Hero Kids review round-up

What better time for a round-up of the latest Hero Kids reviews than... RIGHT NOW!

"This whole rule system is a perfect way to introduce younger children to tabletop RPGs. I have played 3 seperate sessions with my son and my nephews, and they absolutely love it. I forget the rules for damage sometimes, and railroading sometimes comes into play, but with younger kids it is best to keep the game moving on and Hero Kids provides a great way to do that.

Not only does this system have a great starting base with the Basement O' Rats adventure as well as several other follow-on modules, the author is allowing for a ton of additional content to be written and published as part of the Hero Kids label. Kudos for that! And the price just cannot be beat!

Another awesome perk of this is that you can go ahead and purchase the hardcopies if you want, but for me the digital works just fine. I just print what I need for the adventure, and keep the rest on my computer or tablet.

Overall, I love this system, and am currently using it to build a campaign for my son for when I return home. Highly recommended!!!"

How 'about this one:

"I genuinely like this better than expensive competitors like Mice and Mystics (and even HeroQuest). 

Paper minis enable Hero Kids to have a larger variety of creatures to encounter, and creatures of many different sizes. 

The stories in this are better (the prose is more concise), and the rules are cleaner. This means you get to play faster without spending much time in the rulebook. It's a game I like to bring to the table with kids."

More-ish:

"I'm afraid I've not played a roleplaying game for years, but my 9-year-old daughter found my old dice, asked me how they worked, and she was entralled with the idea—so I poked around the internet to see what there was nowadays and i settled on HERO KIDS. 

My two younger kids were hooked from the beginning of Basement o' Rats. My 11-year-old, initially disdainful, got interested and asked to join in—we had to contrive a way for her to join in partway through. 

The combat was exciting enough, and they got into it, but their favorite part was the side trip to the chamber with the pool, where they had to figure out how to extricate a small treasure chest from amidst magically frozen rats, without getting trapped and frozen themselves. I also decided the mushrooms there would be useful magical ingredients and were safe to eat, but made the characters glow blue the remainder of the adventure, which tickled the kids. 

In all, you've roped in three kids, 7 through 11, who had a blast with their first RPG and one dad who had a blast with them, and got to roll some serious dice for the first time in ages. I highly recommend the bundle for grownups whose professional life doesn't leave lots of time for creating—the adventures are a lifesaver."

Finally:

"This product as a whole, Hero Kids, is an amazing investment. 

My 5 year old son and I have played over ten times in the first few weeks of owning it. I love how imaginative he gets. My D&D group has a few dads and we got together to all play. Each adventure is unique and has many options to increase the replay factor. 

It's flexible enough that we can go rules lite and really let the story be the focus, or play it straight up and work on his math and counting! And the narration is wonderful, putting the kids as the heroes to do what the grown ups can't! 

I have recommended this product and all of its adventures and expansions to all of my friends with kids."

Hero Kids review round-up

No time like the present to scrape the latest Hero Kids reviews for insights.

First, we have an in-depth review of Hero Kids on YouTube:

That review includes an interesting Adventure Blueprint framework to structure adventures for beginner players all the way up to experienced players:

Second, I'm seeing a theme of people using Hero Kids in their 'normal' games, not just with kids:

"Simple, objective, upgradable, replayable, PERFECT! Awesome to play with kids but I cannot deny that I am playing with a group of adult friends and we are having a lot of fun. LOL"

Third, we have lots of feedback from people introing their kids to RPGs with Hero Kids:

"Great product! I was wanting to introduce my 9yo to tabletop RPGs and this was a perfect way. She grasped it quickly and wants to play every weekend now. I will be buying the rest of the modules now I guess! Thanks!"

"This is absolutely fantastic for younger kids getting into rpg's, i started by getting my kids (3, 4 and 8) to choose a hero out of the coloriong book, a separate free download, and got them to color in their heroes as we played (a helpful distraction at times for the younger 2).
I had my 8 year old help the 3 year old at times but he is definitely keen to play more, and all 3 kids already feel a connection to there heroes and each others, (one encounter I may have KO'd one of their heroes causing them to get a little upset....but they worked out they could use a potion on him to get him up again).
Things are easily modifed to suit your needs with age differences etc. and the book has a few tips on running a game with younger players. I'm so glad i found this!"

