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Play as adorable goblin bakers and hamster wranglers in this storytelling game

Worm and woodlouse companions included.

Play an upcoming board game featuring adorable goblin characters that fits entirely inside a mint tin box.

A storytelling game about the adventures of small goblin-like creatures, Adorablins has players making decisions, fighting off enemies and getting into trouble. Inspired by the Powered by the Apocalypse gameplay system - which has been used to create tabletop roleplaying games such as Avatar Legends and Monster Hearts - Adorablins has players choosing a character card, which will determine the attributes of their adorablin, and a companion that will accompany them throughout the adventure.

Potential playable characters in Adorablins include a baker, a wrangler that looks like it’s riding a hamster and a fixer character with an enormous bandaid. These adorablins can take along companions like Wormy the worm, Shroomy the mushroom and Roly & Poly the woodlice duo. Each companion character has their own special ability that players can implement throughout the game. Should a player ever receive the aid of their companion, they will have to flip its card over and feed it a snack if they want their help again.

Cover image for YouTube video

Once players have chosen their adorablin characters and companions, they walk through a portal and begin their adventure. One person in the group then takes on the role of the narrator who is there to set the scene and keep the story moving. The narrator will have some cards containing prompts they can use to start the story off, before using the player’s feedback and decisions to continue the narrative. Any time a player wants their character to do something that could go wrong, they must roll a d6, with the result determining the outcome of the action that the narrator must relay to the players.

Snacks can be used to turn a less desirable outcome into a more positive one, as well as remove any unwanted conditions that playable characters and companions might have picked up during a battle or encounter. Once players have reached and overcome the climax of their adventure, they return back to the world of the adorablins and take a well earned rest.

Adorablins was co-created by Kristin and Tim Devine, with artwork by Amber Seger and graphic design by Jon Merchant.

Cover image for YouTube video

Dice Up Games - the co-publishers of The North Sea Epilogues, an RPG spin-off from the north sea trilogy of board games - and Letiman Games, the studio behind the Questlings RPG designed by Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall creator Banana Chan, are the co-publishers of Adorablins.

The Kickstarter campaign for Adorablins is live until February 4th, with a pledge of $14 (£11) getting backers a physical copy of the game in September. Alternatively, a digital version of the game is available for a pledge of $9 (£7).

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Adorablins

Tabletop Game

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About the Author
Alex Meehan avatar

Alex Meehan

Senior Staff Writer

After writing for Kotaku UK, Waypoint and Official Xbox Magazine, Alex became a member of the Dicebreaker editorial family. Having been producing news, features, previews and opinion pieces for Dicebreaker for the past three years, Alex has had plenty of opportunity to indulge in her love of meaty strategy board games and gothic RPGS. Besides writing, Alex appears in Dicebreaker’s D&D actual play series Storybreakers and haunts the occasional stream on the Dicebreaker YouTube channel.

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