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Monsters and Other Childish Things

Monsters and Other Childish Things (hardback)
Monsters and Other Childish Things (hardback)

Monsters and Other Childish Things is a distressingly fun (and funny) roleplaying game about kids and the relationship-devouring horrors from beyond time and space who love them. Players take the roles of kids and also the vicious monsters who are their best friends in all the world — and the source of all kinds of otherworldly trouble.

Product Type RPG Core Rulebook in hardback or paperback, plus a full line of supplements
ISBN 978-097277828-2 (hardback); 978-0-85744-009-9 (paperback)
MSRP $29.99
Format 8.5” x 11” hardback, black and white, 192 pages; or 5.5” x 8.5” paperback, black and white, 266 pages
Product # ARC3000 or APU3000 (hardback); CB75408 (paperback)
Release January 2008 (hardback); July 2010 (paperback)

Download and print the one-page info sheet!

How to Order

Monsters and Other Childish Things is available online and at game stores around the world.

RETAILERS: Order from your favorite distributor.

DISTRIBUTORS: Order from Publisher Services Inc. If you have any trouble, please contact Arc Dream Publishing’s Shane Ivey, shane.ivey@gmail.com.

CONSUMERS: Buy it from your local game store or order it direct from the publisher.

Monsters and Other Childish Things (paperback)
Monsters and Other Childish Things (paperback)

Summary

Monsters are real. You know because you have one. He’s more fun and way tougher than all the other kids’ monsters. Try not to let him eat your friends.

Monsters and Other Childish Things is perfect for new gamers young and old, and for all gamers who like a little humor with their horror and a few scares with their laughs.

Players take the roles of ordinary kids whose best friends are slavering monstrosities from beyond time and space — and that’s already enough to get them in all kinds of trouble with parents, school principals, friends, the Monster Investigation Bureau, mad science teachers, wannabe wizards, you name it. Can you make it through a school day without having to explain why your monster ate the substitute teacher? We’ll soon find out.

Ennie Award nominee for Best Writing, Best Game, and Product of the Year.

Sourcebooks and Supplements

  • The Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick Manor (alternate setting and character types; ARC3001 or APU3001, ISBN 978-098188260-4, 160 pages, $24.99, paperback or PDF)
  • Curriculum of Conspiracy (adventure in a high school filled with secrets; ARC3002 or APU3002, ISBN 978-097277829-9, $9.99, 56 pages, paperback or PDF)
  • Road Trip (cross-country adventure campaign; ARC3004 or APU3004, ISBN 978-0-9818826-9-7, $24.99, 198 pages, paperback or PDF)
  • Bigger Bads (new rules for giant monsters and “weird” kids; CB75409, ISBN 978-0-9818826-6-6, $19.99, 96 pages, paperback or PDF)

Promotions

  • Advertising in The Unspeakable Oath
  • Tons of online updates and resources
  • Years of author podcast appearances and social media engagement
  • Featured on io9

Reviews

“This is easily one of my favorite games. It’s laugh out loud funny, endearing, and hits just the right emotional chords. The mechanics work well for doing exactly what the game sets out to do. It’s easy to teach, easy to prepare for, and exciting in play.” — Christopher Richeson, RPG.net

“If you only buy one rpg book this year, make it this one. Yes, it’s really that good.” — Petri Weissman, Ovara

“The core rulebook is packed with hilariously bizarre concepts.” — Ed Grabianowski, io9

“Monsters and Other Childish Things is a fun read and a fun game. The one-roll system is ingenious, if unusual. By giving them real system significance, the game makes character relationships truly matter. Children and childhood are deftly handled, being uncertain and wondrous without being maudlin or puerile. The monsters themselves are great role-playing devices, tailor-made for creating havoc and encouraging player responsibility.” — E. Ovitz, Nerd Caliber

Communities

Online Resources

Monsters and Other Childish Things logo

Retailer Info

Retailers can order Monsters and Other Childish Things from distributors around the world: Alliance, ACD, and others in the U.S., Esdevium in Europe, and more.

(Pro tip for Alliance’s retailers: If their system lists Monsters and Other Childish Things but shows zero copies available, place the order anyway. That will tell the system that they need to restock to fill the order.)

Download the Monsters and Other Childish Things one-sheet.

Target Market

  • Any gamer who laughs when you say the Monsters elevator pitch — “It’s like Calvin and Hobbes meets Call of Cthulhu.” 
  • Anyone who would like a fast-playing game that focuses on relationships, emotional consequences, humor, and huge monsters fighting.
  • Fans of other One Roll Engine games like Wild Talents, A Dirty World, Better Angels, Progenitor, The Kerberos Club, and Reign. 

Up-Sells and Cross-Sells

  • Wild Talents (CB75400)
  • The Kerberos Club (by Monsters author Benjamin Baugh; CB75401)
  • Better Angels (APU7000)
  • A Dirty World (CB75407)
  • Godlike (APU1009)

Selling Points for Players

  • Fast-playing action where emotional risks is just as dangerous as physical threats.
  • Plays great with kids and with adults.
  • Loads of adventure ideas and antagonists in the core book and supplements.
  • Encourages long-term play that focuses on emotional growth and character development as well as monsters getting more powerful.

Selling Points for Retailers

  • Tons of glowing reviews and award nominations.
  • A proven great choice for in-store game demos.
  • Strong online support—scenarios, monsters, rules variants, and an active gamer base on Arc Dream Publishing’s website and social media (www.arcdream.com).
  • Sourcebooks and supplements.
  • Retailers can provide a PDF copy to consumers FREE at point of sale through the Bits and Mortar program (www.bitsandmortar.com).