The Laundry

The Laundry

A roleplaying game based on the "Laundry Files" novels by Charles Stross
Cover by Malcolm McClinton
Designers	Gareth Hanrahan Jason Durall John Snead
Publishers	Cubicle 7
Publication	2010; 15 years ago (2010)
Genres	Horror
Systems	Basic Role-Playing
ISBN	978-1907204937

The Laundry is a tabletop role-playing game published by Cubicle 7 in 2010. ^[1] The game is based on novelist Charles Stross's The Laundry Files series.

Description

The Laundry is a game where agents have to deal with Lovecraftian outer gods and British bureaucracy at the same time. ^{[2] : 432}

Publication history

First edition

Cubicle 7 used their Basic Role-Playing license to create The Laundry (2010), based on The Laundry Files series of novels by Charles Stross. ^{[2] : 432} The game was published in July 2010. ^[3]

Cubicle 7 subsequently published a number of supplements: ^[4]

• Black Bag Jobs, a compilation of scenarios.
• The Agent's Handbook which develops the agents' characters and the internal procedures of the organization.
• The Mythos Dossiers, a compilation of in-game documents to use as play-aids and scenario seeds.
• License To Summon, which give more details on the various forms of sorcery in the game universe.
• God Game Black, which provides more information on the Sleeper's Plateau and how to introduce an eschaton menace in the game.
• Cultists Under The Bed gives more information on the working of various forms of sects and cultists, with several examples of organizations.
• Unconventional Diplomacy, a compilation of scenarios.
• Targets Of Acquisition, which provides dossiers of several occult artefacts.
• As Above, So Below, introduces rules for using special forces in the game and adding a political dimension to games. It also includes two new scenarios.

A GM screen was announced but was never released. Cubicle 7's licensing agreement with Chaosium expired by mutual agreement at the end of 2017. ^[5] In 2019 Cubicle 7 stated that the licensing issue would need to be resolved, or a new system introduced, before a revised edition could be published. ^[6] In July 2023, Charles Stross announced that a second edition was in the works. ^[7]

Second edition

On June 19th 2025, Cubicle 7 announced the second edition of the game with books available in PDF and printed version available for pre-order. ^[8] This edition is not based on the Basic Roleplaying System and instead uses a completely new system, based on a pool of six-sided dice.

Awards

• 2011 ENnie for Best New Game - Silver Winner ^[9]

References

1. Ryder-Hanrahan, Gareth; Durall, Jason; Snead, John (2010). The Laundry. Oxford, UK: Cubicle 7. ISBN   978-1907204937.
2. Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN   978-1-907702-58-7.
3. Stross, Charlie (10 March 2010). "For sale; first edition of the Necronomicon (used once)". Charlie's Diary. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
4. "Laundry Supplements list on Cubicle 7 website" . Retrieved 11 March 2015.
5. "Call of Cthulhu and Cubicle 7".
6. "Geek Native discuss Cubicle 7".
7. Stross, Charlie (2023-07-14). "Announcement: 2nd edition Laundry Files RPG is coming". Charlie's Diary. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
8. "The Laundry: From First to Second Edition". Cubicle 7 Blog. Cubicle 7 Games. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
9. "The Laundry RPG". rpggeek.com. BoardGameGeek LLC.

External links

• The Laundry RPG at RPGGeek