Familiar Tales is the Perfect Family Tabletop RPG
When I first saw the announcement video for Familiar Tales, I knew it was made for us - an absolutely perfect board game fit for our family. The fantasy elements and the storytelling both sounded amazing. It was also designed by Jerry Hawthorne and published by Plaid Hat Games - the same people who brought us family-favorite Stuffed Fables. Quite simply, I instantly knew it would be our Game of the Month very soon after it arrived - and finally that day has come!
When I think about family board games, I organize them into 3 distinct levels. The first level consists of very basic games for young children, the types of games that have very few rules and last less than 15 minutes. Think Candy Land or any of the wonderful children’s games made by Peaceable Kingdom.
The second level of family games in my mind consists of slightly more complicated games - games that may last closer to 30 minutes or have more abstract rules to understand. But, for the most part, the object of the game is still pretty straightforward. I’m thinking about family games like Kingdomino or Karuba for level 2.
Finally, the third level consists of family games that require significantly more dedication and attention span. And by dedication, I mean all of the players involved need to be willing to dedicate their time and energy and imagination to the game. And typically, one lucky adult gets to show their extra dedication by digesting a rule book with several more intricacies than you typically find in a family board game.
Other level 3 games in my mind are games like Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle, Stuffed Fables, and My Little Scythe. And, yes, Familiar Tales belongs to this level as well. But it’s important to note that these levels do not directly correspond to age recommendation. Familiar Tales actually comes with an age recommendation of 8+, and Stuffed Fables is surprisingly 7+. Parents just need to know that these games require a completely different level of dedication and interest from all parties.
The vast majority of our family board game collection consists of level 1’s and 2’s, but, if I’m being honest with myself, it’s clear to see that the few level 3’s that we have are nearest and dearest to my heart. I think that’s probably because they’re often adventures full of immersive storytelling that really lend themselves to a special bonding experience. And that’s precisely how I would describe Familiar Tales.
What is Familiar Tales?
Familiar Tales is a cooperative fantasy adventure that features 4 wizard’s familiars who are tasked with raising and protecting a young princess. If you’re familiar with Stuffed Fables, you’ll feel at home with the spiral-bound book that doubles as the game board, and the general way that you explore the environments with your characters and fight with the enemies that appear.
But there are also several differences to the mechanics, all of which make things much more straightforward and enjoyable in my opinion. First of all, all of your actions and skill tests on your turn are performed by the cards in your hand. Whether you’re attacking or moving or foraging, you perform these actions with the values on your cards.
This is also a deck-building game, which I absolutely love, because it makes it feel like you have a lot of control of your character’s strengths and capabilities. This part of the game very much reminds us of Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle, so we’re very accustomed to it, and I think it suits the game quite well. What this means is that throughout the game you are able to purchase better cards to improve your deck, and you can also attempt to purge less valuable cards so they don’t keep cycling through your deck anymore.
The other major thing to understand in this game other than purchasing new skill cards for your deck is that you can craft new armor and weapons with the items that you have foraged. The items that are available to craft are displayed 4 at a time in a shop just like the skill cards are, and this is the other major way in the game to strengthen your characters.
An Innovative and Immersive Digital Experience for Familiar Tales
And while we’re talking about ways that Familiar Tales stands out, and ways Jerry Hawthorne and Plaid Hat Games have improved upon their formula, we have to talk about the app you use while you play. The app that you find at FamiliarTalesGame.com is actually required to play this game, and it’s spectacular. Think of it as your own personal storyteller and game master. It even saves your progress and makes it remarkably easy to return to the same campaign in the future.
The app serves two primary functions, professional narration of the story - including every little side quest you explore - and managing whose turn it is and when the danger rises high enough to make the enemies attack. But there are also actual choices to make inside the app during the story, which is fantastic and very immersive. I simply can’t tell you how nice it is to have much of the weight of game master taken off of your shoulders, and how wonderful the app is for the storytelling. And it’s definitely a big hit with our 9-year-old.
He also is obviously a huge fan of the fantasy storytelling itself. The 4 wizard familiars are Blaze the fox, Flicker the fairy, Chalk the golem, and Gribbert the frog. The art is beautiful, the miniatures are wonderful and ready to be painted, and the app has immersive individual voice acting for each character. Quite importantly, it’s also a very good story and simply fun to role play and be a part of.
The story and campaign of Familiar Tales spans across 3 eras, during which the baby your characters are protecting grows up. There are many twists and turns and choices to make along your path, and you need to keep up with your particular path on the map provided. The path you take and the choices you make will change your story, as will how well you do taking care of the baby.
Our Familar Tales Experience
In our family, our 6-year-old isn’t quite old enough to handle this one, so I actually control two of the familiars - Gribbert and Chalk. Chalk is very good at smashing and tanking, and Gribbert has a ranged attack and is good at being sneaky. Our son is the brave Blaze, who has turned into quite a defensive specialist. And, lastly, my wife is Flicker the fairy, whose specialty at the moment is performing tests of insight (good for foraging and soothing the baby).
And speaking of our son the defensive specialist, it’s always very heartwarming when memorable moments occur that make the kids feel like heroes. And recently our team was in dire straits. We were supposed to be sneaky, but all of the enemies saw us and came charging in. Mom and Dad figured that Blaze was best equipped to defend us, and our son was scared to die and wasn’t so sure about the plan.
But he agreed to try and he ended up withstanding the attacks of 3 separate enemies in a single turn using Blaze the fox and rolling +2 three times in a row. Not only did he not take any damage and shut down the entire enemy turn by himelf, but he actually healed himself by 1.
Of course the dice roll giveth and the dice roll taketh away, but that by far was his biggest moment of triumph in the story yet, and it was special to see the smile on his face at that moment and to give high fives all around. Those are the moments that really stick in the mind and make games like this special and deeply engaging and meaningful. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he started carrying Blaze around in his pocket now.
Who is Familiar Tales for?
By no means do you need kids to play Familiar Tales. If you enjoy games like Mice and Mystics or Stuffed Fables - or any RPG-campaigns-in-a-box kind of experiences - you almost assuredly will adore this game with or without kids. In fact, you can even play this game solo by controlling all 4 familiars and I think that’s absolutely brilliant.
But of course my perspective is always from that of a dad, and I’m always thinking about adults playing games with their kids. And I simply couldn’t recommend this game enough for families. And, quite honestly, you probably already know if Familiar Tales is for you and your family.
You need a dedicated adult willing to learn a new game (although the app is also extremely helpful for setup and teaching), at least 45 minutes set aside each time you play, and a focused crew of 1-4 players ready for an immersive, cooperative adventure. And if you tick all of those boxes, you’re most assuredly in for a very special family game night experience that could last you for a very long time to come. And, after that, you can do it all over again with brand new paths and entirely new outcomes!
You can find Familiar Tales at your friendly local game store, on Amazon, or straight from Plaid Hat Games!
Are you thinking about trying out Familiar Tales, or have you played it already? Let us know in the comments!
