Saturday, February 12, 2022

Mail Room: Tales from the Loop

 

Got this in the mail today, a sort of interesting "kid-adventure" RPG in the spirit of movies like ET, Super 8, or Stranger Things. I like the concept, and it is an interesting shift away from the typical "violent party RPG" mentality. These are kids with families, school, chores, homework, and responsibilities - but latchkey enough they can get together for adventures into the strange and unknown. Here, the strange and unknown comes from the giant government-corporation particle accelerator facilities built under their hometowns (one in US, one in Sweden, but easily locatable anywhere in your own hometown if you would like).

This game is set in an alternate 1980s with all sorts of robots, anti-gravity, and other technology floating about while the world of the kids still is rooted in the familiar 80's technology level and mindset. The kids here are in an age range from 10-15. This is a game of wonder and amazement at the unknown as told through a kid's eyes.

There is a companion game called "Things from the Flood" set in the 1990s where the technology hard crashes with a "machine cancer" and has a more biological component, some horror themes, with older teens from 14-19. This feels more like a survival experience (of both the environment and the metaphors for a changing world and place in society) told through the lens of teen angst and adjustment.

This looks fun, sort of a throwback to the boxed games of the 80's and 90's like Paranoia with a clear setup and story, a sandbox world, a fun hook to jump into, and lots to do and explore - with a character driven focus.

More on this soon.

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