Amazing Tales vs No Thank You, Evil!
Compare Amazing Tales and No Thank You, Evil! side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Amazing Tales | No Thank You, Evil! | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Universal | Fantasy |
| Tags | Beginner-Friendly, Rules-Light, One-Shot Friendly, Narrative, Family-Friendly, Fiction-First, Low-Prep, Theater of the Mind | Beginner-Friendly, Family-Friendly, Rules-Light, Narrative, Collaborative, Low-Prep |
| Core Mechanic | Each character has 4 skills the child invents. Each skill is assigned a die (d12, d10, d8, d6): bigger die = better skill. Roll 3+ to succeed. That's the entire system. | Simplified Cypher System: roll d6 vs. difficulty number (1–6). Spend points from pools (Tough, Fast, Smart, Awesome) to lower difficulty. Character sentences scale by age: 'I'm a Noun' (age 5+), 'I'm an Adjective Noun' (age 6+), 'I'm an Adjective Noun who Verbs' (age 8+). Every character has a Companion with a one-use Cypher power. Any player can shout 'No Thank You, Evil!' to instantly end a scary encounter. |
| Dice | d6–d12 | d6 |
| Complexity | Very Low | Very Low |
| Availability | Free quickstart | Paid |
| Runnability | 3 of 5 book tools | 3 of 5 book tools |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Not yet researched |
| Publisher | Martin Lloyd | Monte Cook Games |
| Year | 2019 | 2015 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Parents playing with kids aged 4+ who want collaborative storytelling with the simplest possible rules: one die roll, no math, any setting. | Families with kids aged 5 and up who want a structured, supportive introduction to tabletop RPGs in a whimsical setting. |
| Highlights | Genuinely playable by 4-year-olds, genre-agnostic (pirates, space, fairy tales, anything), child creates their own character skills, four ready-to-play settings included, encourages collaborative storytelling | Three complexity tiers scale character sentences by age (5+, 6+, 8+), built-in safety mechanic lets any player end a scary encounter, every character has a Companion with a one-use Cypher power, uses simplified Cypher System rules as a gateway to Numenera and The Strange |
| Considerations | Far too simple for older kids or adults, no combat system or advancement, GM (parent) does all the heavy lifting narratively, extremely limited mechanical depth | Designed for ages 5–12 with limited mechanical depth for older players, d6 vs. difficulty 1–6 resolution has narrow outcome range, setting is locked to the whimsical land of Storia, no advancement system beyond the three-tier sentence structure |