Board games are a beloved pastime for many people. It’s a great way to spend quality time with friends and family. Whether it’s a simple game of checkers or an elaborate session of Risk, there is a board game out there for everyone to enjoy, regardless of age, skill or difficulty. Even today, monopoly is still a staple at many family gatherings, with every household having its own rules for free parking. So, with this in mind, here are some of the best board games based on video games.
Frostpunk: The Board Game
Great power comes with great responsibility, and every decision will have far-reaching consequences. Will you create a democratic liberal state or an autocratic dictatorship? Imagine a world where the snow kept falling, and the Day After Tomorrow was not just an idle movie that disappeared from your screen but rather a way of life. In Frostpunk: The Board Game, you are tasked with building a small colony of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world. Players are responsible for managing the infrastructure and the citizens’ welfare.
Frostpunk: The Board Game can be profoundly complex and features dark themes that may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Unlike other board games, this one stands out with its unique city-building mechanics—things like heat, how much coal you need to keep your population warm, and where to construct a building will be crucial to your success.
The game is quite lengthy, usually lasting up to 3 hours. Numerous actions and phases can be taken in a single turn, with many of these choices being rather significant. This makes every action worth considering, as well as its potential ramifications. For this reason, this board game is best suited for solo play, as you can take your time and learn from your mistakes. This game can also be played with up to four players.
Portal: The Uncooperative Cake Acquisition Game
Portal: The Uncooperative Cake Acquisition Game oozes humour and satire throughout, much like its video game counterpart. Even the back of the physical game box has a humorous picture of a traditional old-fashioned family playing a board game, so it definitely is not against poking fun at itself.
You awaken in a hibernation vault and find yourself as a test subject. Your task is to collect as much cake as possible from various chambers in the research facility. Apparently, the cake is not a lie this time. It’s an uncooperative board game, which means, unlike other board games on this list, this one pits you directly against your friends, bringing out your competitive side. It can go up to four players, with the average game taking around 40 minutes to play, which makes it great to play in a big group. If you’re a fan of the Portal franchise, then you are bound to have a good time here.
Kingdom Hearts Perilous Pursuit
The fight between dark and light continues in Kingdom Hearts Perilous Pursuit, as the objective is to try and save six worlds from falling into darkness. You can play as either Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kairi or Riku.
Kingdom Hearts Perilous Pursuit is a cooperative dice game featuring characters, enemies and locations from the Kingdom Hearts universe. Players must push their luck to the limit and collect dice sets to deflect attacks. You can find yourself in a tricky situation if you get a few bad dice rolls, which keeps this one compelling throughout.
Some iconic places you will visit are Beast’s Castle, Radiant Garden and Keyblade Graveyard. You will need two to five players to play, with the average game taking around an hour, so you can easily pop in and play.
The Witcher Old World
You might think The Witcher Old World could be a hard board game, but it’s surprisingly easy to set up and play. You assume the role of a Witcher defending your school’s reputation and nobility by travelling across the land, taking on quests, fighting creatures and making questionable moral choices. There will even be the cheeky skirmish with other Witchers occasionally.
You can construct your deck of cards, allowing you to choose from various abilities such as attacks, dodges, and the infamous Witcher combat magic signs. It can be played with up to five players. We recommend playing in a group because of the school aspects, but it’s still solid playing solo. A session can last anything from an hour to four hours.
If you want more Witcher antics, you can invest in the expansion to add more playable characters, bosses, and locations. The Witcher Old World: The Deluxe Edition includes 28 monster miniatures, a closed tavern miniature, and five plastic scoring tokens. Remember, “this world doesn’t need a hero; it needs a professional”.
Chocobo’s Dungeon: The Board Game
Can you guide a lost Chocobo through a mysterious dungeon, avoiding monsters and traps while collecting items? This is a great family-friendly board game where you all play cooperatively together to help the Chocobo escape the dungeon floors and take on a boss at the very end. Oh yeah, you also have a reaper chasing after the Chocobo.
Chocobo’s Dungeon: The Board Game is fairly easy, but it can be luck-dependent, so if you have a bad run, the boss could beat you, so success is not guaranteed. Each game will probably span an hour, and you can play with up to four players. With this one, the more players, the better. The cards in this board game are flat-out adorable, with the iconic red scarf Chocobo having multiple expressions on different cards. This is a splendid board game for any eccentric fan of the Final Fantasy franchise.
Pac-Man: The Board Game
If you can’t resist a good snack of retro action, this is the board game for you. Pac-Man: The Board Game is perfect for family and friends.
One player plays as the titular Pac-Man, navigating the maze and attempting to outmanoeuvre ghosts. The other four players will collaborate to catch Pac-Man, playing as the legendary ghosts: Blinky, Pinky, Inky or Clyde. If Pac-Man clears the board, you restart the board afresh again, but this time with level 2 Ghost cards. The triumphant winner will be the player with the most points after everyone has had the chance to play as Pac-Man. You can play with two players, but you can volley up to five players if you wish.
The best part about Pac-Man: The Board Game is the colourful and eye-catching board. It also has a hilarious oversized electronic Pac-Man character model with the authentic arcade “waka” noise, which is guaranteed to make you laugh each time it’s used.
