Tales from the Loop RPG Starter Set

by Nils Hintze, Tomas Härenstam, Matt Forbeck

As the robot thundered across the rye field towards the police van I realized a line had been crossed, and that it had been crossed many hours earlier that day. Maybe it happened when we broke into the warehouse down at Sätuna, when Olof found that strange backpack. Strange that I didn’t realize it then – when Olof slipped his hand into the big glove and the Thing under the tarp came to life. Or did it happen even earlier, when we ran away from home before lunch? Summer days are so full of events, it’s hard to remember how they all fit together.

Simon Stålenhag is the internationally lauded artist and author of Tales From the Loop and Things From the Flood, narrative art books that stunned the world with a vision of an alternate Scandinavia in the 1980s and ‘90s where technology has invaded the tranquil landscapes to form an entirely new universe of the eerie and the nostalgic.

Now, you can step into the amazing world of the Loop. In this tabletop roleplaying game based on Simon Stålenhag’s books, you’ll play teenagers solving spectacular mysteries connected to the Loop – just make sure you’re home in time for dinner. This Starter Set includes everything you need to begin:

An illustrated rulebook explaining how to play the game
A complete Mystery called The Recycled Boy by Nils Hintze
Five pre-generated characters ready for you play
A large, full-color map of land of the Loop
Ten engraved custom dice

Genres: Role Playing Games, Science Fiction, Gaming

58 pages, Paperback

Published June 2, 2020

Reviews

[Jesse Martinez-Kratz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to the world and the mechanics, but very short.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great starter set and introduction to the setting and mechanics of the Tales from the Loop RPG.

I am (perhaps unfairly) docking a star because, while its contents is quality, the asking price is a bit too high for what you get.

[Leonardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This starter set is a nice introduction to the world of Tales from the Loop that works even without prior experience of Simon Stalenhag's subdued and melancholic surrealist art or the Amazon Prime series (but certainly would benefit from prior knowledge of both). It also seems like a nice contribution to the "kids on bikes" subgenre (although this is my first approach to this particular RPG theme). The actual game system is pretty simple and straightforward and it does not rely too much on pages of endless lists and complex mechanics. Instead, it relies heavily on the development of a subtle shade of the uncanny and, of course, character development (quite appropriate, as all the players take on the roles of "The Kids"). Players who are looking for a hack-and-slash experience will be disappointed, but anyone else looking to expand their experience beyond the usual RPG fare should be in for a treat (or at least, for a taste of something different).

[Brent Knorr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really nice starter set. The materials are high quality, the included double sided map is printed on very heavy paper as are the covers on the Rules book and the Adventure book. The pages in the books are on glossy paper, as are the five loose pregenerated characters.
It comes with 10 six sided custom dice, which are pretty standard in quality and not actually required, regular dice would work fine.
The 32 page rulebook does a good job of describing the settings and the rules with enough examples to make the relatively simple rules easy to understand.
The 16 page adventure looks like it would be fun. There are a few areas that are left a little vague for the players and the GM to figure out on their own, primarily some "Starting Scenes" for the Kids (Player Characters) and some additional "Scenes From Everyday Life" a little further into the adventure. This is fine because one of the features of the game is that the Kids stories are supposed to be a collaboration between the players and the gamemaster. The core of the adventure is well described, with a couple of handouts that can be copied for the players, or downloaded and printed from the website.
Having said all of that, I don't know that I would ever run this game. While I enjoy it when players come up with great backgrounds for their characters, my GMing style isn't really that open to the level of collaboration that this game requires. I'm also not big on running kid based adventures. It's been a long time since I was a kid, and I don't have children, so I'm not sure I could do a good job relating. It is set an an alternate version of the 80's, which is a decade I'm very familiar with, so I would have that going for me :)
I do think this could be a lot of fun to play with the right group of people, and even if I don't GM it, I could see playing it a couple of times.

[Francisco Becerra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb introduction to one of the most simple yet innovative RPGs of our days. The included adventure captures fantastically the spirit of the game, giving enough gravitas to the pre-created characters. Fantastic Starter Set, a staple of quality from Free League.