No Thank You, Evil! A Kids' RPG From Monte Cook Games

Monte Cook Games has just announced a kid-friendly RPG called No Thank You, Evil. "We’re making an RPG for smart kids and their families called No Thank You, Evil! It’s based on a slimmed-down version of the rules system from Numenera and The Strange, and it’s designed to be fast, easy, and fun for kids as young as 5." This is a game they say they've been working on for over a year, "learning more about children’s developmental stages, and looking into important accessibility issues for young gamers (including dyslexia, color-blindness, and autism)."

Here's the full announcement! The game will be Kickstarted early next month. No Thank You, Evil! is described as "A game that makes it simple for families to roleplay together. This meant creating rules that accommodate the youngest, newest players as well as older, more experienced players. To achieve this, there are different rule levels, each one geared toward a particular age group, from 5 on up to the point where the players are old enough and experienced enough to try running the game (probably around 10 or 11). So families can play together easily, even if the players cover a wide age range. Adventures are designed to be short but flexible, running anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. All you need to play is the rules, a character sheet, and a d6."

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[BackInAction]

Just a d6? Rolling fancy dice is part of the fun. I could see avoiding d4 (they are weird) and '3d12+12' notation, but just a d6, ugh!

That said, I'll take a look at the KS once it begins.

 

[WackyAnne]

Well, I'm intrigued. My 9-year old is playing D&D a bit with me, even via Adventurers League, but it's all too much for my 5-year old. There are lots of kid-friendly RPGs out now, but I really, really like this part of the announcement: This is a game they say they've been working on for over a year, "learning more about children’s developmental stages, and looking into important accessibility issues for young gamers (including dyslexia, color-blindness, and autism)."

 

[fjw70]

I am interested. I always like to see simple RPGs. Although my version of Basic D&D is pretty simple, and so is Barbarians of Lemuria.

 

[Dustin DePenning]

Sometimes when something gets changed for the "incapable," it results in designs that are good for all of us. For example, doors in public places are so easy to open ONLY because they were designed for the handicapped who couldn't turn knobs. I'd be interested to see if there are any such innovations in an RPG designed for people of early mental development.

 

[Dustin DePenning]

BUT I REALLLLLY just hope it isn't a nonsensical "do whatever you want all the time, and then Mommy and Daddy will help run it" game with a weak theme.

 

[speculart]

Sounds alot like the Lil Wizards game I just bought.

 

[Stilvan]

Far as I can tell the designers don't, you know, actually have kids. No thanks.

 

[Dahak]

Far as I can tell the designers don't, you know, actually have kids. No thanks.

Neither do a lot of teachers.

Fortunately, the people they sent the playtest packet to do have kids.

I think their skills at professionally designing RPGs are just a little more relevant for designing RPGs regardless of target audience.

 

[Wicht]

Neither do a lot of teachers.

My sister took some teaching classes, and did a lot of babysitting and used to have lots of advice for how me and my wife could do better with our kids. Then she had kids of her own and has since apologized.