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Tales from the Loop: Roleplaying in the '80s That Never Was
In 1954, the Swedish government ordered the construction of the world’s largest particle accelerator. The facility was complete in 1969, located deep below the pastoral countryside of Mälaröarna. The local population called this marvel of technology The Loop.
Acclaimed scifi artist Simon Stålenhag’s paintings of Swedish 1980s suburbia, populated by fantastic machines and strange beasts, have spread like wildfire on the Internet. Stålenhag’s portrayal of a childhood against a backdrop of old Volvo cars and coveralls, combined with strange and mystical machines, creates a unique atmosphere that is both instantly recognizable and utterly alien.
Now, for the first time, YOU will get the chance to step into the amazing world of the Loop. With your help, we will be able to create a beautiful printed RPG book about the Tales from the Loop.
This game is our third international RPG, after the critically acclaimed Mutant: Year Zero and Coriolis - The Third Horizon. The lead writer is the seasoned Swedish game writer Nils Hintze, backed up by the entire Free League team who handle project management, editing, and graphic design.
Additional writing in the game will be done by the award-winning and best-selling game writer and author Matt Forbeck, with twenty-seven novels and countless games published to date. Matt will be writing the alternative US campaign setting (read more below).
All art in the game is of course done by Simon Stålenhag himself. Most of the art will be drawn from the pages of the Tales from the Loop artbook - many scenarios in the game are based directly on illustrations in the artbook - but the RPG will contain some new original art as well, including the cover image.
Acclaimed scifi artist Simon Stålenhag’s paintings of Swedish 1980s suburbia, populated by fantastic machines and strange beasts, have spread like wildfire on the Internet. Stålenhag’s portrayal of a childhood against a backdrop of old Volvo cars and coveralls, combined with strange and mystical machines, creates a unique atmosphere that is both instantly recognizable and utterly alien.
Now, for the first time, YOU will get the chance to step into the amazing world of the Loop. With your help, we will be able to create a beautiful printed RPG book about the Tales from the Loop.
This game is our third international RPG, after the critically acclaimed Mutant: Year Zero and Coriolis - The Third Horizon. The lead writer is the seasoned Swedish game writer Nils Hintze, backed up by the entire Free League team who handle project management, editing, and graphic design.
Additional writing in the game will be done by the award-winning and best-selling game writer and author Matt Forbeck, with twenty-seven novels and countless games published to date. Matt will be writing the alternative US campaign setting (read more below).
All art in the game is of course done by Simon Stålenhag himself. Most of the art will be drawn from the pages of the Tales from the Loop artbook - many scenarios in the game are based directly on illustrations in the artbook - but the RPG will contain some new original art as well, including the cover image.
191 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2017
28 people are currently reading
468 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
May 1, 2020
This game is about me.
I was born in 1971 so my formative years, the age range and era that this game represents, are perfect. My memories and experiences are the things that this game evokes, and I clearly remember the style, fashion, music and games of the 1980s with nostalgia and extreme fondness.
The 1980s were my teenage years so everything that happened in that decade made a huge impression on me, with tabletop games, the emerging computer game market and the amazing adventure movies the era had to offer. Casting a shadow over all of this was the ongoing Cold War, a conflict that I had been born into and knew little about. However, the ever-present threat of nuclear conflagaration and the ongoing troubles in neighbouring countries were always pushed to the side, out of sight and out of mind. I was a teenager, so I had other, more important things to worry about such as the next school disco, or if I could get to the games shop in the next city to get hold of the newest roleplaying book I needed.
The Loop universe is the game form of artist Simon Stålenhag’s paintings of surburban Sweden in the 1980s, fantastic images of a normal landscape inhabited by robots, strange towers and peculiar wrecks. The images themselves are an amazing thing, and they not only create the atmosphere they give the visual style that’s prevalent throught the book. The 192 page hardcover has an excellent cover and the layout throughout is crisp, easy on the eye and easy to follow. One thing Free League always does well is presentation, and this book looks great.
The game is set on Mälaröarna, west of Stockholm, and concerns the ‘The Loop’, a particle accelerator created by the government agency Riksenergi. There’s another facility in America at Boulder City in Nevada, but you can create a Loop pretty much anywhere in the world. I’ve already made notes on one in the Peak District in England, hidden under the rolling hills with the towers rising high over Mam Tor. The book gives plenty of scope for your own adventures in your own part of the world, so no matter where you’re from the townyou’ve created, or even your home town, could have a Loop underneath. With robots working in all civilian sectors, magnetrine vessels floating through the air like cargo ships and liners, and strange creatures and incidents popping into existence because of the Loop, there’s plenty going on.
Players take the roles of Kids aged between ten and fifteen. The templates on offer are Bookworm, Computer Geek, Hick, Jock, Popular Kid, Rocker, Troublemaker, and Weirdo, although these are easily adaptable to other types of Kid the player may want to portray. They have normal lives with school and family troubles – elements that the game reflects really well – but they also go on adventures and experience the stranger things the Loop produces. Think ‘Stranger Things’ meets ‘The Goonies’ meets ‘Super 8’ meets ‘E.T.’ meets ‘The Explorers’ meets ‘Chocky’s Children’ meets just about any other child-focused adventure movie or TV show you can think of… kids on hair-raising adventures that grown-ups won’t ever believe, and they can only rely on themselves and each other to get through it.
The game encourages the player to create elements of the character that create something more than just some goofy teenager out of their depth; possible home troubles, their social circle, bullying, teacher trouble, hobbies and their relationships with the other Kids all make for some excellent story elements as well as some amazing roleplaying opportunities.
Players choose a Kid aged between ten and fifteen years, the older they are the more experienced they are but the less luck they have. They divide points between Attributes – Body, Tech, Heart and Mind – and these have relevant Skills. Rolls are dice pools of D6s, adding Attributes and Skills together to create a number of dice, and any that score a six garners a single success. They’re the same mechanics found in Free League’s previous games ‘Coriolis’ and ‘Mutant: Year Zero’ and they work just as well here. Low dice pools can be extremely frustrating with continued failed rolls, but that just makes the single six that sometimes appears all the more exhilirating.
Failing a task can hurt a Kid, but the children will never die. They can be hurt which results in a Condition, which can be emotional as well as a physical injury. To negate these Conditions, a Kid can be helped out by friends but can also turn to a supportive adult – a parent or a teacher or a kind relative – for help. This reduces the Condition and gets the Kid back on track for another adventure.
The Kids themselves get involved in Mysteries that are created by the Loop, Mysteries that the Kids become embroiled in whether it’s their fault or not, adventures that will introduce something that a child would find fantastical and possibly change them forever.
All said, the book is an excellent example of a collaborative storytelling game done right. There’s plenty of scope in here for the GM to create hair-raising adventures and play a traditional RPG where the player’s interact with the story the GM has created, but the game positively pushes for a more group-focused creative approach, where the players have a hand in the setting and the dynamics of the group. The relationships between the Kids and their peers are encouraged to help drive the narative and the roleplaying opportunities, so when the Kids reach their final goal or uncover the mystery the emotional impact is so much more intense.
