RPGs for Kids

These are games I've already taken a look at which might work for some kids.

Experimental Playground Games - Free, simple games.

• Mutants & Machine-guns - A rough and fighty time after the end of civilization.

• Savage Flower Kingdom - A rough and fighty fantasy realm.

Far Away Land - Cheap system.  Part D&D, part Adventure Time.  Several adventures available.  System may be a bit complicated for youngest players.

Fate Accelerated Edition (FAE) - Free universal system.  Many settings and adventures.  The general ideas of the system are relatively straightforward.  But despite being one of the smaller versions of the FATE system, FAE still has some rules for specific cases which may be difficult to remember.

First Fable - Free.  Another simple RPG for kids with a few character supplements.

Folklore: A Rules-Light Roleplaying Game - Cheap (currently $1).  At only four pages this is one of the shortest, simplest.  One published adventure available.

Hero Kids - Cheap, relatively simple fantasy roleplaying game.  Mostly for tactical play.  Should work pretty well with kids who are into miniatures.  Should work well even for 6-7 year olds.  Many character choices and adventures.  Also available in a sci-fi themed space expansion.

Icons - Mainly geared toward superhero roleplaying.  Earlier edition is pay what you want.  Later edition costs a bit.  Many settings and adventures.

In the Light of a Ghost Star - Game about explorers from Mars, billions of years in the future, returning to Earth to salvage weird ancient artifacts.  One of the simplest and most straightforward games to run that I've found.

Old-School Essentials - A free "retro-clone" created by reorganizing and cleaning up the "Basic" edition of earlier D&D.  Compatible with many earlier editions of D&D.  Much hailed among game enthusiasts.  Has many adventures and supplements available.  Somewhat more complicated that some variants of the Swords & Wizardry retro-clone (see below).

Little Wizards - Free preview, but the PDF or paperback costs money.  Characters are young magicians in a relatively mundane world.  Might be stretched to run Harry Potter or Kiki's Delivery Service type of setting.  The art is colorful and evocative.  In the game system failure can cause setbacks and require new solutions to problems, but total defeat or death is not specifically represented.

Microlite20 (Purest Essence edition) - One of the smallest spinoffs of d20 era D&D.  Ironically, while this game is extremely simplified, it may require some prior knowledge of D&D to make much use of.

Mini Six - A free, universal, smaller version of the popular d6 system.  For a stripped down document, this still contains a bunch of nice examples of character info, different genres and antagonists.

Monster Slayers - Free, simplified D&D tactical game and adventure.  Two versions exist:

• Heroes of Hesiod

• Champions of the Elements

Mutant Future - A game taking place after the fall of civilization.  Involves humans, mutants, animals and robots scavenging for supplies and ancient technology. Generally inspired by earlier editions of the old "Gamma World" game.

Risus - Free, very small, very easy universal roleplaying game.

Swords & Wizardry - A free "retroclone" created by reorganizing and cleaning up earliest edition D&D.  Relatively elegant.  Available in several versions from the simplest Whitebox to the more exhaustive Complete.  Many adventures and supplements available for this.  See also Labyrinth Lord above.

Warrior, Rogue & Mage - A free, relatively straightforward fantasy game with a few supplements.  Potentially a good intermediate difficulty game.

X-plorers - Linked is the free version.  A relatively simple sci-fi RPG about galactic trouble-shooters.  Mechanically loosely based around early versions of D&D.  Several intro adventures available, as well as a quickstart version and slightly fancier pay version.