In Evil Hat’s new Rocket Club RPG, a gang of middle schoolers in a rocketry club may be the Earth’s only hope against an alien menace.
Evil Hat has a new RPG out for public playtest right now: Rocket Club, an RPG all about coming of age in a small town that just so happens to be the epicenter of an alien invasion. If that sounds like your jam, read on to find out how you can sign up and help shape the future of this new RPG.
Rocket Club – Middle School And Aliens, Together Again
It’s a classic premise. Alien invasion, a small town, and somehow only a bunch of precocious kids are the ones sharp enough to see what’s really going on. So it falls to them to save everything by stepping up and dealing with the struggles of adolescence. Caught between two worlds – and in the middle of an existential threat, you really learn something about life.
I love that kind of premise. It’s why I love games like Kids on Bikes or Tales from the Loop or Slugblasters or any of a number of other games that take inspiration from the movies we love, and the struggles we all go through.
And in Rocket Club, you specifically play “rocket-obsessed middle schoolers” whose love of rocketry is the very thing that lets them stand up to the aliens who would otherwise take over their town:
“This game tells the story of wildly creative kids coming of age in difficult
times, leaving their childhoods behind while confronting a strange
and devastating otherworldly threat. Their ingenuity, friendship, and
obsessive love of rockets are their greatest strengths. They must lean
on one another, discover themselves, and jet into danger to protect the
people and places they love.The main characters of this game are obsessed with rocketry. They
each have a unique rocket-based creation—their Rocket Rig. Rockets
represent our heroes’ agency in the world, their ability to create, adapt,
and fight back. Their rocket creations allow them to impact the world
around them and enact radical change.”
As for how the game works – the whole thing runs with nothing more than a handful of d6s. But each roll results in three different variables: outcome, mood, and side effect. This helps you get at the emotional heart of the game, while also keeping things moving fast and furious.
That’s where the game shines, as a one-shot or short campaign style of play. At any rate, you can see all of this for yourself by signing up for the playtest at the link below!
Talk about being Team Rocket!
