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It’s 2021, and so far things aren’t looking much better than 2020. If you’re in lockdown like I am, you’re probably trying to find something to keep your kids entertained. This is the perfect time to restart family game night.
Snakes and Ladders gets pretty old after the first few plays, and the average game of Monopoly lasts an eternity. What if I told you there was a game you could play with your kids and actually have fun too? Look no further than Hero Kids.
Hero Kids is available to download at DriveThruRPG.
What is Hero Kids?
If you’ve ever played an RPG like Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), you know it’s full of complicated rules. On top of that, a lot of the scenarios are not suitable for kids. I’ve done a lot of research for alternative rules and kid friendly scenarios. I had very little success finding something I like.
Then I found Hero Kids. What sets Hero Kids apart from the rest? It’s not an altered set of D&D rules that attempts to make that library of books kid friendly. It’s a separate game tailored with kids in mind.
Hero Kids is a tabletop RPG developed by Justin Halliday (Hero Forge Games). It has a very simple rule set designed for kids aged 4 to 10. Unlike D&D’s D20 system, Hero Kids uses a variation of a D6 system. There’s no complicated math, other than comparing whether one number is bigger than another. It’s so easy, even for younger kids to understand.
Hero Kids is story driven. As the story progresses, your kids have the opportunity to problem solve their way through variety of challenges. Challenges that take the form of encounters. They’ll either need to fight their way through monsters or pass some kind of ability test.
Combat and ability tests occur in much the same way. Each character has a set number of dice they can roll for attacks or abilities. Monsters also have a set number of dice they can roll to defend.
When a hero performs an attack or an ability test, they roll the number of dice in their corresponding pool. If it’s an attack, the hero rolls their dice pool, then the monster rolls their defence pool and you compare the numbers. If it’s an ability test, the hero rolls their dice pool, and compares their roll against a difficulty rating. You only compare the highest number from each side. Here are some examples:
What do you Need to get Started?
Getting started with Hero Kids is simple. The rule book comes with everything you need to get started and embark on an adventure with your kids.
The rule book is available at DriveThruRPG for $5.99, and includes a surprising amount of content:
- The instruction booklet
- 1 full adventure with printable battle maps
- 10 premade heroes
- An assortment of monsters
- Printable paper minis for each hero and monster
This kit is great if you just want to get your toes wet, it’s small price tag means there’s not much to lose in trying it out. If you are feeling more adventurous, then check out the Complete Fantasy Bundle.
The Complete Fantasy Bundle includes everything in the previous set, plus:
- Monster Compendium of hundreds of monsters
- Pet companions for the heroes
- Printable hero advancement and equipment cards
- 50 additional playable heroes
- 12 more adventures to play with your kids
The bundle is also available to download at DriveThruRPG. Keep an eye out for a deal, it’s often on sale, I got the entire bundle for around $20. For all that content; the value is out of this world.
Check out our downloadable resources including an encounter tracker for Hero Kids
How do you Keep the Kids Engaged?
This is one of the hardest things for any game, kids just don’t have the attention span to handle a 3 hour gaming session.
Most of the Hero Kids adventures you can complete in under an hour. There are three that may take up to 2, these are better suited to older children.
We like to keep a bowl of small candies available for rewards. Whenever the kids defeat a monster or they pass an ability test, we award a candy to the party. I find it helps to award the entire group when an individual makes an accomplishment. This keeps the party motivated to work together. Competition might be fun for us grown-ups, for the kids, I’ve found they argue and fight over who does what if it’s too competitive.
The rule book also offers suggestions for keeping the kids’ attention on the game.
Should you Pick Up a Copy of Hero Kids?
Hero Kids made game night fun again. After we played it for the first time, the kids wouldn’t stop talking about it. For the price, it’s not a tremendous gamble to try it out.
If the fantasy genre isn’t your cup of tea, there is also a sci-fi themed Space Adventures Expansion bundle. This expansion comes with sci-fi themed characters and adventures. Keep in mind, you’ll still need the rule book to play the space adventures.
Check out Hero Forge Games on DriveThruRPG to see what else they have to offer.
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Thanks for stopping by, hope to see you again soon.