The Top RPGs of 2010

The previous article, on The Top RPGs over the Years, and this one, on The Top RPGs of 2010, were originally published as one article, but have been separated out to allow for better lookup and referencing. —SA, 10/25/23

This article was originally published as Designers & Dragons: The Column #4 on RPGnet. Its publication followed the publication of the original Designers & Dragons (2011) and preceded the publication of the four-volume Designers & Dragons (2014).

The Best Sellers of the 2010

The following data on RPG sales in 2010, was collected thanks to a few individual retailers.

Zombie Planet (www.zombie-planet.com)—the Albany, New York game store run by George Vasilakos of Eden Studios—recorded the following top-selling RPG books for 2010.

1. Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook, Paizo (2009)
2. Player’s Handbook 3 for D&D 4e, WotC (2010)
3. Advanced Player’s Guide for Pathfinder, Paizo (2010)
4. Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set for D&D 4e Essentials, WotC (2010)
5. Player’s Handbook for D&D 4e, WotC (2008)
6. Rules Compendium for D&D 4e Essentials, WotC (2010)
7. Dungeon Master’s Screen for D&D 4e, WotC (2008)
8. Savage Worlds Explorer’s Edition, Pinnacle (2007)
9. Bestiary for Pathfinder, Paizo (2009)
10. Player’s Handbook 2 for D&D 4e, WotC (2009) [TIE with #11]
11. Gamma World Roleplaying Game, WotC (2010) [TIE with #10]

Top RPG Books of 2010: Zombie Planet

This is perhaps the most typical of the three 2010 RPG lists I’ve included here, showing the strong dominance of D&D. It’s more surprising that Gamma World—which had been a perennial also-ran for both TSR and Wizards of the Coast—sold well, a result upheld by the other stores. The inclusion of Savage Worlds is somewhat surprising too, but I think it correctly points out Pinnacle (with Savage Worlds) as a notable RPG producer, if not necessary one of the top two or three.

Something that’s no longer surprising is the creep of Paizo products into top ten. By 2010, FASA was long gone and Palladium had long-ago dropped from the top tier of RPG companies. 2010 was probably the year that White Wolf fell off that tier as well, primarily due to a large-scale halt in production. It’s very likely that Paizo rose up to fill that #2 spot in 2010. I think that when we see the lists for 2011, we’ll see even more Paizo products among the top sellers.

Modern Myths (www.modern-myths.com) is a comic book and games store located in Northhampton, Massachusetts. They listed the following top-selling RPG books for 2010.

1. Player’s Handbook 3 for D&D 4e, WotC (2010)
2. Rules Compendium for D&D 4e Essentials, WotC (2010)
3. Martial Power 2 for D&D 4e, WotC (2010)
4. Heroes of the Fallen Lands for D&D 4e Essentials, WotC (2010)
5. Dungeon Tiles: Desert of Athas, WotC (2010)
6. Gamma World Roleplaying Game, WotC (2010)
7. Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set for D&D 4e Essentials, WotC (2010)
8. Dark Sun Campaign Setting for D&D 4e, WotC (2010) [TIE with #9]
9. Player’s Handbook for D&D 4e, WotC (2008) [TIE with #8]
10. Dungeon Master’s Screen for D&D 4e, WotC (2008) [TIE with #11]
11. The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game, Volume One: Your Story, Evil Hat (2010) [TIE #10]

Top RPG Books of 2010: Modern Myths

Modern Myths similarly showed off the dominance of D&D 4e and Gamma World, but without any competing Pathfinder—demonstrating how gaming cultures can vary from store to store. It also has one surprising entry: The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game by Evil Hat. It’s pretty shocking to see an indie game—the sort of thing being produced in low numbers just several years before—as a top-seller, but Evil Hat’s very open sales information paints the same picture: Evil Hat sold 9232 copies of Your Story in 2010, a number that any RPG company but Wizards and Paizo (and perhaps FFG) would be extremely pleased with.

EndGame (www.endgameoakland.com)—an Oakland, California game store—recorded the following top-selling RPG products for 2010. The store’s strong support of indie games is clearly shown in the results.

1. The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game, Volume One: Your Story, Evil Hat (2010)
2. Gamma World Booster Pack*, WotC (2010)
3. The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game, Volume Two: Our World, Evil Hat (2010)
4. Player’s Handbook 3 for D&D 4e, WotC (2010)
5. Diaspora, VSCA/Evil Hat (2009, 2010)
6. Dark Sun Campaign Setting for D&D 4e, WotC (2010)
7. Apocalypse World, Lumpley (2010)
8. Rules Compendium for D&D 4e Essentials, WotC (2010)
9. Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set for D&D 4e Essentials, WotC (2010)
10. Savage Worlds Explorer’s Edition, Pinnacle (2007)

Top RPG Books of 2010: EndGame

Endgame agrees with the other stores that show the dominance of D&D and the good sales of Savage Worlds. It also has a lot of indie books, but that’s because it’s a game store that really pushes indies. Other than The Dresden Files it’s likely that most indies don’t sell this well elsewhere. However, the advantage of this Endgame list is that it shows us what some of the top indie RPGs might be.