Saturday Morning Fever

It is wild to see how tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Traveller have become more prominent and recognized recreational pursuits in our culture. I remember the early days of the hobby. I remember the "Satanic Panic" that scared parents and religious leaders. I remember when few would openly admit that they were TTRPG enthusiasts or that they had played the games. Now we see celebrities and entertainers openly admit to playing or having played TTRPGs, we see TTRPGs being played on television programs, and we find articles about TTRPGs in magazines like Forbes.

Contributor Rob Wieland has written about how one particular company, Renegade Game Studios, is giving old-timers like me the opportunity to bring our favorite Saturday morning television franchises to the game table. Okay, not exactly like me. I was not a fan of the Power Rangers or the Transformers. I did watch an occasional episode of Transformers on television and I did admittedly watch 1986's The Transformers: The Movie that summer, but it was only to get out of the summer heat and into an air-conditioned building. My friend and I had been tooling around the beach community where we lived in his father's Jeep and we were looking for a respite from the blazing summer sun. As I recall, the only other movie playing for the afternoon matinees was a Care Bears movie. Admittedly, we could have spent that afternoon at the public library, but we didn't. I watched the movie while my friend slept. And while I would occasionally watch episodes of G.I. Joe if it was on television, my interest in the franchise was rooted in the Marvel Comics series that came out alongside the revamped toy line that brought us the action figures. In the cartoon, nobody got shot and killed and pilots always managed to eject and parachute to safety after their plane was shot down by gunfire or a missile. The comic book was grittier and was written a little more realistically considering that it was about a fictional military team of elite counter-terrorism operatives.

Anyway, Renegade Game Studios has released TTRPGs for fans old and young of Power Rangers, Transformers, and G.I. Joe (if you ever join me for a game of the G.I. Joe Roleplaying Game that I am running, it's going to match the comic book in tone and content). If you're feeling nostalgic and looking to bring that nostalgic feeling to your gaming group, these games just might fit the bill. Maybe you can play the intro to Soul Train when your group has finished a gaming session (Soul Train marked the end of the day's Saturday morning cartoon programming 😉).

Be sure to check out the article (click on first link below) if you're interested and maybe follow Mr. Wieland if you're interested in similar content (click on second link below).

https://www.forbes.com/sites/robwieland/2023/08/31/these-role-playing-games-bring-saturday-morning-t

https://www.forbes.com/sites/robwieland/?sh=e84fe872c00b