Blazblue Exceed Fighting System
We’re being cheeky with this entry, as technically, it’s a tabletop game that uses cards, but because Exceed Fighting System is such a stellar game, we’re making an exemption on this occasion.
Exceed Fighting System rules are relatively easy to learn, making it great to pick up and play, with the average match roughly taking twenty minutes. The objective of each game is to lower your opponent’s life value points to zero before they deplete yours. A game is played between two players, each with their own character card, special moves and a personalized deck. On your turn, you can take an action, like changing cards or striking.
This card set is based around Blazeblue and has four fighters: Jin Kisaragi, Bang Shishigami, Hakumen, and Carl Clover. The art style designs are fantastic, with Jin and Haukmen being clear standouts. However, Exceed Fighting System expands into other video game franchises, including Under Night in-Birth and Shovel Knight sets.
Space Invaders: The Board Game
If you are looking for an out-of-this-world board game experience, fighting the legions of descending extra-terrestrials should do the trick. Space Invaders: The Board Game is super silly, which makes this game great when looking for something more lighthearted to play with friends and family. You can play solo or with up to four players, but we recommend playing this with as big a group as possible.
This board game adaptation perfectly encapsulates the nostalgia of the original game but gives it a funny twist which keeps it refreshing. Like the video game, your goal is to take out the outer space beings, but in this tabletop version, you are given a catapult to fire at them with. This might seem like an easy task, but trying to aim where the tokens will land is much more complicated than it sounds, and you might find it surprising where some of the tokens may end up landing. What also makes this more difficult is you have a limited number of shots within your arsenal. If this space adventure is one you believe you may enjoy, then you should give it a go.
Skyrim: The Board Game
It’s time to sharpen your best Nord steel sword as you enter deep into the history and lore of Tamriel with Skyrim: The Board Game. You play as one of the surviving members of the famous Blades as you try to protect the land. Upgrade your equipment, weapons, and magic as you explore the tombs of ancient cities, encountering adventure at every turn. During your voyage, you will defeat enemies like Trolls, Dragons and Daedra while completing quests.
You can play this game as a lone adventurer, but it’s best enjoyed cooperatively with multiple players. A typical session lasts between two to three hours. Miniature characters from the Elder Scrolls franchise are here, including the stealthy Khajiit and the wise High Elf.
You can buy additional expansion sets if the Skyrim: The Board Game is not long enough. One of the expansions replaces monster encounters with 32mm scale miniatures. Another expansion includes a new chapter where you can become a vampire, join the Dawnguard, and engage in mini-campaigns with more rewards, dungeons, and treasures.
Dorformantik: The Board Game
The popular landscape-building puzzle game has now become a family-friendly board game. In Dorformantik: The Board Game, you must use hexagonal tiles to create a landscape that keeps the local villagers happy. However, these bystanders have more requests than your local area planning commissioner, so you can’t just aimlessly connect tiles. For instance, you must connect tiles with rivers and train tracks together. Once you complete certain areas, you can claim flags in that terrain.
This may sound complex, but it’s really straightforward when you start playing, and you will feel like a part-time architect when you have linked up all the tiles. A full game will take thirty minutes, and you can play with up to six players, but honestly, we recommend two players, as you can have a nice relaxing catch-up while playing.
This War of Mine: The Board Game
This War of Mine: The Board Game uses a storytelling style different from the video game title. Instead of playing as an elite soldier, you go through a broken city torn by civil war as an ordinary citizen. Survival hinges on venturing outside to scavenge for essential items and to improve living conditions. You will need to master a lot of crafting, allowing you to build different items like beds or radios, which can help you survive, feel better, or boost your morale. Your goal is to stay alive until the end of the civil war.
This War of Mine: The Board Game gets interesting when you go out to scavenge. At the start of the game, you have survivors, each with unique needs such as cigarettes, moonshine, or books. When you leave to find valuable items, you may discover unwanted attention. One of the standout things about This War of Mine: The Board Game is that if something terrible happens, it can spiral quickly, causing multiple problems simultaneously. This will lead to tough decisions related to themes like depression, hunger, and misery. As you progress through the game, you can unlock new rules, adding another layer of difficulty.
A single game can be somewhat lengthy, spanning three hours on average. This War of Mine: The Board Game can be enjoyed on your own or with multiple players, but two players are a good number to play with as they give you someone to bounce off with without considerable debate ensuing. An expansion pack is also available, introducing more complex and darker themes and incorporating kids, further increasing its complexity.
Resident Evil 2: The Board Game
We are finishing this list on a high note with some heart-pounding action from Resident Evil 2: The Board Game. This creepy entry is set in the eerie Resident Evil universe in Raccoon City. You take control of one of the four returning familiar faces: Clair, Leon, Ada, or Kendo. It’s a cooperative survival horror game, which is best played with several people and usually takes two hours.
Like the video game version, the board game requires you to manage your resources effectively to prevent being overrun by the relentless undead. The roster of creatures includes formidable foes from the series, such as Lickers, Zombie Dogs, G-Mutant, and mutated Birkin. Notably, the miniatures of the ghouls are intricately detailed and depict them in terrifying poses. Are you ready to take on the challenge and survive the apocalypse?
Published: Sep 17, 2024 09:45 pm