Fourth, there's several reviews that give specific feedback about using Fire In Rivenshore to teach when it's okay to keep secrets, and when these should be discussed with adults:

"This was a good adventure to work on listening skills - trying to keep a list of tasks and the order she wanted to do them in to help the most people.
It also highlighted that we needed to discuss with her about what is ok to keep secrets about vs things that should be discussed with an adult. Amazing what a 'simple game' can make parents realize :-)"

And this review:

"6.5 year old has very much enjoyed the game - we've played 2 of the adventures so far - one of which we did one evening while on a family vacation - just had printed the adventure beforehand - handful of 6 sided dice and a very compact game to play whereever the desire (or boredom) may strike.
Simple rules, simple math, the adults have had fun, she has had fun.

Works on listening skills, critical thinking, some good math practice for the age group, and at least one of the adventures highlighted a discussion we needed to have on what kinds of things are appropriate for "keeping secrets" vs what should be discussed with an adult."

Fifthly, here's a recent - and lovely - review:

"This is a great system—not only for introducing young kids to RPGs, but also for enabling families with young kids to play RPGs together. The system is simple enough for very young children to be able to play, but has enough detail that older kids can enhance their characters' capabilities as they understand more.

All of the player characters (many fun pregenerated options are included) have a special ability. My kids have latched on to these; each is excited about their character's special strengths and functionality. The enemies also have well-concieved special abilities, so there's some exciting variety in combat even though the combat mechanic is very simple and easy for all to navigate.

The published adventures are a lot of fun, and always include enough detail to help inexperienced DM parents narrate a compelling story for the kids. Of particular note are the maps. They're done simply but very well. They're nice to print out and keep around for reuse in other adventures in other systems.

That's all enough to make this a great system; but to sweeten the deal, the prices are very reasonable."

Finally, let's talk about some criticism:

"The first adventure focuses only on combat, and is incredibly repetitive. Fight a group of rats, then another group of rats, then a third group of rats, then the rats and their king. I'm not adverse to violence (I love intriguing fights), but the system is so simple that the fights become boring very quickly on the one hand, and on the other hand: is this REALLY what RPGs are about? Kill monsters? I think we all know there are about much more than that. They are about the wonder of discovery, the relationship between characters, moral questions and problems, etc. Kids are NOT too young to deal with these issues! By focusing the adventure (and indeed, the core system) only on combat, it diminishes their potential enjoyment of the game."

This is a legitimate criticism of the first adventure; Basement O Rats.  It was the first I ever wrote for Hero Kids, and it is heavily combat-focused.  As this reviewer points out, the adventure includes four combat encounters, and only a couple of exploration elements.  While the side room does include an opportunity for role-playing, it's incumbent of the GM to create and introduce a character here; 'Old man Jenkins'...

The heavy focus on combat for this adventure was intentional, to the extent that anything I wrote that long ago was intentional.  As the intro adventure, I wanted the adventure to focus heavily on the mechanically-codified section of the game, combat, rather that on the more free-form aspects of the game, exploration and role-playing.

With an extra six-year's experience under my belt, Darkness Neath Rivenshore is somewhat of a replacement for Basement O Rats.  

Compared to Basement O Rats, Darkness Neath Rivenshore has:

• Less combat encounters
• More variety to the combat encounters
• Integrated role-playing through the conversations with Emon in the drains
• Puzzle and exploration elements integrated into the encounters (blocking gates, the spring statue, the cause of the mutations, etc)
• The option to use the adventure to explore death (from the review "Kids are NOT too young to deal with these issues!")

So, I guess if people don't like Basement O Rats, they should play Darkness Neath Rivenshore as a better representation of the role-playing experience.

And maybe I'll revise Basement O Rats in the future...

By the way, despite that reviewer's criticism, their review is still positive:

"Overall, this is a recommended purchase for any parent who wants to involve his or her kids in RPGs for the first time, but be aware you'll need to do a lot of tweaking to the adventures."

Hero Kids reviews and feedback roundup

It's been a little while, but I've been working/slaving on... Hero Kids things!

In the interim, there's been lots of reviews and random feedback for Hero Kids, so let's round it up:

"I just wanted to give you a quick shout to say thanks again for the complementary copy of Hero Kids. I played Basement O' Rats with my 8- and 5-yo boys and they went completely nuts over it! So I went and bought the full fantasy bundle and it has quickly become our favorite hobby.

Once I was comfortable with the system I ran a couple more sessions for my kids and their cousin (11-yo), along with my brother and my sister's boyfriend (both in their 30's) and it was a huge hit with everyone. Of course the adults added their own "flavor" to the game, secretly backstabbing each other and creating some pretty hilarious situations. Both my boys have created their own characters and pets, and my older son has started making maps and wants to run his own games eventually.

