding whatever trend Twitter decided matters this week. So when Four-Dice sent me a TTRPG that literally fits in a cassette tape case and claims to capture arcade chaos, I rolled my eyes so hard I saw my own brain. But then I actually read it. And played it. And... dammit. This thing works. The Glitch takes everything that made arcade games addictive—the quarter-eating difficulty, the boss rushes, the continue screens—and translates it into d4 rolls and character sheets. It's a one-page game, which means the rules fit on literally one sheet of paper that folds down. I've read 300-page rulebooks that explain less than this does in a single fold-out. That alone deserves reluctant respect.
The Core Loop: Quarters Become Character Death
Here's what got me: The Glitch actually understands arcade design philosophy. You create a character with classic arcade hero archetypes, then you dive into glitched worlds where nothing makes sense because the game multiverse is broken. You roll d4s—ONLY d4s, the most chaotic dice in existence—to resolve everything. Combat is quick and brutal. When you die, you lose a credit. Run out of credits? Game over, no continues, start fresh. This is the tabletop equivalent of watching your last quarter disappear into Ghosts 'n Goblins while the continue timer mocks you. It's that same tension, that same 'just one more try' addiction, except now you're doing it with friends around a table instead of alone in a dark arcade that smelled like stale popcorn and broken dreams. The rules are simple enough to teach in two minutes but deep enough that you're making actual tactical decisions. I haven't felt this captured by a tabletop game's core loop since the original Warhammer Quest, and that was decades ago.
What This Game Gets Right (Against My Expectations)
The Glitch nails three things that most indie TTRPGs completely botch. First, it respects your time—sessions run 20-40 minutes, perfect for when you want gaming but don't want to commit your entire evening. Second, the theme isn't just pasted on; the mechanics genuinely reflect arcade design. The credit system creates real stakes. The d4-only resolution means high variance and sudden reversals, just like arcade games. Third, and this shocked me most, the one-page format isn't a limitation—it's a feature. Everything you need is visible at once. No flipping through chapters, no searching for that one rule on page 47. I've spent three decades watching game designers bloat simple concepts into incomprehensible messes. Four-Dice did the opposite, and I have to give them credit for that restraint. The cassette case presentation is pure nostalgia bait, but it's nostalgia bait that actually enhances the experience rather than just exploiting it for Instagram photos.
The Aesthetic: More Than Just Retro Pandering
I'm going to address the cassette thing directly because half of you are already thinking it's just gimmicky garbage. Yes, it's nostalgic. Yes, it's targeted at people my age who remember when games came in physical cases and you had to blow on cartridges. But here's the thing—it's functional nostalgia. The case protects the rules sheet, makes it portable, and immediately communicates what kind of experience you're getting. Compare this to the thousand identical fantasy TTRPGs with generic dragon art that tell you nothing about gameplay. The retro arcade aesthetic is baked into every design choice, from the folding format to the terminology. When you 'insert coin' to start a session, when you check the 'high score' table, when you see the 'game over' screen—it all reinforces the experience. I've reviewed too many games that slap on a theme and call it a day. The Glitch actually commits to its bit, and that commitment elevates what could've been a forgettable one-pager into something memorable.
What Could Be Better (Because Nothing's Perfect)
Here's where I get critical, because even games I like have problems. The one-page format, while brilliant for accessibility, means certain things feel undercooked. The world corruption mechanics could use more depth—you get randomized glitched settings, but I wanted more tables, more weird outcomes, more chaos. The boss fights, while tense, sometimes resolve too quickly if dice go sideways. I wanted more mid-combat complications, more dynamic phases, more of that bullet-hell escalation that defined '90s arcade bosses. And while the d4-only system creates great chaos, it also means you're at the mercy of probability more than I'd like. Smart tactics matter, but sometimes you just roll three 1s in a row and die, and there's nothing you could've done differently. That's authentic to arcade difficulty, sure, but it can feel arbitrary. Also, for a game about the video game multiverse colliding, I wanted more specific game references or pastiche elements. Give me obvious nods to Street Fighter, Pac-Man, or Contra. The generic 'arcade hero' approach works but feels like a missed opportunity for some properly shameless homage.
