What's the term for these type of RPGs?

[Faolyn]

Alright, this has been percolating for a bit. I think I would go with: Scenario Games.

Think of it as an Adventure+System. They are written to facilitate a relatively narrow story -- much like a scenario or adventure for a larger system -- but include all the necessary mechanics and context to facilitate the game, a custom system.
Often they are structured so one person just needs to browse the book beforehand and serve as a continual in game reference much like an adventure module might. They might have a lighter GM role or be GMless.

Of some games that I think may fit this category that we carry:
Big Dog, Big Volcano -- a one-shot GMless game. One player is an oblivious hiker, one is a volcano and one is a good dog. Each player has a play sheet with slowly escalating stakes/questions/situations that they ask each other. (You just roll a die that accumulates each round, the higher your overall total, the more serious things get.)

Palanquin -- one-shot, facilitated by the player who plays the princess (closest role to GM). Story of how you saved the princess from a palace coup and whether she trusts you at the end. The other players grab up to 5 of the 6 other character archetypes and introduced threats on the journey largely based on their archetypes. The scenario part comes in with the 6 locations+themes you journey through.

Once More Into the Void -- one-shot to 6 shot. Facilitated by the captain character. A few default scenes-- character recruitment and final confrontation -- and a series of optional mini-game scenes that the players get to select. You are the crew of a starship who have saved the galaxy once before and a new threat to the galaxy has emerged. Can you put your differences aside and work together once more?

One-shot GMless games like The Quiet Year and my own God-Killer Prophecy almost fit here, but I think the difference is mostly in how narrow a story/scenario the mechanics can support.

@Faolyn do you think this fits some of what you are looking for?

That doesn't describe all of the games I've been seeing, but it does fit a lot of them!

 

[Bacon Bits]

I've always heard them called "zines." I've also heard "short form" or "single scenario."

 

[Faolyn]

I've always heard them called "zines." I've also heard "short form" or "single scenario."

Zine seems to be more of a format than anything else. Within the zines, I've seen anything from regular (if usually very rules-lite) RPGs to the type of structured or goal-oriented games I mentioned before.

 

[Thondor]

I've always heard them called "zines." I've also heard "short form" or "single scenario."

Interesting, the last one in particular seem to match my Scenario Game definition, which I don't think I have actually heard anyone use before!

Zine seems to be more of a format than anything else. Within the zines, I've seen anything from regular (if usually very rules-lite) RPGs to the type of structured or goal-oriented games I mentioned before.

I would agree that "Zine" is just format. A short "half-sized" saddle-stitched book. There's some overlap but there's plenty of adventures for other games that are released as zines, as well as games that are much more broad.
As an example of the former the Mothership, Troika and Mork Borg adventures I carry are all zines, while the Earth After Death is a 64 page open post-apocalytic "wasteland" game that is very broad -- it's the 0e version of a planned even larger game.