Anyway, I'm glad to have discovered the game as it has given me another way to connect to my kids, which is invaluable to me. I appreciate that you gave me a chance to check it out. Thanks and take care!"

Next, how about this:

"6.5 year old has very much enjoyed the game - we've played 2 of the adventures so far - one of which we did one evening while on a family vacation - just had printed the adventure beforehand - handful of 6 sided dice and a very compact game to play whereever the desire (or boredom) may strike.

Simple rules, simple math, the adults have had fun, she has had fun. Works on listening skills, critical thinking, some good math practice for the age group, and at least one of the adventures highlighted a discussion we needed to have on what kinds of things are appropriate for "keeping secrets" vs what should be discussed with an adult."

And maybe this:

"What a great system to introduce RPGs to my 6yo boy! I was an AD&D and GURPS player from waaaay back when, and have been missing the hobby. When my son found my old D&D books and expressed interest, I jumped at the opportunity. I went looking for an age-appropriate system, ultimately landing on Hero Kids.

We had our first extended session this past weekend, and boy howdy did he have fun! He picked up the game mechanics straight away, and I got back into my old GM groove (just like old times!) He immediately gravitated to the Wolfchild character, and we spent several hours just developing his backstory, and my mind is abuzz with some fun ideas for an extended storyline. I'm so jazzed he's taken to the hobby so enthusiastically, and that I'm able to scratch that RPG itch after so long.

Thanks for creating such a great game!"

And how about this:

"I DM D&D for my family and friends, but my younger kids and their friends want to play, too, and it is just over their heads. Hero Kids is simplified enough where the kids can grasp the concept, yet versitile enough that they can bring their own flair to the premade characters, or create their own custom characters. The system is well thought out and balanced fairly. I like how the hit points are simplifed and are "knocked out" instead of killed (Though I have some kids with huge imaginations that want the deaths to be cartoon bloody. lol).

I bought the complete package with extra heros, bad guys, and adventures. They're all awesome. I absolutely love that every hero and mob comes with a paper mini, too, that can be colored in for personalization. :)"

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Check out Hero Kids - Complete Fantasy PDF Bundle on DriveThruRPG

Hero Kids Review Roundup...

It's about time I posted some of the Hero Kids reviews that have been popping up around the Internets:

Tribality: Games Change Lives: Hero Kids RPG for Ages 4-10
"Hero Kids is an elegant system with straight-forward mechanics that kids from 4-10 can grasp.  The game uses 6-sided dice and a few characteristics that are represented visually: Melee, Ranged, Magic, and Defense.  So if you have a youngster you want to introduce to roleplaying games earlier than age 10, do yourself a favor and pick up everything Hero Kids.  You won’t regret it."

Review(ish) Session Report: Hero Kids – Escape from the Ghost Pirates
"Lately I’ve been trying to get my closest family interested in role-playing games.  Hitherto without any real significant success.  During our last session of Hero Kids, however, something extraordinary happened."

"I described the (ship from Escape From the Ghost Pirates) where the characters now found themselves in: heavy cannons, cannon balls, some rope and lots of crates and barrels.  This is the moment something clicked in the mind of my players and they suddenly began to actively interact with their surroundings.  They began to search the ship, discovering things and, most importantly taking advantage of it for both role-playing and for combat.  They discovered that everything is allowed and that there are practically no set boundaries in role-playing games.  "

"I recommend Hero Kids for all adults that would like to introduce kids to fantasy gaming generally, and fantasy role-playing games specifically, but skip Basement O’ Rats.  Go straight to any of the other adventures in the Hero Kids-line and you should be set."

My Hero Kids and Their First RPG Session
"I recently introduced my board game loving boys, Josh (11 years old) and Evan (9 years old), to role-playing games.  It was a fantastic experience that I wanted to describe in my blog.

Hero Kids has several great aspects that I thought would appeal to my boys. First there is VERY little math.  For most actions instead of doing addition or subtraction you roll dice and take the highest number.  REALLY simple.  If you are better at something you roll more dice.  I also thought that Hero Kids was very intuitive to pick up but still has a surprising amount of flexibility.  I felt that I could EASILY modify the system to play superheroes, science fiction stars, cartoon characters, or anything my boys might want to play.  When I asked the boys they decided that they wanted to play heroes like Zelda.  That means epic high fantasy… easy."

...The next room featured a puzzle with a miner caught in a sinkhole.  In the first room they had collected a rope.  Even though it took some prompting by Don they eventually figured it out and saved the miner.  It was a nice little problem to resolve.