The Verdict: Actually Worth Your Time
I don't say this lightly: The Glitch is one of the best one-page TTRPGs I've played, and I've played too many to count. Four-Dice understood the assignment and delivered something that's simultaneously a love letter to arcade gaming and a genuinely functional tabletop experience. It's not going to replace your ongoing D&D campaign, but that's not what it's trying to do. This is for those nights when you want to game but don't want homework. When you want stakes but don't want six-hour sessions. When you want nostalgia that actually plays well instead of just looking pretty on a shelf. The cassette case presentation elevates it from 'neat concept' to 'thing I'll actually pull out and play.' At this price point and time investment, there's almost no reason not to grab it if you have even passing interest in arcade games or quick TTRPGs. I walked into this review expecting to mock another micro-game. I'm leaving it genuinely impressed, and that doesn't happen often anymore.
Rating Breakdown
Quality
7
For a one-page game that literally folds into a cassette case, this is shockingly well-executed—no obvious typos, clear rules, and it actually functions.
Innovation
8
Translating arcade mechanics into tabletop isn't new, but making it this seamless with the cassette gimmick and respawn economy? Haven't seen that since the '80s died.
Value
9
It's a one-page RPG that delivers complete arcade mayhem in 30 minutes, probably costs less than a coffee, and you can actually play it—absurd value.
Gameplay
7
Fast, frantic, and actually captures that arcade coin-munching tension where every death matters because credits are finite.
Audio/Visual
6
It's a physical paper product with retro aesthetic design, so I can't judge pixels or sound, but the cassette presentation shows more effort than most digital UIs I've suffered through.
Replayability
8
One-shots by design, but with randomized worlds and bosses plus character creation, I'd actually run this again—which shocks me more than you.
What Didn't Annoy Me
Genuinely captures arcade game design philosophy in tabletop form, something I haven't seen done this well in years
One-page format means zero rules lookup mid-game—everything's visible at once, which respects my time and patience
Credit system creates real tension and stakes without requiring complicated mechanics or hour-long character creation
Sessions run under 40 minutes, perfect for when you want actual gaming without committing your entire evening
Cassette case presentation isn't just nostalgia pandering—it's functional and immediately communicates the game's identity
Actually affordable, probably costs less than a single overpriced craft beer
What Made Me Sigh
World corruption and glitch mechanics feel undercooked—needed more random tables and chaotic outcomes to sustain the premise
Boss fights can end anticlimactically if dice swing hard, lacking the multi-phase escalation of actual arcade bosses
D4-only resolution creates authentic arcade randomness but sometimes your tactics don't matter when probability hates you
Missed opportunity for specific game homages—wanted obvious Street Fighter or Contra references instead of generic arcade heroes
One-page constraint means some depth is sacrificed—you'll exhaust the content faster than replaying Contra for the hundredth time
Final Verdict
The Glitch is that rare indie game that actually delivers on its premise without drowning in pretension or feature bloat. Four-Dice took a simple concept—arcade gaming as tabletop RPG—and executed it with more competence and restraint than I've seen from most developers with ten times the budget. Yes, it's short. Yes, the d4 chaos can feel arbitrary. Yes, I wanted more depth in places. But for quick, tense, genuinely fun sessions that capture the quarter-munching anxiety of 1980s arcade cabinets, this works better than it has any right to. I've been gaming for thirty years, and I'm genuinely impressed when something this small nails its concept this thoroughly. If you have any nostalgia for arcade gaming or just want a TTRPG that doesn't require a PhD to play, grab The Glitch. It costs almost nothing, takes minutes to learn, and actually respects your time. In 2024, that alone makes it worth playing.
The Glitch
Tags
tabletop-rpg
arcade
retro
one-shot
dice-game
solo-or-group
physical-game
80s-nostalgia
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