So, how did we get on with it?
The Loop created under the Peak District is owned by Oxford Age, a government-sponsored firm that has just been privatised. The three towers, as seen on the front cover of the book, dominate the landscape and the small village of Stuttabury (a made up place) sits in their shadow. We created Stuttabury as it was something that we all had in common; we had all spent holidays as Kids in the Peak District or places like it so we knew it well.
One evening during summer holiday, as the Kids are playing in a stream, one of them sees something crawling down the side of the tower. Human-sized but with multiple legs, the shadow creeps down and disappears into the woods. The next day, sheep are found killed but not eaten across several fields…
The mix of Kids gave the game an immediate sense of reality beyond the real-world location we were playing in. A Bookworm, a Computer Geek and a Troublemaker made up the group and to give a sense of a ‘Stranger Things’ mystery (I asked the players to watch at least one of the seasons before we played) I introduced an NPC friend, a Weirdo. Inevitably, this NPC friend who lived on one of the farms that had their sheep killed, the first Kid to see the thing crawl down the tower, goes missing and the Kids, after failing to convince the adults that they saw this thing, have to find him themselves.
Straight away we were not only involved in the game’s plot but we were emotionally connected to it, as well. We had spent an hour creating the characters and deciding their relationships with each other, and we even ran through the last day of school before the holidays, with problems from uninterested teachers, bullies and social awkwardness. It wasn’t played as some kind of ‘this is how I wish I was at school’ angle, but in a more muted, ‘this is why I hated school’ way with no glorification and no ‘defeating the bully to the cheers of classmates’ revenge fantasy. The rules called out for an emotional reflection on not only how the Kid was at school but also gave enough hints to remind you what life, and the world, was like back then. Playing the Kids as normal children just trying to get by was incredibly rewarding and the connection that they had to each other drove the narrative. The players really felt they were involved.
Being a teenager of the 1980s was a huge advantage in the game for sure; the book explains the era but actually living it made it much easier for me as GM to evoke the period. The music, movies, fashion and the gloom of a Britain under Thatcher was easy to recreate, with references to the miner’s strike in the form of radio and television broadcasts, Live Aid, and the Kids getting excited about the new James Bond film ‘A View to a Kill’, which is what they were playing when they saw the thing crawling down the tower. In fact, the missing Kid was playing James Bond, so when they finally faced off with the thing it would not let him go and kept referring to the Kid as ‘my friend Bond’. It added a whole new level of reality to the game and paid off exceptionally well.
In truth, there’s nothing stopping you from setting the game in any other era; with a little tweaking it could be set earlier, or later, in the 1990s or the 2000s. However, the game’s heart is set firmly in the 1980s and the political, cultural and social framework are well represented by the setting. In fact, with the lack of mobile telephones, computers and all the gadgets we rely on these days ot makes for a much more intense world as you can’t rely on a text message or GPS to get you out of the predicament you’re in.
There’s also a cut-off point in the game; when a Kid reaches the age of 16 they retire from the adventuring lark. However, I see no reason why a group couldn’t create older characters and just cap the character creation points at the age of 16, and even go on to create adult characters for more mature stories. After the game we discussed what the Kids would be like all grown up, especially after experiencing the thing on the tower, and what would happen if they found evidence that would prove their stories were true after being disbelieved their whole lives. That’s a great concept, and it’s a story for another time.
But that’s what Tales from the Loop does, it pulls this story out of you. It recreates an age I love and miss dearly, and it takes you back to thinking and acting as a Kid, reckless and ignorant, and it gives you a three dimensional character with heart and drive, which is something that is sometimes sadly lacking in other RPGs.
Tales from the Loop is easily one of the best roleplaying games I’ve come across in many years. It offers a wonderful setting and concept that allows you to be as creative as you please but grounds it in a reality that everyone can identify with, one way or another. The setting of the book is most emotionally resonant with myself, being a child of the 1980s, but it can work as a straight forward adventure game for anyone of any age, and can even be moved to another decade with very few tweaks. I’m already having ideas of a game set in the 1960s.
If you’re looking for a crunchy simulation you’ll not find it here; the rules system is simple and light and focuses more on the story rather than the stats. If, however, you’re looking for a game that is not only rewarding on a storytelling level but an emotional one, too, you can’t go wrong with Tales from the Loop.
Highly recommended.
I was born in 1971 so my formative years, the age range and era that this game represents, are perfect. My memories and experiences are the things that this game evokes, and I clearly remember the style, fashion, music and games of the 1980s with nostalgia and extreme fondness.
The 1980s were my teenage years so everything that happened in that decade made a huge impression on me, with tabletop games, the emerging computer game market and the amazing adventure movies the era had to offer. Casting a shadow over all of this was the ongoing Cold War, a conflict that I had been born into and knew little about. However, the ever-present threat of nuclear conflagaration and the ongoing troubles in neighbouring countries were always pushed to the side, out of sight and out of mind. I was a teenager, so I had other, more important things to worry about such as the next school disco, or if I could get to the games shop in the next city to get hold of the newest roleplaying book I needed.
The Loop universe is the game form of artist Simon Stålenhag’s paintings of surburban Sweden in the 1980s, fantastic images of a normal landscape inhabited by robots, strange towers and peculiar wrecks. The images themselves are an amazing thing, and they not only create the atmosphere they give the visual style that’s prevalent throught the book. The 192 page hardcover has an excellent cover and the layout throughout is crisp, easy on the eye and easy to follow. One thing Free League always does well is presentation, and this book looks great.
The game is set on Mälaröarna, west of Stockholm, and concerns the ‘The Loop’, a particle accelerator created by the government agency Riksenergi. There’s another facility in America at Boulder City in Nevada, but you can create a Loop pretty much anywhere in the world. I’ve already made notes on one in the Peak District in England, hidden under the rolling hills with the towers rising high over Mam Tor. The book gives plenty of scope for your own adventures in your own part of the world, so no matter where you’re from the townyou’ve created, or even your home town, could have a Loop underneath. With robots working in all civilian sectors, magnetrine vessels floating through the air like cargo ships and liners, and strange creatures and incidents popping into existence because of the Loop, there’s plenty going on.
Players take the roles of Kids aged between ten and fifteen. The templates on offer are Bookworm, Computer Geek, Hick, Jock, Popular Kid, Rocker, Troublemaker, and Weirdo, although these are easily adaptable to other types of Kid the player may want to portray. They have normal lives with school and family troubles – elements that the game reflects really well – but they also go on adventures and experience the stranger things the Loop produces. Think ‘Stranger Things’ meets ‘The Goonies’ meets ‘Super 8’ meets ‘E.T.’ meets ‘The Explorers’ meets ‘Chocky’s Children’ meets just about any other child-focused adventure movie or TV show you can think of… kids on hair-raising adventures that grown-ups won’t ever believe, and they can only rely on themselves and each other to get through it.
