A zine of The Hidden Isle
A Tarot-based Tabletop Role Playing Game
Coming to Zinequest 2024 on Kickstarter! A standalone expansion with two new classes, cities & scenarios.
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
You can also join our Discord to chat with us and sign up for our Newsletter!
The Hidden Isle is a pen and paper RPG that uses Tarot cards instead of dice. The game is set in an alternative 16th century on the island of Dioscoria: a secret port of magicians, adventurers and free thinkers. The game focuses on roleplaying and collaborative storytelling, and has mechanics to explore character growth.
This is a game about swashbuckling adventures across the Mediterranean Sea, the Middle East and beyond. Steal banned scriptures from oppressive regimes! Protect the persecuted and the outcast using ancient magic! Fight the emerging forces of colonialism as they spread their sinister tendrils across the oceans and continents!
Guided by the Seer (the game master), players use Tarot cards to test their skills during battles and challenges, but also to construct their character’s story: cards determine the emotional burden they carry and the ideal they strive for. As agents of Dioscoria, players head out into the world to defend the island’s values: protecting the helpless and preserving knowledge. Campaigns themselves can be drawn up with Tarot cards, creating sprawling adventures with little preparation and many surprises for everyone at the table.
If you are familiar with Tarot then The Hidden Isle will resonate with you all the more, but no experience with Tarot is necessary. To help you feel like a mystical oracle and stay inspired, we’ll provide you with tables and guides to help you quickly understand each card draw.
The Hidden Isle had a successful Kickstarter campaign in October 2023. You can learn more about it on its Kickstarter page, or you can start playing right away with our playtest over our itch.io page. If you need a Tarot deck matching the game, you can order one over our webshop.
Sefirot is an ancient game from the lost lands of Dioscoria. The Fates speak through the game’s Tarot cards, deciding the players’ destiny – whether this means triumph or downfall. Sefirot has several play modes, which use different game boards.
In its solitaire version, the player challenges the fates along a world-spanning tree of life, struggling to overcome the perilous duality of growth and decay.
The game also supports two players, whether cooperatively or competitively: players might battle for the stars themselves, or embark on a tender dance that reveals their unified faith.
Sefirot had an incredible Kickstarter campaign in March 2021! You can learn more about it on its Kickstarter page, including the game itself, its beautifully assembled high-quality components, its standalone Tarot deck, and its exquisite items and trinkets, such as pins and prints.
Later on we partnered up with Hay House Publishing, who helped us realize the second edition of the Tarot deck, The Spheres of Heaven, which is also available on our webshop.
