Jim Henson's Labyrinth is getting a roleplaying game

Labyrinth, Jim Henson’s cult fantasy movie known for musical earworm Magic Dance and David Bowie’s codpiece, is being turned into a tabletop RPG.

Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: The Adventure Game is being developed by River Horse, the studio behind the film’s board game adaptation and the board game based on Henson’s earlier cult favourite The Dark Crystal.

Labyrinth: The Adventure Game is described as being both a sourcebook compatible with existing roleplaying game systems and a standalone RPG featuring a “full epic adventure” that can be played using its built-in rules.

River Horse previously created the surprisingly fantastic My Little Pony RPG Tails of Equestria, which had a slick way of resolving tests using dice that reflected different key traits such as body, mind and charm and friendship tokens that could modify roll results. It’s unclear whether Labyrinth: The Adventure Game will share any similarities with that game.

Ben Milton, known for the YouTube channel Questing Beast and designer of RPGs Maze Rats and Knave, announced on Twitter that he would be writing the bulk of the game’s campaign, with River Horse working on the structure and mechanics.

“I'm writing 90% of the adventure, which will be most of the book,” Milton wrote. “90 interlinked scenes full of OSR-style challenges. Definitely not OSR rules, though.”

Milton offered a few more hints at the gameplay, revealing that the adventure will have multiple branching paths – players are expected to see around a third of the available scenes during a single playthrough, with random elements creating a unique experience each time.

“Mechanics are very simple, perfect for new players and new DMs (excuse me, "Goblin Kings"), and there's a 13-hour clock slowly ticking down throughout the adventure,” he added. “Don't beat the game in time and you LOSE. Start over and try to get farther.”

The tome will include art from Labyrinth and Dark Crystal conceptual designer and costume designer Brian Froud previously featured in the illustrator’s book The Goblins of Labyrinth. The first image of the book shows off the bookmark used to track progress and an indent in the pages to hold two six-sided dice.

Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: The Adventure Game is due for release later in 2019.