The game encourages the player to create elements of the character that create something more than just some goofy teenager out of their depth; possible home troubles, their social circle, bullying, teacher trouble, hobbies and their relationships with the other Kids all make for some excellent story elements as well as some amazing roleplaying opportunities.
Players choose a Kid aged between ten and fifteen years, the older they are the more experienced they are but the less luck they have. They divide points between Attributes – Body, Tech, Heart and Mind – and these have relevant Skills. Rolls are dice pools of D6s, adding Attributes and Skills together to create a number of dice, and any that score a six garners a single success. They’re the same mechanics found in Free League’s previous games ‘Coriolis’ and ‘Mutant: Year Zero’ and they work just as well here. Low dice pools can be extremely frustrating with continued failed rolls, but that just makes the single six that sometimes appears all the more exhilirating.
Failing a task can hurt a Kid, but the children will never die. They can be hurt which results in a Condition, which can be emotional as well as a physical injury. To negate these Conditions, a Kid can be helped out by friends but can also turn to a supportive adult – a parent or a teacher or a kind relative – for help. This reduces the Condition and gets the Kid back on track for another adventure.
The Kids themselves get involved in Mysteries that are created by the Loop, Mysteries that the Kids become embroiled in whether it’s their fault or not, adventures that will introduce something that a child would find fantastical and possibly change them forever.
All said, the book is an excellent example of a collaborative storytelling game done right. There’s plenty of scope in here for the GM to create hair-raising adventures and play a traditional RPG where the player’s interact with the story the GM has created, but the game positively pushes for a more group-focused creative approach, where the players have a hand in the setting and the dynamics of the group. The relationships between the Kids and their peers are encouraged to help drive the narative and the roleplaying opportunities, so when the Kids reach their final goal or uncover the mystery the emotional impact is so much more intense.
So, how did we get on with it?
The Loop created under the Peak District is owned by Oxford Age, a government-sponsored firm that has just been privatised. The three towers, as seen on the front cover of the book, dominate the landscape and the small village of Stuttabury (a made up place) sits in their shadow. We created Stuttabury as it was something that we all had in common; we had all spent holidays as Kids in the Peak District or places like it so we knew it well.
One evening during summer holiday, as the Kids are playing in a stream, one of them sees something crawling down the side of the tower. Human-sized but with multiple legs, the shadow creeps down and disappears into the woods. The next day, sheep are found killed but not eaten across several fields…
The mix of Kids gave the game an immediate sense of reality beyond the real-world location we were playing in. A Bookworm, a Computer Geek and a Troublemaker made up the group and to give a sense of a ‘Stranger Things’ mystery (I asked the players to watch at least one of the seasons before we played) I introduced an NPC friend, a Weirdo. Inevitably, this NPC friend who lived on one of the farms that had their sheep killed, the first Kid to see the thing crawl down the tower, goes missing and the Kids, after failing to convince the adults that they saw this thing, have to find him themselves.
Straight away we were not only involved in the game’s plot but we were emotionally connected to it, as well. We had spent an hour creating the characters and deciding their relationships with each other, and we even ran through the last day of school before the holidays, with problems from uninterested teachers, bullies and social awkwardness. It wasn’t played as some kind of ‘this is how I wish I was at school’ angle, but in a more muted, ‘this is why I hated school’ way with no glorification and no ‘defeating the bully to the cheers of classmates’ revenge fantasy. The rules called out for an emotional reflection on not only how the Kid was at school but also gave enough hints to remind you what life, and the world, was like back then. Playing the Kids as normal children just trying to get by was incredibly rewarding and the connection that they had to each other drove the narrative. The players really felt they were involved.
Being a teenager of the 1980s was a huge advantage in the game for sure; the book explains the era but actually living it made it much easier for me as GM to evoke the period. The music, movies, fashion and the gloom of a Britain under Thatcher was easy to recreate, with references to the miner’s strike in the form of radio and television broadcasts, Live Aid, and the Kids getting excited about the new James Bond film ‘A View to a Kill’, which is what they were playing when they saw the thing crawling down the tower. In fact, the missing Kid was playing James Bond, so when they finally faced off with the thing it would not let him go and kept referring to the Kid as ‘my friend Bond’. It added a whole new level of reality to the game and paid off exceptionally well.
In truth, there’s nothing stopping you from setting the game in any other era; with a little tweaking it could be set earlier, or later, in the 1990s or the 2000s. However, the game’s heart is set firmly in the 1980s and the political, cultural and social framework are well represented by the setting. In fact, with the lack of mobile telephones, computers and all the gadgets we rely on these days ot makes for a much more intense world as you can’t rely on a text message or GPS to get you out of the predicament you’re in.
There’s also a cut-off point in the game; when a Kid reaches the age of 16 they retire from the adventuring lark. However, I see no reason why a group couldn’t create older characters and just cap the character creation points at the age of 16, and even go on to create adult characters for more mature stories. After the game we discussed what the Kids would be like all grown up, especially after experiencing the thing on the tower, and what would happen if they found evidence that would prove their stories were true after being disbelieved their whole lives. That’s a great concept, and it’s a story for another time.
But that’s what Tales from the Loop does, it pulls this story out of you. It recreates an age I love and miss dearly, and it takes you back to thinking and acting as a Kid, reckless and ignorant, and it gives you a three dimensional character with heart and drive, which is something that is sometimes sadly lacking in other RPGs.
Tales from the Loop is easily one of the best roleplaying games I’ve come across in many years. It offers a wonderful setting and concept that allows you to be as creative as you please but grounds it in a reality that everyone can identify with, one way or another. The setting of the book is most emotionally resonant with myself, being a child of the 1980s, but it can work as a straight forward adventure game for anyone of any age, and can even be moved to another decade with very few tweaks. I’m already having ideas of a game set in the 1960s.
If you’re looking for a crunchy simulation you’ll not find it here; the rules system is simple and light and focuses more on the story rather than the stats. If, however, you’re looking for a game that is not only rewarding on a storytelling level but an emotional one, too, you can’t go wrong with Tales from the Loop.
Highly recommended.
May 1, 2017
This book is every bit as gorgeous as the KS showed. The paper quality is especially outstanding. Layout is exceptional and I would consider this the new gold standard for RPGs. I love that at the beginning of each section they list subsection page numbers. It's the best "large" book layout I've seen. I might have tossed a copy of the character sheet in earlier, but now I'm quibbling.
The art is gorgeous and very evocative. Building a vibe with a group by sharing the art would be easy.
The setting is fantastic. I skipped the US (Boulder City) section, but there's a very cohesive feel and sense of depth without being buried with a massive data dump.
I really dig the system. It's simple and elegant. In some ways it feels very much like choosing from a PbtA playbook, but with more flexibility. As with the PbtA system it mechanically provides for PC and NPC relationships. I also like the balance of ability/luck dependent on character age.
I'll give it a 4/5 score (typos/editing issues, not system or layout.). I definitely want to get this to the table.
