New School
Honey Heist
“It’s HoneyCon. You are about to undertake The Greatest Heist the World Has Ever Seen. Two things:
One: You have a complex plan that requires precise planning.
Two: You are a gosh darn bear."
If You Like: Ocean’s 11, We Bare Bears, Paddington, Honey, Honey, HONEY
Upper Elementary+
Optional Cartoon Violence
Super Cool Monster Hunting Club
“Adventurous children battling unseen monsters using improvised equipment. Involves a surprising amount of dress-up for a tabletop game, which is to say: some.
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Is that saucepan actually an advanced aluminum-alloy helmet? That cardboard tube actually a disguised katana? For the purposes of this game, yes.”
If You Like: Scooby Doo, Trollhunters, Gravity Falls, Solving Mysteries
Upper Elementary+
Optional Cartoon Violence
Foul Play
“2-4 mischievous geese are out to ruin someone’s day. Scratch that: everyone’s day. Play as one of four spite-fueled birds—Shifty, Rowdy, Phony or Chonky—each with their own unique way to wreak havoc.
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Annoy your victims and evade your rivals by misusing a measure of items: Spray people with the hose! Distract them with the radio!
Players sneak, honk, charm, and scrap—all in their pursuit of some spiteful little goal: Steal a jar of juicy jam, or humiliate the hipster that looked at you the wrong way.”
If You Like: Untitled Goose Game, Being Mischievous
Upper Elementary+
Optional Cartoon Violence
Wanderhome
“A pastoral fantasy role-playing game about traveling animal-folk, the world they inhabit, and the way the seasons change. It is a game filled with grassy fields, mossy shrines, herds of chubby bumblebees, opossums in sundresses, salamanders with suspenders, starry night skies, and the most beautiful sunsets you can imagine.”
If You Like: Redwall, Studio Ghibli, Taking a Long Walk in the Woods
Middle School+
No Violence
“Whether you’re a group of local heroes sent to investigate mysterious goings-on in the nearby haunted wood, or famous mercenaries plotting and scheming in the big city, Draw Steel makes building adventures and fighting monsters fun.” Dynamic Combat; Cinematic Action Fantasy!
Draw Steel
If You Like: Lord of the Rings, Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, Epic Fantasy
Middle School+
Violence
The Quiet Year
“A map game. You define the struggles of a community living after the collapse of civilization, and attempt to build something good within their quiet year. Every decision and every action is set against a backdrop of dwindling time and rising concern.”
If You Like: World-Building
Middle School+
Optional Violence
If You Like: World-Building, Crow People, Detailed Maps
Optional Violence
Yazeba's Bed and Breakfast
“A slice-of-life tabletop RPG about a heartless witch, a peaceful house, and all the folks who have made their home inside.
Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast is a very special game. It uses pre-set characters, quick-play chapters, and an adaptable ruleset unlike anything else out there. It takes less than a half hour to learn how to play and get started, but with new chapters and secrets to unlock folks can stick with the game for years and years.”
If You Like: Studio Ghibli, Gilmore Girls, Learning a Valuable Lesson
High School+
No Violence
Microscope
"Humanity spreads to the stars and forges a galactic civilization…
Fledgling nations arise from the ruins of the empire…
An ancient line of dragon-kings dies out as magic fades from the realm…
These are all examples of Microscope games. Want to explore an epic history of your own creation, hundreds or thousands of years long, all in an afternoon? That's Microscope.”
If You Like: World-Building
High School+
Optional Violence
Heart: The City Beneath
“About delving into a nightmare undercity that will give you everything you’ve ever dreamed of – or kill you in the process. It is a dungeon-crawling, story-forward tabletop RPG…that focuses on what characters have to lose in pursuit of their dreams in the chaotic darkness beneath the world.”
If You Like: Mordew
Adults Only
Violence
Slugblaster
“In the small town of Hillview, teenage hoverboarders sneak into other dimensions to explore, film tricks, go viral, and get away from the problems at home. It’s dangerous. It’s stupid. It’s got parent groups in a panic. And it’s the coolest thing ever. This is Slugblaster. A table-top rpg about teenagehood, giant bugs, circuit-bent rayguns, and trying to be cool.”
If You Like: Big Hero 6, 8th Grade, Futurama, Saga, Into the Spiderverse, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Coming of Age Stories
Adults Only
Optional Violence
Fiasco
“...engineer and play out stupid, disastrous situations, usually at the intersection of greed, fear, and lust. It’s like making your own Coen brothers movie, in about the same amount of time it’d take to watch one.”
If You Like: Blood Simple, Fargo, The Way of the Gun, Burn After Reading, When the Plan goes Horribly Wrong