Star Riders is a comedy

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 role-playing game

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

 designed by Hans Guévin and published by Ianus Games in 1993. Star Riders uses the game system developed for Teenagers from Outer Space

Teenagers from Outer Space (role-playing game)

Teenagers from Outer Space is a rules-light comedy role-playing game written by Michael A. Pondsmith and published by R. Talsorian Games. It was inspired by gag anime such as Urusei Yatsura and Ranma ½. The game was first released in 1987, when anime was still mostly an underground sensation. The...

 to parody the genre of space opera

Space opera

Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...

.

Star Riders takes place in and near the Dodourunrun Conundrum Empire, an interstellar nation that attempted to simplify space travel by moving the stars of the Known Universe into a more convenient pattern. In doing so, the Empire misplaced the planet Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

, causing great distress among the many young adults (human and alien) who considered Earth the "coolest place in the Known Universe." Player characters in the game are "star riders" who travel the universe attempting to locate the lost Earth.

No supplements or accessories were published for Star Riders. An advertisement in the game book stated that a Star Riders comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 series would debut in May 1994, but the only Star Riders comic published was a three-part serial that appeared in the anthology series Dark Horse Presents

Dark Horse Presents

Dark Horse Presents was the first comic book published by Dark Horse Comics in 1986 and was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, running from July 2007 until August 2010...

.

Further reading

• Pili, Gilbert. Star Riders