“This is a game about death.”
Such is the haunting premise of “One of Us Will Die,” a fast-paced social deduction tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) created by Titus Villanueva III. Blending the tension and hidden motives of social deduction games with the emotional depth of collaborative storytelling, “One of Us Will Die” follows a five-part narrative in which every character will survive except one, and it’s up to the rest to figure out who it was destined to be.
The game launched on Kickstarter on April 14, 2026, and reached full funding in less than two hours—an amazing feat for an independent Filipino designer seeking to break into the international tabletop scene. As of writing, it has already raised over USD 36,500 (365% of the goal pledge amount) and continues to expand far beyond what Titus had originally envisioned.
We had the privilege of speaking with Titus about “One of Us Will Die,” its development, and his process of creating such a poignant and intense experience. Having been a game master for more than thirteen years, Titus shared that he created this social deduction TTRPG to be free from the pressure of intensive worldbuilding and storytelling that comes with running Dungeons & Dragons campaigns.
“As a GM, you feel like you have to please everybody all the time and so much of the burden of storytelling rests on your shoulders. You really feel like you’re carrying the weight of everything while everyone else enjoys themselves. Don’t get me wrong, I do love running games, but as an introvert, it takes so much energy from me,” Titus shared with WhenInManila.com. “But as a social deduction game, ‘One of Us Will Die’ has players creating their own drama without my help.”
“It’s much easier for me and much more meaningful for them because even if the story hasn’t happened yet, we have an idea of what the player will enjoy,” he added. “It’s very freeing because now the players can be as reckless and dramatic as they want with their characters without the fear of death because they’ve already accepted [that it is inevitable].”
Titus first came up with the concept for “One of Us Will Die” in 2022, based on a gimmick he did for a game he ran during Halloween back in 2013 wherein he had players draw straws to determine who would get killed at the end of the story. “The first draft was a total mess until some friends of mine fixed the format and layout so I could effectively pitch it to people,” he shared. “Eventually, I started sending emails to publishers, practically anyone at this point, anybody who could help me, because the people who liked my game really liked my game! I just felt like I really wanted to get it out there. When nobody bit, I came up with a lite zine version of the game with no art and a simple layout. It premiered at Renfaire 2025 and was received rather well. We did even better at All aBOARD Expo that same year.”
Fate eventually led him to meet Josh Rosing, the writer and designer of the Minnesota-based small independent TTRPG publisher Lone Colossus Games. By then, Titus had already sold more than a hundred copies of the lite version and felt validated by its potential. He spent nearly a year pitching the game to Josh, who eventually agreed to publish it after seeing its success locally. With his help, as well as the support of the 423 backers (and counting!), “One of Us Will Die” is officially scheduled to be released in December 2026 as a digital copy and in June 2027 as a printed hardbound.
Sample character sheet with The Fool archetype (From Kickstarter | One of Us Will Die)
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When asked about why focus on the concept of death as the core of the game, Titus opened up about how heartbreak and grief can bring people together and find understanding in one another.
“As Filipinos, I think we’re very much raised to vent our heartbreak through words and stories,” he said. “We try to encapsulate our heartbreak into short lines (which we colloquially call “hugot”) that tug on other people’s heartstrings. It makes people relate to your heartbreak. So when other people laugh, the laughter in this case being a sign that they found your hugot relatable, you laugh with them. We’re still sad, yes, but we’re all sad together.
“In ‘One of Us Will Die,’ we recall a lot of deaths from fiction. Writers tell tragedies because of one simple fact: they are relatable. Characters make promises before they die in fiction because that is how death feels for so many of us. It’s a broken promise. That vacation isn’t happening anymore. That wedding? Gone. All the amazing things you were looking forward to with this person now no longer exist. It almost feels like being betrayed.
“There is a certain irony about death. It signifies a series of broken promises: memories you will never make, smiles you will never share, debts that will never be paid… and yet death itself is a promise fulfilled. When we play this game, we might get attached to our characters and grieve when they die. But what matters is that the game encourages us to grieve together. That’s the main message of the game. You should never have to grieve alone.”
Check out the Kickstarter page of “One of Us Will Die” for live updates and to back the project. Retailers are also welcome to contact them for bulk orders to sell in-store.
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