The art is gorgeous and very evocative. Building a vibe with a group by sharing the art would be easy.
The setting is fantastic. I skipped the US (Boulder City) section, but there's a very cohesive feel and sense of depth without being buried with a massive data dump.
I really dig the system. It's simple and elegant. In some ways it feels very much like choosing from a PbtA playbook, but with more flexibility. As with the PbtA system it mechanically provides for PC and NPC relationships. I also like the balance of ability/luck dependent on character age.
I'll give it a 4/5 score (typos/editing issues, not system or layout.). I definitely want to get this to the table.
March 29, 2019
I know I frequently compare stuff to Stranger Things, but guys, this is also like Stranger Things.
Note: This is a roleplaying book, so our MCs don't have names. They have character sheets. Anyway, I'll introduce you to my world, I'm going to review it as if our game were the book, so you get an idea of what Tales from the Loop is like.
It's the '80s in Sweden.
We have four characters, Kristoffer (the hick), Finn (the troublemaker), Tommy (the rocker) and Leo (the weirdo).
Kristoffer and Leo are cousins (as the game encourages family relationships). Kristoffer has seizures and keeps a German Shepherd as a companion. He lives on a farm with his large family, does chores and takes a bus to school. Just up the dirt road, Leo lives in a small house with his grandmother. Both of Leo's parents are working in Africa, and they rarely see him.
Leo was dating Finn, according to Finn (Leo denies it). Finn is the leader, the only rule breaker in the group. She's being raised by a drunk father and a step-mother who hates her. Because of this, she spends a lot of time with the boys, away from home.
Tommy is multiracial and multicultural, being raised by Filipino/Korean/American/Swedish parents, he conversationally speaks multiple languages. In the group, however, he tends to get lost in his own head. He wants to be a rocker, but his family expects more of him. Although he's quiet, he feels the need to take care of the rest of the group.
They've got a class in woodshop where they're making tables for the school, and when Peter -- their classmate -- goes missing, the four don't think much of it. But then, there are so many strange things happening. The librarian has books locked away, an alarm goes off every day at six, the janitor doesn't seem human, the birds are talking, and when the group returns to class, their teacher is gone too.
None of the adults notice anything, but our ragtag group of friends decide to take matters into their own hands, remodeling an abandoned boxcar as their new headquarters, the four are ready to take on the world.
This book covers a year, but I'm (narrator) still in Spring.
It's a wonderful game, easy to learn, with a lot of leeway for creativity. The character sheets are cool, and the book is beautiful.
March 5, 2020
One of my favorite settings and systems. Amazing world building and a game design that encourages really immersive storytelling from players.
April 14, 2020
TL;DR: This is an evocative and fun game fuelled by nostalgia and SF tropes. Although some of the mysteries that the kids face and the problems they have can be scary and dark, there's always a feeling of hope. The game engine is light and modern, and the production values and artwork superb.
--
Tales from the Loop is a RPG I helped create indirectly; I'd discovered the fantastic artwork of Simon Stålenhag on the internet a while before the RPG was released. I'd loved it, so when Fria Ligan announced a Kickstarter of an artbook of his work, I backed it straight away. One of the stretch goals was that they would create an RPG and give backers a PDF. Needless to say, that goal was met and Fria Ligan proceeded to create the game. They then Kickstarted the game itself and I backed it to get the full package (which included dice, a screen and a set of mysteries (scenarios) in a separate book.
Before I go any further, it's worth mentioning that, because I was born in the early 1970s, this RPG is addressing the period I was the same age as the characters that you get to play. It's a nostalgia trip for me.
Fria Ligan commonly release an alpha and beta version of the game for error trapping by backers, and I enjoyed working my way through the alpha when it landed. I played in a great scenario home-brewed by Evil Gaz at Furnace, and never really got back to reading the core book. I'd skimmed it (it looks delicious) and was content that I understood it enough to run if I needed to.
The launch of the game coincided nicely with the Stranger Things zeitgeist which rolled through geekdom; in the game you play a group of kids aged 10 to 15 typically, in the 1980s that Stålenhag's art depicts. You go on adventures together and solve mysteries. Adults are distant and kids have to fix things themselves. The kids cannot die in the adventure (they will always come back) but they can be broken physically or mentally which effectively takes them out of play as they cannot succeed at any test. Real life has the challenges of the daily grind; relationships, school, homework, bullies and family.
The game uses the Year Zero Engine, first seen in Mutant: Year Zero. This is a dice pool engine using standard d6's with a roll of a six being a success. Multiple sixes can cause better or more lasting effects. Failure can be avoided by spending a luck point to re-roll dice, or by pushing. Pushing will give you an ongoing condition that penalises dice rolls. The engine is quite swingy; it's possible to roll a bucket of dice and get nothing. The number of dice you roll is based on the governing attribute and any appropriate skill. You can get bonus from a number of things, including your character's iconic item if it's appropriate.
Two settings are presented for the Loop, a huge nuclear physics facility where weird science is carried out. The first is the original setting in the Mälaren Islands in Sweden and the second is set in the USA, in Boulder City, Nevada, beside the Hoover Dam and perilously close to the bright lights of Las Vegas. Personally, I'd go with the original, although the new Amazon Prime Video series of the setting (based in Ohio) suggests that it could well work in the USA. Just enough detail is given on the backgrounds for a GM to hang a game around. Detail is provided about the technology; in most cases this is reflected by a trait with a rating that shows how hard it is for a character to overcome (the number of successes needed). There are lists of music, films and more that get the 1980s vibe along with descriptions of what life was like then for the younger audience.
The chapter on creating 'The Kids' presents some archetypes (Bookworm, Jock, Weirdo, Popular Kid Troublemaker and more), and then walks you through generating a character. Your age determines how much luck and what level attributes you have. Your luck decreases and your attributes increase as you get older. Characters cease to be playable aged 15 (but you could always move them on to the standalone sequel game, Things from the Flood, which embraces the 1990s). Every kid has a problem that they need to overcome and a drive that motivates them. Relationships are developed with NPCs and the other players. There is some encouragement to play siblings.
There is a chapter describing how to create Mysteries for the kids to overcome. It discusses how you obtain a balance between everyday life and the mystery (alternating scenes is suggested) and the different phases of a mystery. Ways to establish the mood of the scenario are covered with discussion on how to run bigger mysteries and campaigns. It's good material.
Two ways of play are suggested; having a mystery landscape where the GM riffs off the character contacts, drives, problems and actions, and then a more traditional scenario. The landscape approach has a chapter, and then there are five chapters which cover a year of game time for the kids. The first chapter sets up the background to the mini-campaign; the subsequent four cover off an adventure each season. There's a good amount of variety and it shows how to build a campaign well.
The book has a decent index and table of contents. The layout is superb; clear and easy to read in a modern style. The book is a 192 page, full colour hardcover. Stålenhag's drawings are used throughout and you'll recognise them if you have the art book.
