Tales from the Loop - Starter guide
Tales from the Loop is a tabletop roleplaying game published in 2017 by Free League Publishing, based on the science fiction artwork of Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag. His paintings of 1980s Swedish suburbia - full of rusting machines, looming cooling towers and kids on bicycles - form the visual and emotional heart of the game.
The premise is deceptively simple: you play teenagers in an alternative version of the 1980s, living near a massive underground particle accelerator called the Loop. Strange things happen around here. Robots go rogue. Animals mutate. Time gets weird. And somehow, as usual, it falls to a group of bored kids to figure out what is going on - because the adults are too busy, too dismissive, or simply not paying attention.
The tone sits somewhere between E.T., Stranger Things, and Stand by Me. There is wonder and danger, but also homework, difficult parents, and the very real social pressures of being a teenager. That combination is what makes Tales from the Loop unlike most other roleplaying games.
How does the system work?
Tales from the Loop uses a streamlined version of the Year Zero Engine, the same system that powers Mutant: Year Zero and several other Free League titles. The core mechanic is refreshingly simple: when your character attempts something uncertain, you roll a pool of six-sided dice. You add dice for your relevant Attribute (Body, Tech, Heart, or Mind) and your Skill level. If any die shows a 6, you succeed.
Your character is a Kid defined by a Type - Bookworm, Jock, Troublemaker, Popular Kid, Weirdo, and others. Each Type comes with a set of Skills and a signature item. There are twelve Skills in total, covering everything from Investigate and Comprehend to Sneak and Empathize.
Two mechanics deserve special mention. Luck Points let you reroll dice when a roll goes badly - and crucially, younger characters have more Luck than older ones, which reinforces the feeling that childhood has its own kind of power. Your Pride is a personal trait you can invoke once per session for an automatic success, a moment where your defining quality carries you through.
Importantly, characters in Tales from the Loop cannot die. They can face Conditions - mental and physical setbacks that impair their abilities - but death is simply not part of the game. This is a deliberate design choice, and it shapes the tone completely. The worst that can happen in an ongoing campaign is that a character ages out of the story when they turn sixteen.
The game is structured around Mysteries rather than dungeon crawls or combat encounters. Each Mystery has a clear framework: a problem, a location, a set of characters, and a series of scenes the GM can draw from. Failure on a roll does not stop the story - instead it complicates it, adding new wrinkles and pressure. Free League calls this failing forward, and it works well here.
What do you need to get started?
The core rulebook is all you technically need. It contains the complete rules, detailed information on two settings (the Swedish Mälaren Islands and Boulder City, Nevada), and the Four Seasons of Mad Science campaign - four linked Mysteries that take your group through a full year in the lives of their Kids.
There is also a Starter Set available, which includes a pre-generated group of characters, an introductory Mystery, and a simplified version of the rules. If you have never run a tabletop RPG before, the Starter Set is a very good entry point. You can play several sessions with nothing else.
No special dice are needed - just a handful of standard six-sided dice, which most households already own.
Who is this game for?
Tales from the Loop is an excellent choice for groups who enjoy character-driven stories, mysteries, and a strong sense of place. The rules are light enough that complete beginners can learn them in a single session, but the game rewards players who invest in their characters' inner lives - their relationships, fears, and small moments of growth.
The 1980s setting and the kids-solving-mysteries format will feel immediately familiar to anyone who grew up with Spielberg films or has watched Stranger Things. That said, Tales from the Loop is not a nostalgia exercise. It uses the setting to ask genuine questions about childhood, belonging, and what it means to be ignored by a world that underestimates you.
It is less suited to groups that prefer tactical combat, extensive character advancement, or high-fantasy world-building. The system deliberately keeps those things minimal.
How does it differ from other systems?
Compared to Dungeons and Dragons 5e, Tales from the Loop is a fundamentally different kind of game. There is no combat system to speak of, no experience points in the traditional sense, and no dungeon to crawl through. Where D&D rewards power accumulation, Tales from the Loop rewards emotional honesty and interpersonal connection.
Compared to Call of Cthulhu, another mystery-focused game, Tales from the Loop is warmer and more hopeful. Characters do not go insane or die horribly - they struggle, grow, and eventually face the end of their childhood. The horror in Tales from the Loop is rarely existential. It is personal.
Where do you start?
If you are the GM, read the core rulebook front to back before your first session. Pay particular attention to the Principles of the Loop - the section that explains how Mysteries are structured and what the GM's role actually is. Then run the first Mystery from the Four Seasons of Mad Science campaign. It is well-constructed and gives you a clear sense of the game's pacing and tone.
If you are a player, you can arrive at the table knowing almost nothing. Character creation takes minutes, and the rules are explained quickly. The most important preparation is thinking about who your Kid is - what they care about, who they trust, and what they are afraid of.
Online, the subreddit r/TalesFromTheLoop and the Free League forums are active and welcoming. For actual play, a quick search on YouTube will turn up several sessions that demonstrate the game's tone well.