Tabletop roleplaying is built around being together. A group gathers around a map, one person runs the game, everyone follows the same story and the session moves forward as people make decisions together.
That format is part of the appeal, but it can also leave people out. Some players do not have a local group. Some cannot always travel to the table. Some need captions, a slower pace or clearer turn tracking. Others simply want a way to play when nobody is available to be the Game Master.
Doungim is a tabletop roleplaying games console developed by Realm Kinetics Ltd in the UK. It lies flat on the table, shows the world as a living map beneath real dice and real miniatures, and responds when players speak to it. It can assist a Game Master, run an adventure for a group, or support a solo player.
As the team began showing the console publicly, people started explaining what those different ways of playing could mean for them.
One parent told the team they were considering Doungim for their autistic child, who loves tabletop roleplaying but does not have friends who play. The parent highlighted the appeal of a structured solo experience that can keep track of turns, rules and what happened previously.
Other players focused on accessibility. Deaf and hard of hearing players asked for closed captions. Another player explained that they expected to spend time in hospital and wanted remote play so they could continue playing with their group while away from the table.
“People told us very clearly what stopped them from taking part,” said A. Boush, co founder and CEO of Realm Kinetics Ltd. “Those messages affected the features we prioritised.”
Doungim includes captions on screen for spoken dialogue. Text can be read aloud. Sound and lighting can be reduced, the pace can be slowed, sessions can be kept short, and the display can show whose turn it is. The system is also designed to support play in more than one language.
Remote play allows some people to sit around the physical console while others join the same session from somewhere else. For a player who cannot travel to the table, that can mean staying part of the same campaign rather than dropping out of it.
Solo play addresses a different barrier. If someone wants to play but has no group or no Game Master available, Doungim can run the adventure, handle rules, track turns, remember what happened in the previous session and provide a recap when the player returns.
Realm Kinetics does not describe Doungim as a medical or therapeutic device. It is a game with more than one way to participate, shaped in part by people who explained why a conventional tabletop session did not always work for them.
Kickstarter
Doungim was funded in under three hours and is live now. View the Kickstarter campaign (opens in a new tab).
About Doungim
Doungim is a tabletop roleplaying games console developed by Realm Kinetics Ltd in the UK. Its main display lies flat on the table and shows a digital game world while players use physical dice and miniatures. The system can assist a human Game Master, run a group game, or run a solo adventure, with support for remote players.
