Board games are a great social activity that brings people together by disconnecting everyone from their screens. But what if your favorite stories and worlds from the screen could be a part of board game night too? With these ten great board games based on video games, it’s now possible to enjoy your favorite digital titles in an exciting new tabletop setting.
The iconic adventures and exploration of Skyrim await you in the game’s excellent tabletop adaption. As opposed to the classic video game, Skyrim- The Adventure Game is a cooperative experience for up to four players, which affects both the combat and dungeon loot systems. Each player’s character is suitably unique, and the strategic decisions you make throughout the game’s two campaigns can trigger exclusive story outcomes as well.
The Fallout Board Game does just about everything right in adapting this classic video game franchise. An unknown post-apocalyptic world awaits you outside your vault, along with deadly enemies and warring factions. The art style is most faithful to the series’ more recent adaptions, and the storylines are appropriately thematic and recognizable to anyone who’s played Fallout before. Interactions between players are semi-cooperative; while everyone has their own objectives, they also need to work together to prevent any one of the non-player factions from taking over the wasteland.
Kingdom Rush is a classic tower defense game in which you place archers and other troops to defend against waves of oncoming enemies. Whereas the original video game is a fast-paced race, Rift in Time instead features more calculated, strategic gameplay. The game comes with a booklet of scenarios that you can play against, which makes it easy to adjust the difficulty. In addition, the miniatures look great and are fun to paint.
Establish your kingdom, expand your territories, and build the great monuments of man in Civilization: A New Dawn, the most recent tabletop adaption of Sid Meier’s Civilization. Though the original video game draws its roots back to a 1980s board game, the video games that followed have evolved significantly. A New Dawn utilizes many of the newer technology and city upgrade options from the most recent titles. Playtime is thankfully shorter than the 2010 edition of the board game, and to top it all off, the game tiles are gorgeous.
Small World of Warcraft is a WoW-themed adaption of the popular board game Small World. Players take control of the major races in Azeroth, including everything from Orcs to Worgen, and attempt to conquer as much territory as possible on the game’s various islands. Once one of the races you control is overextended, you can take charge of another to continue the conquest and hopefully have the most points by the end of the final round.
With its outstanding deck-building and strategy elements, Slay the Spire feels like the perfect video game to bring to the tabletop environment. Contention Games has done just that via Kickstarter, with the recently released adaption gathering nearly four million dollars worth of pledges. All the best elements of the original title are here, including, of course, the absolutely iconic six-eyed whale Neow. The biggest change here is the cooperative multiplayer, but it’s a welcome change that’s more befitting a board game.
Survival is the name of the game in This War of Mine: The Board Game, which does a fantastic job of bringing the war-torn surroundings and impactful storylines of the original video game to the table. During the day, you’ll build up your shelter and gather the resources you need to scrape by. During the night, you’ll have to fight off bandits to protect what little you have. The mechanics of exploring new locations work really well, with risks and rewards to be found in every corner of the war-torn city.
Dead by Daylight: The Board Game leans heavily on hidden movement mechanics to represent the Killer’s stalking presence and the four Survivor’s attempts to escape. All the basic elements of the video game work surprisingly well in the tabletop environment, and there are also plenty of props and other tools that the Survivors can use as they work to stay alive. Most importantly, the competitive thrill of the original remains.
The cozy confines of Stardew Valley come to the table with immersive, cooperative gameplay and faithful attention to detail, though the board game does have some key differences from its source material. The players have a set number of turns in which they can complete their goal cards and rebuild the community center, but if the season cards run out, the players lose. Thankfully there’s still lots of farming, fishing, and mining fun to be had, along with plenty of interaction with the Valley’s most recognizable inhabitants.
God of War’s most iconic characters come to the table in style in the God of War card game. You’ll need to complete a series of scenes and quest cards to survive Ragnarok and win. It’s primarily a deck-building game, though you’ll be up against a set of randomly selected monsters and bosses rather than the other players at the table. It’s a must-have collectible for fans of the God of War franchise. We’re also looking forward to finding out if the upcoming God of War Gamefound project will be an even better tabletop adaption than this one.
