Fans of Disney/Pixar's Onward will be excited to know that they've teamed up with USAopoly (aka “The Op”) to develop a real-life version of the role-playing game at the heart of the film's story. Well, I guess this information has technically been out there since March, but it's news to me, as I only heard about it the other day when director Dan Scanlon spoke with game designer Pat Marino about the making of it.

Anyway, Quests of Yore: Barley's Edition is a Dungeons & Dragons-style adventure game that lets you go on an in-universe adventure led by the “Quest Master” (QM) — sound familar, DnD players? — who narrates the story and guides players through the game's trials.

From the official game description:

Gather your Fellowship and embark on an epic Quest across the lands of old in Quests of Yore: Barley's Edition. In this immersive role-playing game, players rush to the aid of the satyrs of Clovendell and uncover a mystery that will test your adventurers' strength and teamwork. Take on the role of the Quest Master leading the travelers or one of the fellowship hungry for adventure! The tale you tell will feature the folk and lore of the hit Pixar movie Onward. Elves, cyclops, goblins, dragons... and The Manticore, are just some of what awaits you on your journey.

If you're wondering why it's called “Barley's Edition”, the idea is that Barley (Chris Pratt's character from the film) has loaned you his well-loved personal copy of the game, so you'll find his notes, tips, and drawings all over the place. It also means the game takes place prior to the events of the film, and its adventures are actually what the main characters themselves would have played together.

You can just tell that a lot of care and attention to detail was poured into the game's design, and it'll be a fantastic way to introduce kids to role-playing and tabletop gaming in general. In a post on The OP blog, Marino describes how the gameplay works:

Each player has a character sheet that is primarily composed of Approaches, and Techniques. When taking an action, a player describes what they want to do. For example: “I want to shoot an arrow at the lever to lower the drawbridge.” The Quest Master (QM) and player then determine which approach they will use, and which technique, selecting from the options listed on the character sheet. Approach is ‘how’ a player will act (quickly, patiently, socially etc.) and a technique is the type of action (aim, brawl, parley etc.). In the example given, a player might ‘patiently’ ‘aim’ to take the shot.

For each approach and technique, players have a die they can roll, starting with none, then improving to a d4, d6, d8, d10 and d12 as they level up their abilities. After they have an approach and technique selected for an action, they roll the corresponding dice and the QM determines if they have met the required target or not, with the potential for fortune or ruin outcomes depending on the roll. Players can also use items, or request help from friends to add an assist die to help increase their odds of success.

As play continues there are opportunities to level up your character and discover new spells, powers and items. The game does include 4 pre-generated characters, as well as blank character sheets and a guide to creating your very own character.

Here's what will be included in the box:

• 1 Advanced Players Guide
• 1 Quest Tome
• 180 Power, Spell and Item Cards
• 24 Hex Tiles
• 4 Conviction Tokens
• Hearts, Fire and Grit Tokens
• Enemy Tokens
• Quest Master Screen
• Character Sheets
• 3 Sets of Polyhedral Dice
• 6 Miniatures
• Rules

The game releases on February 3rd, 2021 and can be pre-ordered for $50 on Amazon. Until then, you can get your Pixar RPG fix by picking up the official Quests of Yore companion book, which delves into the film's lore and history, with plenty of fascinating details, magic spells, and artwork to delight kids and adults alike.