To me, the platonic ideal of a tabletop role playing game is this- a kit that is perfectly suited to building stories with a particular mood and theme.

Ideally, this hypothetical perfect ttrpg won't even require you to know what the theme is! Instead, it will provide you tools (mechanics) and materials (setting) that, in whatever way you put them together, will lead you to creating stories with the system's intended themes!

Of course, platonic ideals are, by their very definition, perfect, and thus impossible. So it makes sense that most games that aim for this ideal will need to signpost what sort of mood they want you to create, or even outright state it directly; an instruction booklet of sorts, to go with the kit metaphor.

But, it's definitely possible to attempt the impossible!

Be kids! Fight monsters! Get tactical and roll lots of dice! Just beware of getting home before you turn thirteen or you might turn into a monster too! (And take on a monster job!)

Kickstarter even has a link to check out the full first edition of the game so you can get a real idea of the world and it's mechanics. Go check it out!

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/256555/The-Magical-Land-of-Yeld

Ever wanted to play as a kid wandering into a magical land? Ever wish a game would teach you how to play, in comic form? Do you enjoy easy to understand tactical combat with plenty of dice rolling?

Check out Yeld! A TTRPG based in the fantasy world of the Modest Medusa web comic!

Bonus points:

• The book features more art than the 5e Players Handbook! It even has full two page art spreads!
• The goal is to make it out of Yeld before your 13th birthday. But if you're stuck after that, teenagers turn into monsters and you get to take on Monster Jobs!
• Yeld is queer positive as heck, and Friends (the player characters) who visit Yeld who are of the more trans, NB, gender-non-conforming persuasion encounter something special: The very magic of Yeld affirms the gender of those within it, gradually changing people towards the body that best fits a person's vision of themself and their gender.
• Yeld is made for an All Ages audience, so if you've been looking for a game to share your love of TTRPGs with the younger people in your life, this might be it!

Go. Hecking. Check it out! Sale goes through the month of November!