Last Updated on February 17, 2022 by OoS

It all started as a couple of books with impressive art by Simon Stålenhag, and then it turned into a tabletop RPG and an Amazon Prime show. Soon, Free League Publishing Tales from The Loop RPG for Adults, Family and Kids 13 Years Old and Up (Hardback, Full Color RPG)
will get its very own board game.

For this article, we will be reviewing the tabletop RPG and why so many people love it.

Free League Publishing Tales from The Loop RPG for Adults, Family and Kids 13 Years Old and Up (Hardback, Full Color RPG)
  • An award winning Role Playing Game now an Original series on Prime Video
  • Create your unique player character including skills, items, prides, problems, and relationships
  • Create your unique player character including skills, items, prides, problems, and relationships
  • English (Publication Language)

If you do not know about Tales from the Loop, it is set in an alternate timeline where the 80s and 90s were wicked and bizarre. It has a lot of pop culture references much like Stranger Things and it lets you create your very own version of E.T., Gremlins or even Ghostbusters. The story revolves around a bunch of kids trying to survive a dystopian decade.

Tales from The Loop Boardgame RPG Review

As for the tabletop RPG, you and the other players portray as a ground of kids who are discovering themselves and their own potential. Much like Stranger Things, these youngsters are the main protagonists and will have to save the town from impending doom.

Free League Publishing Tales from The Loop RPG for Adults, Family and Kids 13 Years Old and Up (Hardback, Full Color RPG)
  • An award winning Role Playing Game now an Original series on Prime Video
  • Create your unique player character including skills, items, prides, problems, and relationships
  • Create your unique player character including skills, items, prides, problems, and relationships
  • English (Publication Language)

You are a bunch of 10 to 15 year old children where robots and aliens have ruled the world. You and your friends must uncover the mysteries behind these supernatural existence before turning 16. Yes, the game revolves around an in-game yearly cycle and if you hit the age of 16, that player is out. There are no deaths in the game, just aging.

Free League Publishing Tales from The Loop RPG for Adults, Family and Kids 13 Years Old and Up (Hardback, Full Color RPG)

Each character has its unique perks and abilities that are blended beautifully with other characters. The difficulty comes in their ages. For example, one kid has a lot of unlocked skills already but she’s 14. The other may not have developed skills but he’s 10. It all depends on strategy.

Tales from the Loop also has very simple rules that any player can follow, which is why the game is one of the friendliest for beginners of tabletop RPG.

The main goal of the game is to discover why these beings exist while discovering your own self. The gameplay is a mix of The Sims with light action. Think of growing up as a sort of game that you must play through.

Free League Publishing Tales from The Loop RPG for Adults, Family and Kids 13 Years Old and Up (Hardback, Full Color RPG)
  • An award winning Role Playing Game now an Original series on Prime Video
  • Create your unique player character including skills, items, prides, problems, and relationships
  • Create your unique player character including skills, items, prides, problems, and relationships
  • English (Publication Language)

There are four tales in the game: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Each season is a set of random encounters for you to pproach. It is like The Goonies but in a futuristic 80s. One of the players will act as the GM or General Manager in which they can let the players go for a peaceful route where all they do is spend their youth like normal teenagers or become the bold and the brave and set foot onto dangerous journeys to know more about the sentient beings.

Free League Publishing Tales from The Loop RPG for Adults, Family and Kids 13 Years Old and Up (Hardback, Full Color RPG)

You and your friends will either travel on foot, on bikes, on public transports and even use a hovercraft. You may choose to sneak in the public swimming pool to have fun with friends or get into the action like following dinosaurs or investigate a criminal activity made by robots.

The game’s location involves Sweden and USA. You get to play on both Boulder City and Salt Lake City, Utah, depending on where the GM wants you to start out first.

Speaking of GM; while I did say it is a beginner-friendly tabletop game, you will need an experienced GM to make the experience better. There are a lot of loopholes in the game that only a good GM can fill in.

Free League Publishing Tales from The Loop RPG for Adults, Family and Kids 13 Years Old and Up (Hardback, Full Color RPG)

As for the book content, this is one of the most breathtaking tabletop art since the debut of D&D 5E. The illustrations are semi-realistic with lots of 80s pop culture references alongside odd creatures, rusty intimidating robot citizens and tall alien beings that looks like a hybrid between an AT-AT and the invaders from War of the Worlds.

It is a very good game to play with friends if you want something that is refreshing besides the usual mythical hack and slash like Dungeons & Dragons.

Free League Publishing Tales from The Loop RPG for Adults, Family and Kids 13 Years Old and Up (Hardback, Full Color RPG)
  • An award winning Role Playing Game now an Original series on Prime Video
  • Create your unique player character including skills, items, prides, problems, and relationships
  • Create your unique player character including skills, items, prides, problems, and relationships
  • English (Publication Language)
Is Tales from the Loop worth buying?

Yes it is very worth your money especially if you want to play a new type of tabletop RPG or if you want to get to know more about tabletop RPGs.

Is Tales from the Loop kid friendly?

For the most part, it is kid-friendly. However, there are some references thrown here and there that only adult players can understand.

Is Tales from the Loop similar to D&D?

If you are referring to tabletop RPG as a whole, yes. But as for rules and gameplay, it is much different. While D&D is more on traditional epic RPG, TftL is more like a life simulator with light action.