Tabletop roleplaying for kids

A friend recently asked what tabletop roleplaying games I recommend for getting kids into the hobby. I think Dungeons & Dragons is a bad pick: too complicated and violent.

To my mind, Fate Accelerated is ideal for kid games. It is easy to understand, very rigorously designed, and a good introduction to how TTRPGs work. I have a play report that is amazeballs:

So me, sitting there listening to them start to form their characters, I already I like where this is going. There’s plenty of variation in character types, and it’s easy enough to say they’re childhood friends who hang out and have adventures, and I’m getting ideas for what we might do for the next 90 minutes.

It was around here when they started saying “This is so fun!” They’re not even playing yet.

Because this was their first time playing anything like this, they didn’t bring any gamer-baggage to the table. This included, but was not limited to, second-guessing my every move. Nothing would be cliche to them! So I started things out in a tavern.

Another great Kid Game Play Report:

“We’re warning them of a battle!” Sebastian said.

“But not a bad battle,” Elliot said.

“A bad battle!” Sebastian said.

Elliot looked worried. Uh oh, a bad battle. Those kids are so cool I can’t even tell you.

Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple is a TTRPG specifically designed for kids with much of the flavor of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It has the advantage that the book is gorgeous.

I bought Cat a while back because I love this story the designer tells:

I never need to pitch this game.

Standing behind my booth at a game convention, I have to pitch everything. Houses of the Blooded, Thirty, Discordia … everyone asks, “What’s this game about?”

I give them the standard pitch for those games. I’ve got them down to thirty seconds. A catch phrase and some follow-up to anticipated questions.

But Cat? No pitch necessary. When someone asks, “What’s this about?” I always say the exact same thing.

“It’s about house cats who protect their owners from Monsters they can’t see.”

And that’s it. That’s all I need. I’ve got the money in my hands and they’re walking away with the game.

Plus the character attributes are Claws, Coat, Face, Fangs, Legs, and Tail. Of course Tail is used for magic! This is such a great idea for both kids and adults that I know two similar games: Magical Kitties Save The Day is designed to be kid-accessible, and Fate Core (Accelerated’s big brother and my favorite TTRPG engine) has The Secrets of Cats.

A few games I have not looked at closely but have heard good things from smart people about:

• Hero Kids is designed to be kid-accessible with a lot of D&D’s flavor and tops a lot of kid-TTRPG lists
• Little Wizards is designed for young kids, with a cartoon-y feel
• No Thank You, Evil! is also designed for young kids, and includes very nifty materials

Golden Sky Stories is made for Miyazaki-ish storytelling

• Wanderhome is also about colorful critters having adventures, designed to avoid violence in the storytelling, suited to sharp kids and imaginative teens

Last but not least, this reminds me of Puppetland:

The players take the roles of puppets — finger puppets, hand puppets, marionettes, or shadow puppets in a horrific world ruled by the bloodthirsty Punch.

That one is not for children.

---

And if you are an adult running a game for kids, @SixHitPoints has some advice:

My encounters, by typical standards were totally cliche: fight dinosaurs, cross a rope bridge, kill pirates. Guess what? They LOVED it.

Why? Becauxse fighting dinosaurs is AWESOME. Crossing a rope bridge is just like in the movies only YOU’RE DOING IT. Fighting pirates? YES PLEASE