As many other reviewers have said, this is an evocative and fun game fuelled by nostalgia and SF tropes. Although some of the mysteries that the kids face and the problems they have can be scary and dark, there's always a feeling of hope. The game engine is light and modern, and the production values and artwork superb.
Highly recommended.
--
Tales from the Loop is a RPG I helped create indirectly; I'd discovered the fantastic artwork of Simon Stålenhag on the internet a while before the RPG was released. I'd loved it, so when Fria Ligan announced a Kickstarter of an artbook of his work, I backed it straight away. One of the stretch goals was that they would create an RPG and give backers a PDF. Needless to say, that goal was met and Fria Ligan proceeded to create the game. They then Kickstarted the game itself and I backed it to get the full package (which included dice, a screen and a set of mysteries (scenarios) in a separate book.
Before I go any further, it's worth mentioning that, because I was born in the early 1970s, this RPG is addressing the period I was the same age as the characters that you get to play. It's a nostalgia trip for me.
Fria Ligan commonly release an alpha and beta version of the game for error trapping by backers, and I enjoyed working my way through the alpha when it landed. I played in a great scenario home-brewed by Evil Gaz at Furnace, and never really got back to reading the core book. I'd skimmed it (it looks delicious) and was content that I understood it enough to run if I needed to.
The launch of the game coincided nicely with the Stranger Things zeitgeist which rolled through geekdom; in the game you play a group of kids aged 10 to 15 typically, in the 1980s that Stålenhag's art depicts. You go on adventures together and solve mysteries. Adults are distant and kids have to fix things themselves. The kids cannot die in the adventure (they will always come back) but they can be broken physically or mentally which effectively takes them out of play as they cannot succeed at any test. Real life has the challenges of the daily grind; relationships, school, homework, bullies and family.
The game uses the Year Zero Engine, first seen in Mutant: Year Zero. This is a dice pool engine using standard d6's with a roll of a six being a success. Multiple sixes can cause better or more lasting effects. Failure can be avoided by spending a luck point to re-roll dice, or by pushing. Pushing will give you an ongoing condition that penalises dice rolls. The engine is quite swingy; it's possible to roll a bucket of dice and get nothing. The number of dice you roll is based on the governing attribute and any appropriate skill. You can get bonus from a number of things, including your character's iconic item if it's appropriate.
Two settings are presented for the Loop, a huge nuclear physics facility where weird science is carried out. The first is the original setting in the Mälaren Islands in Sweden and the second is set in the USA, in Boulder City, Nevada, beside the Hoover Dam and perilously close to the bright lights of Las Vegas. Personally, I'd go with the original, although the new Amazon Prime Video series of the setting (based in Ohio) suggests that it could well work in the USA. Just enough detail is given on the backgrounds for a GM to hang a game around. Detail is provided about the technology; in most cases this is reflected by a trait with a rating that shows how hard it is for a character to overcome (the number of successes needed). There are lists of music, films and more that get the 1980s vibe along with descriptions of what life was like then for the younger audience.
The chapter on creating 'The Kids' presents some archetypes (Bookworm, Jock, Weirdo, Popular Kid Troublemaker and more), and then walks you through generating a character. Your age determines how much luck and what level attributes you have. Your luck decreases and your attributes increase as you get older. Characters cease to be playable aged 15 (but you could always move them on to the standalone sequel game, Things from the Flood, which embraces the 1990s). Every kid has a problem that they need to overcome and a drive that motivates them. Relationships are developed with NPCs and the other players. There is some encouragement to play siblings.
There is a chapter describing how to create Mysteries for the kids to overcome. It discusses how you obtain a balance between everyday life and the mystery (alternating scenes is suggested) and the different phases of a mystery. Ways to establish the mood of the scenario are covered with discussion on how to run bigger mysteries and campaigns. It's good material.
Two ways of play are suggested; having a mystery landscape where the GM riffs off the character contacts, drives, problems and actions, and then a more traditional scenario. The landscape approach has a chapter, and then there are five chapters which cover a year of game time for the kids. The first chapter sets up the background to the mini-campaign; the subsequent four cover off an adventure each season. There's a good amount of variety and it shows how to build a campaign well.
The book has a decent index and table of contents. The layout is superb; clear and easy to read in a modern style. The book is a 192 page, full colour hardcover. Stålenhag's drawings are used throughout and you'll recognise them if you have the art book.
As many other reviewers have said, this is an evocative and fun game fuelled by nostalgia and SF tropes. Although some of the mysteries that the kids face and the problems they have can be scary and dark, there's always a feeling of hope. The game engine is light and modern, and the production values and artwork superb.
Highly recommended.
January 31, 2022
Edit: The YouTube video of the livestream of the game is now available, here.
While I do think the success ratio on the dice makes this game a little bit too relentless (I can't help but wonder if house-ruling in 5s as qualified/imperfect successes and 6s as full successes might be a consideration), playing this was a freaking blast, and I've rarely come across a system that invokes a setting this centrally in every level of the gaming process—I felt like I was back in the 80s teenage years (which I did actually experience) where that sense of uncertainty about everything was just looming over the world, your town, your family, yourself...
I was lucky enough to take part in a game of this for a charity event as my first real playing experience, and the end result was an immersive, moving experience. I didn't expect the trips to moments of compassion/deep emotion amongst the tangles of adventure, and all in all, this was one of my favourite gaming experiences, ever.
While I do think the success ratio on the dice makes this game a little bit too relentless (I can't help but wonder if house-ruling in 5s as qualified/imperfect successes and 6s as full successes might be a consideration), playing this was a freaking blast, and I've rarely come across a system that invokes a setting this centrally in every level of the gaming process—I felt like I was back in the 80s teenage years (which I did actually experience) where that sense of uncertainty about everything was just looming over the world, your town, your family, yourself...
I was lucky enough to take part in a game of this for a charity event as my first real playing experience, and the end result was an immersive, moving experience. I didn't expect the trips to moments of compassion/deep emotion amongst the tangles of adventure, and all in all, this was one of my favourite gaming experiences, ever.
June 25, 2018
One of the most fun and evocative RPG books I've read in a long time, "Tales from the Loop" seems almost tailor made for me. The game mechanics are simple, characters and story take precedence over dice rolling. There's also a way of telling the story, through 'scenes' that I find intriguing, and would very much like to use. I could even see it working in some other games I might run, like "Call of Cthulhu." And the setting is wonderfully weird and nostalgic. The 80s that never was. It feels like all those kid adventure movies I watched and loved, but also like all those Stephen King adaptations, and "Stranger Things," and all that. I even like the semi-exotic setting of Sweden (or Nevada). Reading the book, I had dozens of ideas for adventures (here called 'mysteries'). And I had to start watching a bunch of the classics. "The Goonies" holds up, by the way. A few times I forgot that this isn't really intended for 'all ages.' You're likely adults or teens, playing as kids or young teens. There are actually some pretty dark and rough themes and concepts sprinkled throughout, stuff that a kid might find pretty disturbing.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the artwork. The game is inspired by the beautiful, sad, and deeply nostalgic artwork of Simon Stalenhag. The book is beautifully laid out, with copious artwork from Stalenhag, setting the mood very well.