Overall I know the session went really well.  How do I know?  After the session Evan asked about the village where the characters live and the underground river that they saw in the mine.  He asked if they could investigate these next time."

Hero Kids First Session
"Today, my Hero Kids players met during Club time and managed to do the following:
•   Started the adventure in a tavern
•   Accepted a call for help
•   Went into a basement and defeated a group of rats
Three cliches in one session, it's awesome. Nothing is a cliche to these kids because it's all new to them."

So far, so good! We had quite a few eager watchers during the last part of the game as students came in from break-time. I'm almost disappointed I'm on leave for the next few weeks so that we can't carry on with Hero Kids right away."

Hero Kids: An RPG for Little Role Players
"Like any good fantasy setting, Hero Kids starts in the local tavern with an introductory adventure called Basement o’ Rats, which asks our wee heroes to venture into the tavern basement to save their buddy Roger (of course he has the name Roger) from rats the size of those giant stuffed teddy bears they sell at Costco.  The adventure was a smash hit and my daughter immediately asked if we could run it again."

Hero Kids is great fun. She loves it and I love the time with her."

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Here's the link to DriveThruRPG:

DriveThruRPG - Hero Forge Games

Riotous GM's Hero Kids review

The titular Riotous GM from Riotous GM posted a long piece on running Hero Kids for his 8 and 15 year-old kids:

Riotous GM: Kids – Heroes, etc

Quotes:

"I decided that Hero Kids was worth picking up, at the ridiculously cheap price for the complete bundle even if I didn't like or run it I wouldn't have lost much."

"What I found quickly was how much of a joy the published adventures were to run. The layouts are very simple and each encounter simply lays out what changes are necessary depending on the number of players, anything from one to six is a doddle."

"While my fifteen year old (who plays in my regular Pathfinder campaign) unsurprisingly wasn't a huge fan the eight year old loved it."

"While we were on holiday my eight year-old not only reread the rules but also (at my prompting) Basement O Rats so that he could GM it while I played. While he still needed some guidance on the mechanics he improvised an attack by a giant lobster (which he reskinned from the character sheet and mini from a giant scorpion) at an appropriate point and messed around with the ending so that I got a bit of a surprise."

"We've loved boardgames and been playing lots but Hero Kids has really made me rethink my approach and I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes."

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Check out Hero Kids and its adventures at DriveThruRPG:

Hero Forge Games at DriveThruRPG

Hero Kids review from Engaged Family Gaming...

Dustin Crewell from Engaged Family Gaming has just posted a review of Hero Kids:

Tabletop RPG Review: Hero Kids

Quotes:

"Like any good roleplaying game (RPG), there are plenty of supplements available: extra adventures, new characters, the ever-important loot, and even pets. Or, for those feeling adventurous themselves, you can create your own material, using the information that comes with the basic rulebook as a guide. This will likely come in handy later, as some kids may chew through the available pre-made missions faster than new ones come out."

"The most critical skill, though, is imagination and problem solving. Beginners can be guided and prompted, but there’s a good chance that parents will find themselves surprised by how fast kids pick up on this form of make-believe. As gameplay progresses, concepts like tactics and teamwork can be stressed, helping the young heroes face ever more difficult challenges."

"As with many independently published RPGs, Hero Kids does have some grammatical and spelling issues that you might need to watch out for."

Hmmm. I wish people would actually tell me what these errors are, 'cos I'd fix them! :-)

"For gamer parents wanting to introduce their kids to tabletop RPGs, at $6-$15 ($6 gets you a PDF rulebook, while $15 gets you a PDF rulebook, coloring pages, extra features & 9 pre-made adventures), Hero Kids is a fantastic stepping stone to future gaming."

"For non-gamers looking for a good outlet for their kids’ imagination, this system requires very little additional investment (just a couple of standard dice), and will give your kids hours of creative entertainment!"

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Check out Hero Kids and its adventures at DriveThruRPG:

Hero Forge Games at DriveThruRPG

Two more Hero Kids reviews...

Here are a couple of quick reviews of Hero Kids:

My Hero Kids And Their First RPG Session
"I recently introduced my board game loving boys, Josh (11 years old) and Evan (9 years old), to role-playing games. It was a fantastic experience..."

Board Games With Geeklings: Hero Kids
"I’m going to abandon my usual 1 to 5 scale for this game and say that if you enjoy RPGs and you have kids and an extra $10, this game is worth having."

