Roleplaying Games for Kids

         Role-playing games began being published in the 1970s with the release of TSR's Dungeons & Dragons. The first set was a small set of booklets. However, in the decades since then, published tabletop game books tend to be written for late teenagers and adults. It can be difficult to find RPG material which is both fun and appropriate, particularly for children under 12.

Commercial RPGs for Kids

         The following are published print RPG products which are intended specifically for younger kids (pre-teen). In some cases I include links to postings which describe actual play using the games.

 

Free RPGs for Kids

         The following are free mini-RPGs available on the Internet that are designed for kids. They are not as well-supported as most of the published RPGs, but they may be good for one-off experiments. In most cases I include links to postings which describe actual play using the games.

Actual Play Reports

         The following are just discussion posts about actual play with kids, which might be useful in seeing the strengths and weaknesses of different RPGs and role-playing styles.