Machinations is a simple steampunk RPG. From the author’s description:
Welcome to the Eternal City, the home of the Machinations RPG. Take on the role of an Adventurer, an Alchemist, an Artificer or even a deathless Automaton. Band together with others to form a Free Company and then hire yourselves out to perform acts of sabotage, espionage, assassination, extortion, blackmail or plain old robbery. All in a world a short step from our own, where reason has been lost, empires exist to be built and strange technology dominates all walks of life. It is a world of sinister intrigue, awful power, terrible events and dark portents. There is also beer, song and glory
There are a lot of people out there trying to recapture the spirit of the original D&D games. For my own part, I can think of nothing that was more magical than my first excursion into the blue covered rulebook I got back in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Old School Hack is another attempt.
The Artifact is a hard-science science fiction RPG. From their FAQ:
Question: What is The Artifact?
Answer: The Artifact is several things. One, The Artifact is a game. A science fiction role-playing game. The game starts out with a two hundred and four page book that is available for download for free and as a printed book. Two, The Artifact (in the game) is a enormous manufactured planetoid that has only been recently discovered (in 2085). It is both dangerous and full of promise, it is populated by people that are familiar, but full of mystery. Third, The Artifact is a puzzle, do you have all the pieces? Does the puzzle have a solution?
The year is 3200 and mankind’s empire lies in ashes.
The Jump Gates fell six hundred years ago, severing the links between the myriad worlds of the human diaspora.
Now, the long isolation of the Silence falls away as men and women return to the skies above their scattered worlds.
Will you be among them?
Stars Without Number is a retro-inspired science fiction role playing game influenced by the Old School Renaissance. The contents are compatible with most old school clones and are designed to be easily imported to your own favorite gaming system. In addition to a complete pre-made stellar sector, Stars Without Number offers GMs and players the tools to create their own sandbox-style adventures in the far future.
Classic mechanics adapted for science-fiction adventure in the far future
Extensive GM support for building adventure-crammed sandbox settings more quickly and easily
World building resources for creating system-neutral planets and star sectors
100 adventure seeds and guidelines for integrating them with the worlds you’ve made
Old-school compatible rules for guns, cyberware, starships, and psionics
Domain rules for experienced characters who want to set up their own colony, psychic academy, mercenary band, or other institutio
Miniature Wargaming is part of the "adventure games" hobby, which includes r ole p laying and board games. Wargamers recreate battles on the tabletop with toy soldiers, like a more complicated game of chess. Models range in height from 6mm to 28mm tall, with 15mm and 25mm being the most popular. There also is a growing interest in toy soldiers and military models, such as the 1/32 and 1/35 scale plastic soldiers from Conte, and Marx.
The most popular miniature wargames are fantasy and science fiction based, such as Warhammer, Warhammer 40K, Warmachine and The Lord of the Rings. World War II games such as Flames of War and Axis and Allies are new favorites. Other favorite historical periods include Napoleonics, the American Civil War, and ancients, such as Romans or Greeks. Other gamers enjoy miniature naval wargames, recreating battles like Trafalgar, Jutland and the Coral Sea.
Hobbyists research historical periods and paint their tiny soldiers in accurate uniforms. Others develop "historically realistic" rules sets or build scale battlefield terrain using model railroad techniques.
For pictures, visit the gallery.
Some of the bigger hobby companies are Games Workshop, which produces Warhammer, Wargames Foundry and Old Glory Miniatures. Wizards of the Coast produces several lines of pre-painted miniatures games, such as the Star Wars and Dungeons and Dragons miniatures games, and a historical game with pre-painted miniatures: The new Axis and Allies game. Wizkids produces a fantasy collectable miniatures game, such as the Mage Knight and Heroclick fantasy games, the science fiction games MechWarrior and Rocketmen, as well as the quasi-historical Pirates of the Spanish Main.