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Check out Hero Kids and its adventures at DriveThruRPG:

Hero Forge Games at DriveThruRPG

Great Kid-Friendly RPG = Hero Kids!

Someone possibly called CJ Chand at the Chandland blog has posted an epic review of Hero Kids:

Great Kid-Friendly RPG: Hero Kids

The review is huge, and looks at many aspects of our little engine, so here are some quotes from this extensive review:

"Hero Kids nails its target demographic perfectly."

"Hero Kids is exactly what you would expect it to be: Cartoony, but not overly so, young kids tackling big challenges."

"Both sides roll their pools worth of d6s, and the side with the highest number shown – not the highest sum – wins (with ties going to the attacker).  This means even the really young ones can count the pips on each die and get what’s going on.  No modifiers, no addition. Given the target audience, Justin has designed this well.  It is quick, simple, and fun."

"These (the combat mechanics) are all gentle, yet very 'big-boy', concepts that will help your kiddo transition from Hero Kids to other, more complex RPGs when the time comes."

"Best of all, each adventure comes with full-page 1″ grid maps for that adventure, ready to be printed.  It also comes with character sheets for the various types of bad guys, each with their own cutout pawn."

"I could go into a lot of details, but the best way to put it is this: My son has never done his chores and expectations as quickly – and without prompting – as since we started playing Hero Kids.  He wants to play a new adventure each night."

But it's not all perfect, the reviewer picks up on one of the issues I've talked about in this blog post, that Hero Kids is not suited to traditional advancement techniques (adding modifiers or extra dice):

"On the downside, this system does not leave much in the room for character advancement.  As discussed on the link immediately above, simply adding a +1 modifier significantly affects the success rate, much less adding a die to the dice pool.  That said, while I am not a game designer, I have some ideas for how we can add some character growth that I will bring up in a bit."

My solution to advancement in Hero Kids was the inclusion of Equipment Cards, which the review notes here:

"There are some limitations with character development that do crop up.  Namely, there is no real character development.  There is no leveling.  There is no XP.  There is no ability to change your dice pools, gain modifiers, etc.  (at least not without the Equipment cards, which I’ll try to use as salvation for this limitation in a bit)."

In the end, the discussion about advancement doesn't prevent the reviewer from giving Hero Kids a sensational review:

"Two thumbs up, 5/5, goes to 11… whatever you want, but it’s a must-buy if you’re in the market."

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Check out Hero Kids and its adventures at DriveThruRPG:

Hero Forge Games at DriveThruRPG

Review of Hero Kids!

Tim Knight at the awesomely named HeroPress (not to be confused with Hero Forge Games, which is me) has just posted a review of Hero Kids:

Review of Hero Kids by Justin Halliday

I'm only going to bore you a couple of quotes from this lovely review:

"The book is gorgeously illustrated with hero and monster art by Eric Quigley, which has a very 'easy-on-the-eye' smooth cartoony/anime style about it."

"Hero Kids manages to model the core aspects of more adult games in a very simple fashion and looks like the perfect game for young wannabe gamers."

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Check out Hero Kids and its adventures at DriveThruRPG:

Hero Forge Games at DriveThruRPG

Short review of Hero Kids...

From DriveThruRPG:

"Hero Kids is a great way to bring your youngsters into RPGs.   This was supposed to be for my six year old, but the whole family (including my wife!) was able to jump right in!   The game took less then an hour to play, so it kept everyone's attention and was over before they became distracted.   Very easy rulesets that are expandable for different age groups (up to around 10 y/o) and for different sizes of groups.
 
Definitely, worth the purchase and great chance for family RPG fun!"

Nice!

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Check out Hero Kids and its adventures at DriveThruRPG:

Hero Forge Games at DriveThruRPG

Hero Kids review at Roving Band of Misfits

Several moons ago, while listening to a Dice of Doom podcast, I came across this comment by Benoit from Roving Band of Misfits:

"I love Paul's idea of assigning dice to 3 key abilities for a 'rules light, kid friendly' RPG.   Super quick, easy, and understandable. I may try this with my kids."

I figured I'd save Benoit the trouble and just send him a copy of Hero Kids instead!   Luckily, Benoit has taken the challenge, played Hero Kids with his family, and posted a comprehensive review of the game on his site:

Hero Kids the new RPG for kids

Quotes?   These are quotes:

"The game is smooth, simple, fun, and definitely geared towards kids.   But that doesn’t mean 'dumbed down.'   It just means 'not overly complicated.'"

