Tales of the loop is an RPG from Miodiphious and the Free League. It is set in the 80’s that wasn’t and uses the Mutant Year Zero ruleset as it’s framework. Being someone that has quite enjoyed the Mutant Year Zero Rules, and movies like the Goonies and the show Stranger Things, which the game tries to evoke the wonder and magic of, I quickly backed this project when it showed up on Kickstarter. I must say I am quite surprised by the finished product and not at all disappointed.
Mutant: Year Zero’s ruleset is and interesting game where you build D6 dice pools for actions and require a 6 on a die to succeed. If you fail the first roll, you can always push yourself and roll again with potentially additional consequences added to the situation whether you succeed this second roll or not. In Tales from the Loop, you always take a condition if you reroll, like Angry or Afraid. This aspect reminded me of Masks: A New Generations. There is one exception to this rule, however, and that is a mechanic called luck. Luck is a free reroll, and how many you get per session is determined by your age. If you Ten you get 5 if you are fifteen you get 0.
Another thing I wasn’t expecting in the game is there are no combat rules, there is no initiative, and your players cannot die. This may turn some people off but I found it refreshing and really fit the setting. Your kids can still get into combat with an angry robot or a strange dinosaur, but you play kids you are not really going toe to toe with these things, instead, you basically must overcome them, like a quick descriptive skill challenge. If you players understand that they can have a lot of fun with it.
I found in the quick session I ran it played a lot like a Powered by the Apocalypse game, which was super cool. The game wants to make sure that you intermix the mundane life of being a kid in the 80’s with all the strange and fantastical stuff they are seeing. So, dealing with your bully of an older brother, your parents fighting and the kid next door you’ve had a crush on since 2nd grade all play a part in the game as well. It keeps the game grounded (while your parents might ground you when they find out you snuck into that ‘abandoned bunker’)
Character creation is quick and has a few neat world building and party connections elements thrown in. It would help to have a few more character types for your players to choose from; as listed there are quite a few that are a stretch to see hanging out together after school. (Hick, Jock, Computer Geek…)
I grew up in the 80’s watching the 80’s adventure movies so this game really punches my nostalgia button, but I am not sure how it will play out for the younger crowd. The rules I think would be really great for kids to learn and play and have a lot of fun, but I am would think the 80’s tech (Walkman, Arcades, large home computers) would be quite foreign ideas so the tone would be quite different.
Overall though, I think Tales from the Loop is going to be one of my new “Go-To” Games, also a game that I’ll probably use to introduce a few people to the great world of Role-playing.
My 20 Sided Life 