News sites are divided on whether Ravensburger’s latest game is a tabletop RPG.
The board games publisher has partnered with Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls (Disney Edition). In the States, the game will be available for pre-order on July 7 at Target.com and for purchase at Target and hobby stores nationwide on July 21.
Update: 10 Jan – Ravensburger has told Geek Native that Chronicles of Light is “a board game with elements of TRPG gameplay’.
Geek Native didn’t get the press release, but we’ve seen the media repeat the phrase;
Combining role-playing, storytelling, cooperation and the approachability of a board game format, Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls (Disney Edition) creates an immersive adventure game that allows players to experience Disney heroines in whole new ways while they work together to win.
Dicebreaker, who calls it a cooperative board game also noted;
The press release drops catchy buzzwords such as “immersive” and “modular board”, and there’s mention of “diverse missions”, creatures, items and familiar faces from Disney and Pixar films popping up. It’s a soup of interesting ideas without any clear vision of what to expect, for now.
Alternatively, Bell of Lost Souls focused on Disney, noting;
It was only a matter of time until Disney entered the TTRPG space. It seems a foregone conclusion almost that this is the first of many.
Lysa Penrose, Ravensburger North America’s head of new games marketing, is also often quoted in coverage. Geek Native readers may know Lysa from their time in marcoms at OneBookShelf. Lysa says;
As we’ve seen time and time again with games like Disney Villainous and Disney Lorcana TCG, bringing Disney heroes and villains into one shared universe reignites powerful nostalgia and provides a platform to bring friends and families together in an immersive and highly creative experience. We know how imaginations ignite when you bring Disney storytelling to life in board games, and we can’t wait for you to see what happens when Disney Princess characters and other Disney heroines join forces and take center stage.”
I’ve reached out to Lysa to ask whether they consider Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls (Disney Edition) to be a TTRPG, or not.
However, Lysa may have already foreshadowed the most likely answer we’re going to get for now. On social media, they wrote;
Ravensburger’s Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls is going to be ✨ something special ✨. Pam Walls, Shanon Lyon, and Alexandria Land have created a magical and beautiful board game that introduces a unique twist to cooperative gameplay inspired by elements of TRPG. Combined with the stories of some of my own favorite Disney heroines? Oh heck yeah!
Forgive the mystery… I can’t wait to reveal more…
You might also ask, does it matter? With the rise of journalling games, solo RPGs, virtual tabletops, and the potential appearance of AI-GMs, perhaps the definition of RPG will be debated a bit more often in the near future. Perhaps, also, ‘RPG’ has been ceded to computer games, and games like D&D are now better known as TTRPGs.
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