I see why this won the Ennie (a prestigious award for role-playing games) the year it came out. This one is a winner.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the artwork. The game is inspired by the beautiful, sad, and deeply nostalgic artwork of Simon Stalenhag. The book is beautifully laid out, with copious artwork from Stalenhag, setting the mood very well.
I see why this won the Ennie (a prestigious award for role-playing games) the year it came out. This one is a winner.
Read
February 22, 2017181p "beta" PDF - looking much better, more polished and complete. Can't wait to get my hands on the full release, so much gorgeous artwork and a deceptively simple system.
June 21, 2018
Beautifully created and well put-together book. System seems simple but fun, and I can't wait to start running it!
June 26, 2020
There's so much to love about this. It takes a really charming, inventive setting, and gives you the tools to play around in it.
My favorite rules are the ones that really contribute to the tone of the game:
1. Kids don't die
2. The GM and players alternate, setting every other scene
3. Failing the roll does not mean failing the task, it means suffering a "complication" or other stressing thing. Success and failure are more narrative than mechanical.
I like to run games more rules-light than this game defaults to, but this book gives me the tools to do that easily. It is always easier to pare mechanics away than to add them.
My favorite rules are the ones that really contribute to the tone of the game:
1. Kids don't die
2. The GM and players alternate, setting every other scene
3. Failing the roll does not mean failing the task, it means suffering a "complication" or other stressing thing. Success and failure are more narrative than mechanical.
I like to run games more rules-light than this game defaults to, but this book gives me the tools to do that easily. It is always easier to pare mechanics away than to add them.
September 23, 2024
Very well-written and designed game, the art by Simon Stålenhag is superb, and a lot of care went into the layout and graphic design of the book. A full set of 4 adventures, which can be interlinked as a short campaign, is the cherry on top of the cake.
The alternative, american setting was a nice touch, but it's quite obvious that a lot of more thought was put into the swedish setting, which is particularly noticeable in the adventures (not an issue, since I was far more interested in the swedish setting anyway).
If there's one flaw I would point out, it's the inherent philosophy to the game, according to which nothing that happens during the Mysteries really has an impact in the world, and everything is forgotten or explained away after the end (except, of course, to things happening to the Kid and their surroundings during the "normal life" scenes). It would have been less noticeably an issue if it weren't for the pre-written adventures themselves, which once or twice really show how unexciting it is that there's never really actual lasting consequences to failing to solve the Mysteries. But it's a design choice I can understand, and that most likely will resonate with a lot of people more than it did with me.
The alternative, american setting was a nice touch, but it's quite obvious that a lot of more thought was put into the swedish setting, which is particularly noticeable in the adventures (not an issue, since I was far more interested in the swedish setting anyway).
If there's one flaw I would point out, it's the inherent philosophy to the game, according to which nothing that happens during the Mysteries really has an impact in the world, and everything is forgotten or explained away after the end (except, of course, to things happening to the Kid and their surroundings during the "normal life" scenes). It would have been less noticeably an issue if it weren't for the pre-written adventures themselves, which once or twice really show how unexciting it is that there's never really actual lasting consequences to failing to solve the Mysteries. But it's a design choice I can understand, and that most likely will resonate with a lot of people more than it did with me.
Read
December 20, 2024I have classified this as urban fantasy because it is late and I am tired: inspired by Stefan Stalenhag paintings of a sf suburbia, this takes place in the '80s that never was, which means you all live in a small town where a particle accelerator project accelerates the development of robots and other sf-weirdness. (So neither urban nor fantasy and definitely not what we mean by "urban fantasy", but it's so whimsical in its use of science that it's really more fantasy.) There are 6 overarching themes to the game, which mainly boil down to: the PCs are on their own because adults are useless; and they cannot die (but they can be removed from play through, for instance, having their family move away because they are disturbed about what's happening to their child).
It is a game very self-consciously mixing themes and feelings, like: the core book has four adventures of a disgraced scientist trying to avenge herself on her old colleagues, involving, in one adventure, time travel to get dinosaur eggs, and in another, a tragic robot who thinks it's a human. That might be odd, but it is, mostly, a delight, heavily informed by Stalenhag's delightful art; and the rules of character creation always remind us that these are kids, who have to balance every day mundanity with the encroaching weirdness of a film festival reprogramming people or etc.
The adventure books ... don't quite work for me; they all include some full-fleshed adventures, along with some adventure seeds (all inspired by some popular song of the period), but I'm not sure why they don't work for me. Partly I think it's because of the writing. For one thing, the game is about two small towns, one in Sweden (where Free League publishes) and one in the US (because that's the biggest game market), and the adventures are all written to be transposable, which is fine, and I even sort of like how they include two names for every character, one Swedish, one USian. (Though I find it funny that they have a Swedish character named Linda and decided to change that for the US setting.) But it does make the reading a little noisier, and I do think that the adventures could be laid out differently to help the reader. Or maybe: as a ~40 year old, I have less time to delve and want something that's more of an outline.
I also read the expansion/stand-alone game Things from the Flood, which advances the story of the particle accelerator to the 90s, so instead of the shadow of the cold war, you are dealing with the encroachment of neo-liberal capitalism. So in the 80s, the Loop was a government project, in the 90s, it's been taken over by a corporation, and the flood in the title is some tainted water that has leaked (from somewhere) into the particle accelerator and into the town's environs, bringing with it a whole host of other, worse problems than before. Whereas in the 80s, the characters were kids who could never die, here they are teens, with teen-sized relationship problems. It seems like a lot of fun.
This was part of a Free League Humble Bundle that includes
* The Starter Set
* Tales from the Loop
* Our Friends the Machines (adventures)
* Out of Time (adventures)
* Things from the Flood
***
2024 ETA: I have now bought all the books, including
* They Grow Up So Fast
They Grow Up So Fast is four adventures which take place in England (or alternately, America or Sweden -- they're still doing that thing where they provide two names for everyone; honestly wish they would just set it in one place and then have a small section in the back that talks about how to move it to another location). A soon-to-be-disgraced scientist accidentally tears a hole in reality, letting a creature through that lays an egg. Soon the PCs have to help rear the creature, avoid the bullies, and deal with the obsessed scientist (who becomes their science teacher). There's some things about the game that I still don't love -- and it feels very linear as adventures, like: the creature needs a special metal that is used in modern high-tech, so _of course_ there's really only one place to get it. This doesn't feel like a game that rewards high-level improv. But for capturing the 80s, Amblin-vibe, this does a nice job.
It is a game very self-consciously mixing themes and feelings, like: the core book has four adventures of a disgraced scientist trying to avenge herself on her old colleagues, involving, in one adventure, time travel to get dinosaur eggs, and in another, a tragic robot who thinks it's a human. That might be odd, but it is, mostly, a delight, heavily informed by Stalenhag's delightful art; and the rules of character creation always remind us that these are kids, who have to balance every day mundanity with the encroaching weirdness of a film festival reprogramming people or etc.
