Nanolith is a cyberpunk-dungeon crawler with heavy rpg elements. The game is played in two books (the encounter- and the storybook) which present the players with the fatalistic story of the four main characters and their quest to retrieve their lost memories. In the encounter book artworks, scenario maps, and comics tell the progressing story of a human civilisation on the brink of extinction. Scenario outcomes, items the players get during the encounters and player decisions reference text sections in the storybook which advance the surprising and creative novel situated in the world of nanolith. Depending on player decisions and the outcome of scenarios the narrative paths of the story diverge greatly.

The mechanics used to bring the unique skill sets of each character to live provide a deep tactical, cooperative experience. Through the use of five six-sided activation dice movement, item activation and special skills can be activated by the players. But fear not the bad luck of rolling a hand full of dice! The clever mitigation mechanics using aggro to manipulate the value of your rolled dice guarantees, that if you really need to power up your mightiest abilities you will be able to do so. But every power comes with a price. The more you push your luck the harder your character may fall. Overusing the nanomachines your body produces you will at some point overcharge and set free the power of the nanolith inscribed in your DNA. You will get nanoshocked and be able to use a mighty character specific nanoshock ability once for free. But the more often you do this the closer you bring your precious character to the threshold between live and death. So choose you weapons wisely.

Most importantly Nanolith is a game of adventure and storytelling. The world in which this game plays out is different from any generic science fiction world you ever visited before. Player decisions do have a heavy impact on the story and the prose written for this game is much more than decorative attachment. It's a cyberpunk novel in which your characters are the main protagonists. Your decisions seal the destiny of Neo Eden. So don't hesitate any longer. The Nanolith awaits you!

—description from the designer

Solomon Kane