I have a bit of a confession – I have never actually played Dungeons and Dragons (or any other RPG tabletop game for that matter). I’ve always wanted to, but I never knew exactly where to start. We have a local game store that hosts D&D games, but joining a game is a little daunting when you have no idea of the rules and expectations. Here’s where Scales & Tales comes in! Made for families and children, Scales & Tales is an approachable guide to teach younglings how to play tabletop RPGs. For me, though, it was the perfect easy-to-understand guide to teach myself the basics of gameplay, character creation, and scoring.

Amazon / Goodreads

Synopsis:

For those looking to introduce RPGs to young players, Scales & Tales offers simple rules, easy instructions, and fun activities for family and friends to enjoy. With a breakdown of different heroes and creatures, an easy adventure full of silly creatures, and fun games and puzzles to play together, this book offers hours of fun without overwhelming young readers with game mechanics.

Review:

Scales & Tales is absolutely adorable, and it’s the perfect read for children to read alone or for families to tackle together. It’s immensely fun and full of many great activities. From starter activities like creating a character and establishing a backstory for them to more advanced strategies and gameplay, this book has everything for a beginning tabletop gamer. Scales & Tales even includes a unique, family-friendly game with rules and a game guide so gamers can practice the skills they’ve learned. Scales & Tales really really does have everything you could possibly want to teach the whole family how to play RPGs.

Art:

Charming creatures and characters fill the pages of Scales & Tales. While some of them are new creations, some are examples of species known in RPGs, which was fun to see! The artwork is approachable, adorable, and a perfect style for the content of this book.

Final Thoughts:

Scales & Tales is an adorable, family-friendly book that will have the whole family ready to play tabletop RPGs. This would be a great gift for a blossoming gamer. It’s also a great activity book for the entire family to enjoy.

Rating: This is a difficult book to rate since the game in the book requires more than two people. Based on the artwork alone and the kid-friendly writing and prompts, I would rate this 5/5 stars for the target audience (kids from families who play RPGs).

Thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing an advanced review copy. All the above thoughts are my own.