Kids on Bikes’ new edition adds more action to the ’80s adventure RPG

Kids on Bikes is a tabletop roleplaying game that pays tribute to 1980s adventure films and coming-of-age stories. A second edition of the game is on the way, and it’s already been crowdfunded on Kickstarter.

Kids on Bikes casts the players as children in small-town America. The system is designed to tell stories like the ones in Stranger Things or Paper Girls. Inspired by movies like The Goonies and Super 8, Kids on Bikes is about facing down enormous odds with nothing but your friends, some ingenuity, and a reliable, humble form of transportation.

The second edition won’t be a replacement for the first edition. As the Kickstarter explains, “this new edition simply means that we’ve made some major improvements and rules clarifications that will enhance your gameplay and work perfectly with any 1st edition books that you already own.”

New additions include the ability for players to scale violence and its stakes, an expanded gamemaster section for more adventure inspiration, and more to do with the “bikes” part of the formula. Co-creators Jonathan Gilmour and Doug Levandowski are returning. Hunters Entertainment and Renegade Game Studios will focus on producing the game, which is estimated to ship around July 2023.

Kids on Bikes Core Rulebook PDF

• $10

Prices taken at time of publishing.

The core rulebook for the Kids on Bikes tabletop role-playing game, which sets the players in the role of small-town ’80s kids in adventures inspired by The Goonies and Stranger Things.

• $10 at DriveThruRPG