You will do well with Old School Essentials or Dungeon Crawl Classics.
If you are staying in 5E, do Shadowdark.
And Wizards is trying to sell D&D to older markets outside the hobby, and they have no clue. The people who do crochet likely do not have the time to sort through a thousand pages of rules for a game, nor grasp the action economy of 5E. The character builds alone are hard, or near impossible, to do by hand. Older gamers outside the hobby, such as those who buy crochet books, are honestly better off with Shadowdark or OSE.
I could never recommend D&D 2024 to older people outside the hobby. I tried to put together a group, but the complexity of needing software, signing up for D&D Beyond, and dealing with the prices of the books killed my D&D group before it even started. My system veterans were hesitant to upgrade to 2024 and stick with 2014. They bailed, too.
I should have stuck with Shadowdark, which would have given me a chance to be in a group.
The older gamers who can understand D&D 2024? They already know D&D, and many have been turned off by the OGL. Many have abandoned 5E entirely. The Open 5E clones are fading and will only gain traction once 5E is surpassed by D&D 7. One could stay in the Open 5E clones, and that is a valid place if you still like 5E. To me, the system and interest is fading, and I like other games better. I only have so much room on my shelves.
GURPS, Traveller, OSE, DCC, and Call of Cthulhu are my top five games.
Daggerheart has carved out a niche, but its interest is waning somewhat, and it is not the next Critical Role campaign's system, which is a massive missed opportunity (especially with those new hires and hype). Draw Steel is a new, more tactical game, but I don't see it taking over. Daggerheart will be a niche game only for the fans. They lost the chance to ride the wave when they announced campaign four.
History is filled with lost opportunities and companies that could have been king. Being a second player or a niche product only means fading into obscurity in the mass market. My feeling is the new hires were made since the next edition of D&D will be licensed out to Darrington Press, and they will pay for the rights to print "an edition" much like rights holders do these days.
I don't see any of the new games of 2025 making a huge impact. Changing the rules does not fix your game, or make it fun again. The hobby is a social one.
DCC is OSR compatible, and I like this game since the staff is nice and works hard. They put out some of the most imaginative stuff in the hobby these days. Some say there are too many tables in here and the game is "too much" for an OSR-style of rules, but to me, every table is just a suggestion and it is all meant to be changed and interpreted by the referee as inspiration, not written in stone.
I like DCC over 3.5E, since it is far easier, even with all the tables and the silly dice. I was a big fan of 3.5E and Pathfinder 1e, but DCC is my game for that now. It shares the saving throw system and that over-the-top feeling of 3.5E without all the bloat and crunch.
That said, DCC is less ideal for larger games where I may want to run a dozen characters solo. At most, I would run four in DCC by myself, since there is a complexity level to each that needs to be managed. If I run a dozen characters it will be for OSE since I will not lose my mind. there is a point to every game where "too much is too much" and you start to regret all the bells and whistles the system brings to the table. DCC is one of those "high character detail" games, where there is a lot going on, and quite a few choices a character needs to make during a turn with their resources and options.
OSE will always be my go-to for classic play. This is infinitely expandable, and stays out of opinion and advocacy. It does not push itself as a silly "vibe" to adopt, it is what it is - just the rules. And what you do and create with them is your thing. There are plenty of mods and alternate rules for OSE and it blows my mind. All the adventures work together. you do not worry about compatibility or conversion, the OSR is a standard to write for, not a feeling or way of playing. Anyone who tells you you can play 5E "an OSR way" does not understand the OSR.
So, while I like DCC, OSE is my campaign game. The reasons and rules have not changed. All the best stuff that I have is for OSE, and it is 100% directly compatible without needing the DCC charts or extra stuff. Random charts for emergent play are nice, but they do not make a game.
For my 5E replacement, OSE is still it.
My 3.5E and Pathfinder 1e replacement? Yeah, that is still DCC. Mind you, DCC has flaws and weaknesses, but it is still fun.
OSE and that B/X style of rules are the perfect game.
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