Around the Old Neighborhood with Heckin’ Good Doggos
Bound away and explore the neighborhood on a bunch of doggone excellent adventures with Heckin’ Good Doggos.
Time to dig into another solo RPG experience I’ve been looking forward to… Heckin’ Good Doggos! This delightful system is about a pack of dogs and their adventures. I was torn on the right setting to choose, yet settled on an idea that sounded wonderful. With the perfect companions to bring my dogs to life, this would be better than a bag of treats!
Game Overview
Game Name: Heckin’ Good Doggos
Publication Year: 2022
Designers: A. Cybe, J. Giza, J.D. Kennedy, M. Lee, & S. Wu
Artist: Mike Mumah
Publisher: Wet Ink Games
Solo Mode: None (Solo RPG Oracle Required)
Being a dog is at the core of these adventures! With many setting ideas and plenty of stuff to do, wagging tails and getting the zoomies are exactly what the journey is about. There are systems to use dice and playing cards, yet the heart of gameplay is about telling happy doggie stories.
Puppy in My Pocket
Although I have plenty of Calico Critters who might have fit the bill, I wanted my adventures to feature dogs that didn’t walk around in cute little outfits… This time!
While organizing my basement, I remembered my small collection of an early 1990s toy line called Puppy in My Pocket. Still preserved almost all of the originals!
Even then, I took care of my toy dogs, going so far as to write how many scoops of food each one should get. Ha!
And so I started creating characters, starting with Scooper the Irish Wolfhound. That’s one good boy right there!
Darci to the Rescue
I’ve also come to discover that Once Upon a Time: The Storytelling Card Game offers me the perfect set of oracle cards. These words and beautiful images speak to me!
For Darci, an adorable Airedale, it was quite clear that she guarded her Best Friend’s garden… Though she was also an escape artist who collected bones and sticks.
Often, the character creation process is the best part of a roleplaying game! I just love interpreting the ideas.
I didn’t go into too much detail, though, only getting basic ideas about each dog’s personality and Best Friend.
An Adopted Friend
Cobra! I don’t know if his name came from somewhere else, but I’ve always associated it with The Karate Kid. Ha!
I didn’t have to do too much sleuthing to see that all of his cards pointed to being adopted. That gave me a little more insight into his relationship with his Best Friend, too.
None of these interpretations are perfect and I often ignore a card if it doesn’t make sense, yet part of the fun is the challenge in making sense of these cards!
Maybe I could have stopped here with my pack, but it felt like I needed just one more dog… It was hard to stop!
Heartwarming Stories
I’ll note that despite having lots of interest in some of the more fantastical settings, I settled on a very cozy but modern slice-of-life viewpoint for my doggie adventures.
As I put Minty together, I loved how these cards gave me the idea of pairing her up with an elderly owner who needed a companion to alert anyone to trouble.
This little Pekingese also gave me a rather sassy and proud vibe, and that’s precisely what she embodied during play!
With my pack set, I drew a few cards to get an idea for the first adventure. Off they went with paws and tails flying!
Discovering New RPG Systems & Solo Oracles
Picking up a new tabletop roleplaying game and getting into it solo isn’t usually a difficult experience, but finding the right balance can be a challenge. Oracles, or elements that answer questions or present twists, are very personal. You might respond to text prompts, images, thematic tables, or something else! I’m still finding my favorites.
I think what tripped me up here was a combination of more specific dice rolls and stats, along with very open-ended gameplay. There isn’t a right answer, although I tend to enjoy some structure while bringing in my own oracles.
Another thing that doesn’t happen all the time but is still prevalent is an almost imposter syndrome approach. I look at the adventures I’m writing about and wonder if they’re too simple. My characters usually aren’t that complex, and since I tend to shy away from direct violence and death, my exciting moments are often conversational or cozy.
Yet take that as another useful lesson: Solo RPGs are very much about doing whatever you want to, with no expectations! I’m learning more about what I like, while also challenging myself to improve my writing skills in smaller spaces. Plus, can you tell I’m having fun? I brought literal dog miniatures to my table for this adventure. Ha ha!
Tail as Old as Time
Off for some fun! Part of my recent solo roleplaying journey has been to limit what I write, because I tend to get into the expositional text with pages and pages.
So this might seem short and rather focused on action, because that’s exactly what I wanted to do. Lots of fun!
Darci’s prized stick was missing, and it was up to the pack to figure out who or what was responsible for this caper.
The combination of dice and cards felt a little clunky at first, mostly from me managing multiple characters, but things started to flow much better as I got comfortable!
Scheming & Watching
At its core is a system about teamwork, particularly during bigger conflicts. I kept this all in a very cozy sort of setting with no real dangers, although the dogs didn’t know that!
Darci held true to her guard dog ways and kept an eye out while Scooper and Minty made a lot of progress, going so far as to team up to retrieve the stick from lots of cats.
In a charming little twist, Cobra disappeared while he followed some floating leaves in a splish-splashy way.
For some reason, I used “splish-splashing” in every possible way, and that made this adventure amazing!
A Simple Journey
Nothing wild happened here, but it was so awesome! There are potential long-term foes in the circus cats, each dog felt more complete, and Cobra clearly loves water.
I also had a funny moment when Minty headed back to find her Best Friend at the end. What was purchased at the local charity shop? A giant fur cloak, reminiscent of a lion.
This system took me a little time to get comfortable with, yet I loved the little adventure and all the dog stuff!
If anything, I have some ideas to refine my future plays to ensure every adventure is worth wagging some tails over!
Continue the Conversation
Have you ever played Heckin’ Good Doggos? Are there any other solo RPGs about dogs you’ve enjoyed playing? I adore my anthropomorphic stories and Calico Critters, and it was nice to break away for a bit and really focus on just being dogs! Lovely to be able to bring back some nostalgia… Guess I had a reason to keep my Puppy in My Pocket collection!
Thank you for trying something new with Heckin’ Good Doggos! It seems you had a fun story at your table and the dog miniatures are perfect!
I do want to add the artist for HGD is Mike Mumah.
It was fantastic! Just needs a few more tweaks for me to get the most out of it, but that’s always the fun of figuring out the best way to play solo. And with dogs!!!
Also, my apologies for missing the artist credits the first time! I didn’t notice that artists are listed under full credits on BoardGameGeek (or RPGGeek) rather than on the main page. Fixed and linked now. Thanks for pointing that out!