Tales from the Loop

Roleplaying in the ’80s That Never Was

Overview

Tales from the Loop is a tabletop roleplaying game of childhood mystery and quiet sci-fi wonder, designed by Nils Hintze and published by Free League Publishing in 2017, built directly on Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag's narrative art book of the same name. It swept five Gold ENnie Awards in 2017, including Best Game and Product of the Year, and remains one of the clearest examples of a TTRPG built to capture a single, specific visual mood - Stålenhag's paintings of enormous, quietly abandoned machinery looming over ordinary Scandinavian suburbs.

Description

Players take on Kids - ordinary ten-to-fifteen-year-olds, built from archetypes like the Bookworm, the Jock, the Popular Kid, or the Weirdo - growing up in an alternate 1980s where a massive particle accelerator called the Loop hums beneath the countryside, filling the neighborhood with strange machines and stranger creatures nobody adult seems able to explain.  The Game Master runs Mysteries, TV-episode-style adventures staged scene by scene, where the actual danger from the Loop's technology sits right alongside completely mundane teenage Trouble - being grounded, a bully at school, a parent who won't listen. The game states its central promise plainly: Kids in this setting cannot die, which keeps stakes high through fear, loss, and consequence rather than mortality, and lets the tone stay closer to Stranger Things or E.T. than to horror.

Active games and players

Reviews

Sorted by:

No reviews yet.

Login to leave a review.

Other entries

Dados à Portuguesa
Actual Play & Podcasts

Dados à Portuguesa

Portuguese
Dungeons & Dragons
Actual Play
Somos um podcast apaixonado por jogos narrativos de mesa. Aqui, mergulhamos em aventuras emocionantes, exploramos terras mágicas e contamos histórias inesquecíveis. Junte-se a nós e embarque nessas jornadas épicas com nossos jogadores. Prepare-se para risadas, reviravoltas e muita diversão. Sintonize e faça parte da aventura Dados à Portuguesa! Links dadosaportuguesa.transistor.fm - Official website youtube.com - Youtube channel spotify.com - Spotify feed podcasts.apple.com - Apple Podcasts feed discord.gg - Discord server patreon.com - Patreon page

Read more

Dungeon Master's Block
Actual Play & Podcasts

Dungeon Master's Block

English
Dungeons & Dragons
Guides
Dungeon Master's Block is a premier resource podcast dedicated to the most important person at the table: the Dungeon Master. Recognized as a "gym for the mind," the show is designed to inspire, challenge, and equip GMs. From those prepping their very first session to veterans of twenty years to "Keep On Dungeon Mastering."  The podcast moves beyond simple rule explanations, diving deep into the creative philosophy of world-building, monster design, and player management. Through recurring segments like "DM-Nastics" (mental exercises for GMs) and the "Mailbag of Holding," hosts Neal Powell (DM Neal) and Derrick (DM Derrick) provide actionable advice, narrative inspiration, and a supportive community for the "only person at the table capable of playing god." Links spotify.com  - Spotify feed podcasts.apple.com  - Apple Podcasts feed youtube.com  - Youtube channel

Read more

The Walking Dead RPG Campaign Of The Dead
Actual Play & Podcasts

The Walking Dead RPG Campaign Of The Dead

English
Actual Play
The Walking Dead RPG
The first episode of our first campaign using this new RPG system. How long can the characters survive in this brutal game? The party starts off in cryo-sleep, back in 2010, just a month after the outbreak began. This new experimental technology, developed by Peter Wayland, was designed to put people with terminal diseases to sleep until a cure was found. Little did they know that they would awaken in a world overrun by the undead

Read more

Looking for a group?

Find a tabletop group to join or players to invite. Groupfinder is a free looking-for-group platform. By players, for players.