‘Tunnels & Trolls’: Old-School RPG Picked Up By Rebellion Unplugged
One of the first competitors to D&D, Tunnels & Trolls has been acquired by Rebellion Unplugged, an independent creative studio.
If you’ve ever played a game of D&D, then you have absolutely run into problems where the rules butt up against reality and/or the thing you want to do. Either because they don’t exist, or make it all but impossible to do the thing you want in an easy way. It’s a universal truth that’s as old as D&D.
To the point that when its competitors started coming out, “playing an RPG without the rules getting in the way” was a big selling point even back in 1975, as Tunnels & Trolls boasted.
And playing D&D but without the rules getting in the way has been a selling point for RPGs ever since. Even for D&D 5th Edition. But now, the original “rules get out of the way” game, Tunnels & Trolls has been acquired by Rebellion Unplugged, the tabletop division of the UK creative studio, Rebellion.
Tunnels & Trolls Joins Rebellion
In a statement on its website, Rebellion announced the acquisition, as well as plans for the future of the game. Rebellion wants to bring Tunnels & Trolls into the modern era, calling it “an unrecognized trailblazer in the games industry.”
And indeed, Flying Buffalo, explored ground in the RPG industry that hadn’t yet been charted, as Duncan Molloy, head of Rebellion says in the announcement:
“Tunnels & Trolls is an unrecognised trailblazer in the games industry. The team at Flying Buffalo responded to an entirely new medium by focusing on how roleplaying could be more approachable, more accessible, and more fun. So much of the modern era of roleplaying from old school hacks, to streamlined systems, to solo play, can directly trace its roots directly back to this series. We’re very excited to channel that spirit in bringing Tunnels & Trolls into the modern era.”
As part of the acquisition, Rebellion has also taken on the rest of Flying Buffalo’s catalog, including Citybook, Grimtooth, and Merchants, Spies, and Private Eyes.
Now Rebellion is actively working on “the next chapter” of Tunnels & Trolls releases. The studio has revealed no more details at this time, other than T&T’s new “look and play” are “still a work in progress.” Not that a ton of people were necessarily playing Tunnels & Trolls beforehand, but Rebellion promises backward compatibility too.
Now that they’ve been acquired, how will the new old RPG hold up? Only time can say.
