The Land of Eem is my favorite Saturday morning cartoon

The Land of Eem box set is one of the games in my collection that consistently brings me joy every time I look at it. Illustrated in the absurdist, colorful style of a modern cartoon, Eem is set in the world of writers Ben Costa and James Parks’ graphic novel series, Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo. Pitched as The Muppets meets Lord of the Rings, the concept of the game delivers throughout its massive, 500-page setting guide. 

A narrative-forward, OSR-inspired game, Land of Eem strips away some of D&D’s crunch to de-prioritize combat, while centering exploration and social problem solving. While combat is still present (and is, admittedly, still the clunkiest element of play), the rules explicitly tell GMs and players to view every enemy and NPC as a person with thoughts and feelings. Leveling up relies on achieving personal goals and developing interpersonal relationships. In the few sessions run for myself and my partner using my review copy, the layout of the game setting guide is uniquely easy to navigate, specifically because of a set of three icons that indicate various tones for the adventure hooks in each area of Eem. It doesn’t hurt that it’s beautiful to look at, with writing that makes me giggle like a kid as I see what whimsical problems me and my partner’s absurd characters must overcome through the power of cartoon logic.

Though a bit of a departure from Exalted Funeral’s previous titles, Land of Eem is a delightful edition to the publisher’s catalogue (and an award-nominated one, with ENNIE bids for five categories including product of the year). The game design is not revolutionary by any means, with base attributes, skill checks and classes — though it does use what I believe to be the superior d12 as its primary die — but it is a game I’ve loved getting lost in. A colorful world, where problems can be talked through instead of fought out, with curiosity and care seeped into its foundations. 

The publishers recently crowdfunded two expansions for the game: The Underlands Sandbox setting and the explicitly-for-children Dungeoneer Adventures Beginners set. Rascal sat down with Land of Eem writers James Parks and Ben Costa to talk about this crowdfunding campaign, making an RPG that can appeal to children and adults alike, and their experience working with Exalted Funeral to bring their IP to tabletop.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.