The adventure books ... don't quite work for me; they all include some full-fleshed adventures, along with some adventure seeds (all inspired by some popular song of the period), but I'm not sure why they don't work for me. Partly I think it's because of the writing. For one thing, the game is about two small towns, one in Sweden (where Free League publishes) and one in the US (because that's the biggest game market), and the adventures are all written to be transposable, which is fine, and I even sort of like how they include two names for every character, one Swedish, one USian. (Though I find it funny that they have a Swedish character named Linda and decided to change that for the US setting.) But it does make the reading a little noisier, and I do think that the adventures could be laid out differently to help the reader. Or maybe: as a ~40 year old, I have less time to delve and want something that's more of an outline.
I also read the expansion/stand-alone game Things from the Flood, which advances the story of the particle accelerator to the 90s, so instead of the shadow of the cold war, you are dealing with the encroachment of neo-liberal capitalism. So in the 80s, the Loop was a government project, in the 90s, it's been taken over by a corporation, and the flood in the title is some tainted water that has leaked (from somewhere) into the particle accelerator and into the town's environs, bringing with it a whole host of other, worse problems than before. Whereas in the 80s, the characters were kids who could never die, here they are teens, with teen-sized relationship problems. It seems like a lot of fun.
This was part of a Free League Humble Bundle that includes
* The Starter Set
* Tales from the Loop
* Our Friends the Machines (adventures)
* Out of Time (adventures)
* Things from the Flood
***
2024 ETA: I have now bought all the books, including
* They Grow Up So Fast
They Grow Up So Fast is four adventures which take place in England (or alternately, America or Sweden -- they're still doing that thing where they provide two names for everyone; honestly wish they would just set it in one place and then have a small section in the back that talks about how to move it to another location). A soon-to-be-disgraced scientist accidentally tears a hole in reality, letting a creature through that lays an egg. Soon the PCs have to help rear the creature, avoid the bullies, and deal with the obsessed scientist (who becomes their science teacher). There's some things about the game that I still don't love -- and it feels very linear as adventures, like: the creature needs a special metal that is used in modern high-tech, so _of course_ there's really only one place to get it. This doesn't feel like a game that rewards high-level improv. But for capturing the 80s, Amblin-vibe, this does a nice job.
May 18, 2017
I backed the Kickstarter for Tales from the Loop on a whim, mainly because the artwork was so beautiful and intriguing. I'm happy to say that Free League has created an RPG just as beautiful and intriguing as the artwork that inspired it.
As others have said, the quality and layout of the book is great. I was expecting to get a digest-size book and instead got something more like a textbook, similar to other, better-known RPGs. Nearly every page has one of those awesome paintings depicting crazy robots in everyday settings.
As for the game itself, I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds like a lot of fun. The setting is an alternate 1980s where major scientific discoveries have made mad science-y occurrences almost commonplace. The players portray a group of kids who set out to solve mysteries involving robots, dinosaurs, and even stranger things. The included adventure provides a complete campaign story, and while it may be considered by some to be too railroady, there is also a description of the whole setting with lots of potential story hooks that can offer a more sandbox-type game.
The only reason I'm knocking it down a star is that at one point the text says that example character sheets are provided at the back of the book when in fact there are none. It would have been great to see examples, especially for an RPG newbie like me. That said, this is a high-quality book, and I'm eager to try the game.
As others have said, the quality and layout of the book is great. I was expecting to get a digest-size book and instead got something more like a textbook, similar to other, better-known RPGs. Nearly every page has one of those awesome paintings depicting crazy robots in everyday settings.
As for the game itself, I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds like a lot of fun. The setting is an alternate 1980s where major scientific discoveries have made mad science-y occurrences almost commonplace. The players portray a group of kids who set out to solve mysteries involving robots, dinosaurs, and even stranger things. The included adventure provides a complete campaign story, and while it may be considered by some to be too railroady, there is also a description of the whole setting with lots of potential story hooks that can offer a more sandbox-type game.
The only reason I'm knocking it down a star is that at one point the text says that example character sheets are provided at the back of the book when in fact there are none. It would have been great to see examples, especially for an RPG newbie like me. That said, this is a high-quality book, and I'm eager to try the game.
April 14, 2024
Tales from the Loop has simple, unexceptional rules, and somehow manages to produce magical results. I've run the short introductory campaign Four Seasons of Mad Science twice now, once for adults and once for children, and both groups fell in love.
The adults are a group of parents, and it's hilarious for us to embody the foibles of the young. We love making the sorts of mistakes and getting into the kinds of trouble that drive us crazy when our kids do it. It's an experienced group of roleplayers, so I give them the spotlight and let them frame the Everyday Life scenes. They often prepare them in advance -making my job as GM blissfully easy for once. You would think that authorial control would distance them from their own characters, but instead they grow fond of them and of the other children in the group. A lot of our mystery games become too focused on the plot and the characters fade into the background, but not here. Then when the action heats up and I take the reins as GM a switch is flipped and my players get nervous about what will happen to the beloved characters. Luckily, Tales from the Loop has my favorite rule: PC death is impossible. This gives the players freedom to portray fallible children who make mistakes and panic in the face of danger. The protagonists might become frustrated, angry, exhausted, but never suffer lasting consequences. This is a story about kids having difficult lives that they escape from into adventure. It's not Call of Cthulhu where a wrong move is fatal and leaves the player feeling the fool. That let's the players experience thrill and fear, but not stress.
The children, on the other hand, feel no distance between themselves and their characters. I have to prepare Everyday Life scenes for them myself, but I keep them brief. They squirm when their character forgets their homework, or gets home past curfew. They see Everyday Life as something to be endured, but that's only because they can't see how it grounds them in their parts. Then the adventure starts and they love it. The life of 80s Swedish kids might as well be Harry Potter or Spy Kids in terms of freedom and wonder. Add in mad science and dangerous escapades and they're thrilled.
I'm a big fan of games like Apocalypse World or Blades in the Dark with intricate systems, but I've got to say that Tales from the Loop has been a bigger hit than anything else. The simplicity works amazingly well for children, and the character focus is clutch for the adults. Could the mechanics be better? I think probably, but I'm not sure it would improve the experience at all. That said, I do think this works particularly well for players in their early teens and forties. 20-30 year olds might not connect with the material as well, but that's just a theory.
I highly recommend Tales from the Loop and I look forward to checking out the supplements.
