More Publishers are Producing Smaller, Inexpensive Books; Zine Trend is on the Upswing
The RPG zine scene picked up steam as publishers showcased dozens of smaller, inexpensive books at Gary Con XVIII over the weekend.
RPG zines have been on the upswing in the post-pandemic era. These smaller format publications initially became trendy again as online bundles circa 2022, where multiple publishers would offer up PDF packages and charity bundles filled with dozens of zines containing light rules sets and adventures. As the world moved into the post-pandemic era, zines gained even more popularity as printed books, and then as tariffs hit (see “Tariff Policy“), zines became a preferred format for publishers looking to print RPG books inexpensively.
At GAMA Expo 2026, Creature Curation, the publishers of the underground TTRPG hit Vast Grimm, showed off their new line of books, all in the zine format (see “‘Vast Grimm’ TTRPG Goes Zine Format“). Then, at Gary Con XVIII, there were several publishers there showcasing new zines and zine lines for sale. These publishers included Goodman Games, The Arcane Library (Shadowdark RPG), and others. Additionally, a few publishers were offering storage accessories for zines, such as Goodman’s Wyrm Vaults.
As 2026 rolls on, expect the zine format to gain more momentum as publishers look to produce inexpensive print content. On a related note, the D&D design team is also somewhat following this inexpensive print content production trend by bringing back modules to the game (see “Luke Gygax Back into the Franchise“).
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