"I had a chance to sit down with my kids and wife last week to play a couple of sessions, and we had a blast.   We used the adventure that comes with the base RPG (Basement O’ Rats)"

"Each character also has some special attacks or benefits that are situational, but if you’re playing with younger kids, they’re completely optional. My two youngest (3 and 5) played just with their dice pools, and had a blast.   My wife and oldest daughter (12), on the other hand were able to use the special options on their character sheets, which made the game more interesting for them.   The game did not break from either ignoring or using the special abilities on the character sheets."

"Most of the monsters that come with the modules are 'minions' (one hit and they’re dead), with the bigger bosses having 3 hit points.   This makes the combats go quickly.   This is an advantage not to be underestimated when playing with kids."

"Finally, the production values of this game are top notch.   Each character is fully illustrated in a kid-friendly cartoony style, and many of the statistics on the character sheets (stats, skills, and inventory) are symbols so that even the younger non-reading kids can understand their character sheet."

"Every adventure module comes with print out maps and monster standees included.   And bonus: the maps are all interchangeable!   The entrances and exits to cave maps are all in the same place, so pieces of the 'Basement O’ Rats' maps can be used with map pieces from 'The Lost Village' adventure, which are interchangeable with the 'Minotaur Maze' map pieces."

"All in all, I highly recommend this game.   It is a great introduction to RPGs for kids, and the simple smooth mechanics guarantee that it will also be a staple on your gaming table for a long time to come."

Nice!

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Check out Hero Kids and its adventures at DriveThruRPG:

Hero Forge Games at DriveThruRPG

Hero Kids review on Wired GeekDad

My sophisticated analytics graphs tell me that something happened yesterday.   That something is an awesome review of Hero Kids over on Wired's equally awesome GeekDad site:

My Kids' First Role-Playing Adventure: A Hero Kids Review

The review, which is by +Ryan Carlson, takes a good look at Hero Kids, so here's a few quotes:

"As soon as I had read through the beautiful 20-page PDF I knew without a doubt that my daughters (ages 4 and 6) could easily understand the basics of the game."

"Amongst the four base classes for Hero Kids, there are male and female versions of each class (although there was no female thief), each allowing for a variety of play styles and specialties."

Correction: There are ten heroes in Hero Kids, four girls and five boys.   Wait, that doesn't add up to ten!   It doesn't add up because the Rogue's gender is ambiguous.

Pop quiz, boy or girl:

"The character sketches of each pre-generated character are age-appropriate, and made it really easy for my kids to identify with the characters.   My 4-year-old daughter instantly snatched up the Rapunzel look-alike with her long hair whip-attack..."

"I will admit that there are times I barely have time to prep for my regular role-playing campaign, and to have half a dozen pre-written adventures available for Hero Kids is fantastic."

"The quality of the maps and the provided figurines is as high quality as I find in mainstream pre-written adventures."

"In conclusion, Hero Kids hits the mark in both quality and ease of use for parents that have been looking for a new family-time activity.   A great start for young role-players that are ready to take their first steps into a life long story fueled by their own imaginations."

How 'bout that!

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Check out Hero Kids and its adventures at DriveThruRPG:

Hero Forge Games at DriveThruRPG

Hero Kids Reviews

Here are some quotes from people who've been playing Hero Kids:

"Was woken up at 6am this morning by my son, saying he wanted to play Hero Kids right now! There's no such thing as going back to sleep in a 7yo's universe!"

"The game was simple enough for my precocious three-year-old to enjoy, and my five year old to not be distracted from. With the included adventure we all had a lot of fun, including me."

"The art in the book is great: the character portraits are great and very evocative, bringing forth things kids interested in this will probably be familiar with anyway. There's a character who resembles Rapunzel from Disney's Tangled, another who reminds me of Prince Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender."

"The game mechanics are easy to understand and fast enough to keep young players interested and do not get in the way of the story that is unfolding."

"The only real complaint I have is that there aren't full-page coloring pages available for each of the character portraits, something my kids (and myself!) would really enjoy."

"The design is clever, well thought out, and guaranteed to make you jealous that you didn't come up with it first."

"Providing stand-ups for each character helped a lot as well - it saved me from having to dig through my existing figures to find ones that resembled the children, and it reused the wonderful art."

"A great 'starter' rpg for kids, and even better gaming experience for parents to play with their kids. The core rpg experience has been boiled down to its bare essentials here. It only takes about 15-20 minutes to read the entire rulebook and have a good enough grasp on the rules to play your first session. Games will typically take under 30 minutes to play, which short for a typical rpg session, but absolutely perfect when playing with kids."