The adults are a group of parents, and it's hilarious for us to embody the foibles of the young. We love making the sorts of mistakes and getting into the kinds of trouble that drive us crazy when our kids do it. It's an experienced group of roleplayers, so I give them the spotlight and let them frame the Everyday Life scenes. They often prepare them in advance -making my job as GM blissfully easy for once. You would think that authorial control would distance them from their own characters, but instead they grow fond of them and of the other children in the group. A lot of our mystery games become too focused on the plot and the characters fade into the background, but not here. Then when the action heats up and I take the reins as GM a switch is flipped and my players get nervous about what will happen to the beloved characters. Luckily, Tales from the Loop has my favorite rule: PC death is impossible. This gives the players freedom to portray fallible children who make mistakes and panic in the face of danger. The protagonists might become frustrated, angry, exhausted, but never suffer lasting consequences. This is a story about kids having difficult lives that they escape from into adventure. It's not Call of Cthulhu where a wrong move is fatal and leaves the player feeling the fool. That let's the players experience thrill and fear, but not stress.
The children, on the other hand, feel no distance between themselves and their characters. I have to prepare Everyday Life scenes for them myself, but I keep them brief. They squirm when their character forgets their homework, or gets home past curfew. They see Everyday Life as something to be endured, but that's only because they can't see how it grounds them in their parts. Then the adventure starts and they love it. The life of 80s Swedish kids might as well be Harry Potter or Spy Kids in terms of freedom and wonder. Add in mad science and dangerous escapades and they're thrilled.
I'm a big fan of games like Apocalypse World or Blades in the Dark with intricate systems, but I've got to say that Tales from the Loop has been a bigger hit than anything else. The simplicity works amazingly well for children, and the character focus is clutch for the adults. Could the mechanics be better? I think probably, but I'm not sure it would improve the experience at all. That said, I do think this works particularly well for players in their early teens and forties. 20-30 year olds might not connect with the material as well, but that's just a theory.
I highly recommend Tales from the Loop and I look forward to checking out the supplements.
October 25, 2018
Inspired by the Science Fiction artwork & storytelling of Simon Stålenhag, this tabletop RPG core rulebook has all the instructions players and GM's alike will need for crafting their own collaborative role playing game sessions set in this fictional 80s that never was. GMs can set the action in either Stålenhag's original location(s) in rural Sweden, west of Stockholm, or else use the alternative American location set in Boulder City, Nevada (near the actual Hoover Dam). Players create tween and teen characters between the ages of 10 and 15 and must solve personal problems and unravel mysteries spun by the GM. The rules are flexible enough for GMs to set the fictional locale anywhere in the world, with modest tweaks. One unique aspect of this RPG is that PC's cannot die, it's against the rules & spirit of the game. The PCs can be put in grave danger, can be scared catatonic, etc, but death is not in the cards, but failure definitely is. I recommend watching sample "play throughs" that various gaming groups have posted to their YouTube channel to get a better "feel" for the game.
May 14, 2017
Skøn lille rollespils bog. Den giver mig VIRKELIGT mange ideer til rollespil, men igen - den rammer også..den perfekte Stephen King'ske og -Spielberg'ske feel, som jeg elsker så højt.
Et rollespil om børn, der løser mysterier, i en verden hvor 80'erne gik amok teknologisk - men ellers er alting basalt set det samme. Så, du har den kolde krig og Michael Jackson, men du har også kæmpe robotter, flyvende transport og androider.
Børnene bor nær det her kæmpe videnskabs/militærkompleks, hvor alting går ned. Det betyder, at en masse 'falder ud' af komplekset, og børnene er dem, der løser mysterierne.
Bogen har desuden 2 kampagner: en sandkasse, hvor der er bygget en by, man kan gå på eventyr i - og en mere strømlinet, klassisk rollespilskampagne.
Et rollespil om børn, der løser mysterier, i en verden hvor 80'erne gik amok teknologisk - men ellers er alting basalt set det samme. Så, du har den kolde krig og Michael Jackson, men du har også kæmpe robotter, flyvende transport og androider.
Børnene bor nær det her kæmpe videnskabs/militærkompleks, hvor alting går ned. Det betyder, at en masse 'falder ud' af komplekset, og børnene er dem, der løser mysterierne.
Bogen har desuden 2 kampagner: en sandkasse, hvor der er bygget en by, man kan gå på eventyr i - og en mere strømlinet, klassisk rollespilskampagne.
October 13, 2018
Excellent setting, great art, rules that seem simple but a great support for the narrative. In general, this is a great corebook - but I'm ducking a single star for the weirdly off-theme adventure ideas. The whole book up until they introduce the Four Seasons of Mad Science campaign seems mostly whimsical, light on mature themes and generally unique, different from many other RPGs. But then the suggested scenarios immediately take a dark turn and in general offer mostly serious, sometimes pretty grim and even gory plots. Not what I was expecting and certainly not what I was hoping to get out of the book.
Thankfully, because this is an RPG, I can just ignore it and run my own, lighter adventures using all the stuff that's good about it.
Thankfully, because this is an RPG, I can just ignore it and run my own, lighter adventures using all the stuff that's good about it.
April 23, 2019
if you have seen the Netflix series Stranger Things and now you want more? Now you can create your own 80's adventure with the Goonies flair in an alternative world.
This is a pen and paper roleplaying game. In the book there is an adventure to go and the book offers suggestions how to create your own.
This is a pen and paper roleplaying game. In the book there is an adventure to go and the book offers suggestions how to create your own.
February 18, 2020
The background and setting is top notch, especially if you regard it as 'reality imagined by kids' rather than the absolute truth of the world. Some of the system stuff is less appealing, and though I am currently running the game for my group we have skipped a few of the mechanics in places. Still great fun though.
January 19, 2020
The setting is a beautiful rendition of a fantasy 80s childhood. The system is rules light and draws on the tropes of all things Breakfast Club, Goonies, 16 Candles, Dark, Stranger Things, ET, Steven King and the darker side of Jim Henson. I cant wait to get a group together to try playing
August 15, 2021
This is a great game with a focus on roleplay and narrative over tactics and combat. With its super simple mechanics, if you have rookie roleplayers who are into the theme or find it nostalgic, it might be the best introduction to roleplaying you can find. Also, the art is absolutely phenomenal.
October 2, 2021
Free League has become the staple of great games with elegant, simple systems. And this is one of their flagship games. Beautiful, evocative, simple. 80s nostalgia as it has to be done, beautifully diagrammed, with art directly drawn from the creator of the idea. One of the best contemporary RPGs!
May 12, 2018
Wonderful game concept and world building.
July 16, 2018
Fun fun fun!
August 5, 2018
This is a first class Rpg system. Simple, easy to run. I'm looking forward to using the system. Especially great if you were a kid in the 80s or if you are a fan of the 80s.
September 5, 2018
Gateway into the world of role playing. Great artwork and pleasurable with a good GM.
April 29, 2019
I had the good fortune to be in a campaign last year -- the setting was nostalgic and joyful, the rules non-intrusive.
April 8, 2020
A fantastic RPG treatment of outstanding art. Basically how to play yourself into those 80s coming if age sci-fi movies we all loved.
April 13, 2020
Nostalgia.
Everyday Life.
The Machines.
Everyday Life.
The Machines.
December 22, 2024
Starting to read through more core books
This one is awesome. Could be the base of a bunch of different cool stuff too.
This one is awesome. Could be the base of a bunch of different cool stuff too.
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