River Horse Studios Labyrinth The Adventure Game

TL;DR: outstanding intro to RPGs for gradeschool kids.I almost never write reviews unless so inspired by a product that I fear it might not get the attention it deserves, and feel the need to boost it. This is one of those products.As a nerdy parent, I'd been trying to get my kids (now 7 and 9) into RPGs for some time - partly because I think they provide a variety of educational benefits, and partly because I'm a nerd and I think they're fun. I'd tried a few other kids' RPG systems with them before (Amazing Tales, Hero Kids, DnD Adventure Club), each with some degree of success - but this by far has the best balance of the factors I now think are key: 1) low mechanics, 2) ease for the DM, 3) structured plotline, 4) room to improvise and be surprised (for both DM and players).On the one hand, Amazing Tales is closer to group story improvisation - it has very low mechanics, but it can feel too unstructured, and the DM interventions can feel arbitrary for the kids. On the other hand, Hero Kids and DnD Adventure Club were both too heavy on combat mechanics that understandably bore younger kids. But Labyrinth has a clear plotline with lots of pre-written clever scenarios of impressive variety and creativity, and next to no mechanics. The scenarios lend themselves to improv in natural ways while maintaining clear sub-goals to be achieved, but without drastic consequences for failure. The scenarios are neatly encapsulated with natural stopping points.Yet despite the sturdy structure I've been delighted by the room for improv. For example, there have been a number of times when I made up some innocent detail - say, a small gift from an NPC - that the players (kids and spouse) took as momentous and employed creatively later on to fun effect.Naturally we watched the movie first, which the kids enjoyed much more than I expected, and which helped them imagine their own characters. We have had about five one-hour sessions so far, and each has been a success for all. I have to do very little preparation overall - maybe an hour to absorb the rules before we started, and then maybe fifteen minutes before each session. A whole "campaign" might take eight to ten hours. And I would guess it is pretty easily replayable - we are only visiting maybe a quarter of the scenarios available.

Got the book just as a collectable (wasn't planning on playing it or anything since I don't have any experience with this kind of adventure books), but once I started reading through it, I was hooked.I got my entire family to play a campaign at first with some apprehension and skepticism, but it was an unfounded worry. We had a blast! The instructions were easy to follow (both for the Goblin King/Queen, and the creatures of the labyrinth) and probably we missed some parts since it was our only first playthrough, but in the end it didn't really matter. It was a delightful journey from start to the end with wacky scenarios to follow, super creative workarounds, and a fantastic resolution.Just by reading through the pages it was clear that the book was written with a lot of love towards the Labyrinth movie and its creative world, (spoilers: one of the sections that has a rhyme battle was so unexpected to encounter and yet so in 'character' for the denizens of the Labyrinth that it became our favorite section in the entire campaign), and this book truly delivers on an unforgettable adventure that is filled with replay value and creativity.Would definitely recommend not only as a collectible, but also as an actual game book to pass a Saturday evening with friends or family. (Watching through the movie is definitely recommended though, since the entire book is filled with easter eggs and homages to the movie).

This book is beautiful. I haven't played it yet but just as an art book I'd say it's more than worth the price. It's a little smaller than I was picturing but that's not at all a bad thing. Everything seems well layed out and it's full of illustrations. I was so impressed I bought their book for the Dark Crystal too, and I wish they'd make more.

This is an amazing set up, easy to learn, SIMPLE to play, and has a lot of replay ability. Great for all ages. It's wonderful for those wanting to get into D&D but not sure where to start, or even just a simple reasonable game for young kids wanting to D&D but aren't ready to dive that hard in. AND if they love the movie, the book will feel so much more fun.I've ran it three times with people and not a single one was the same round. It depends on your players, their cast and ideas, and how they think. Puzzle solving at it's best. Also the book itself is adorable.Sadly I can't finds any PDFs of the character sheets, so your players need physical ones, or need to print it out if they are at a distance. BUT thankfully, the sheet and stats are so simple if you just write it all down in a word doc it works well enough for online distance play.I have ran it with 2 people, 3 people and 5, and all three have ran well.