Turning video games into board games is a lot harder than it sounds

We’re eight months into 2023, and already board gaming fans have spent more than $18 million crowdfunding new games. Board games that are based on video games.

At least eight campaigns have been funded across three crowdfunding platforms, and over 96,000 individuals showed interest. It’s a segment of board games that is quickly gaining in popularity, with more being announced every month. But there’s more to turning a hit video game into a successful board game than just slapping some intellectual property onto a box and making sure there’s some excellent miniatures inside. Polygon talked to a few designers about their process.

The hardest part about adapting video games to a tabletop game is choosing the scale and scope of the entire project. The designers must ask what they want the boardgame to bring out of the original material. They can choose to stick with familiar places that the players have visited before. They can either take players to a new place or stick with the familiar ones. Either way, they’ll need to get the owner of the rights to the video game to sign off on the concept — and they’ll need to get the existing community of fans excited.

Image: Larian Studios

However, board game designers are often tasked with translating unique video game mechanics to a platform they are poorly suited to — aspects of a game so tied to its identity that come hell or high water, they have to be included in the tabletop version. To create a fun game, you may have to make revisions or alterations to the system or theme. Larian Studios, known for their computer role-playing game like the recently released Baldur’s Gate 3When working with a. Board Game – Divinity Original Sin.

Kieron Kelley, Larian Studios’ producer in charge of the Divinity Board Game, said that one thing they knew would be carried over was the interplay between elements, world and players. For example, hitting water with fire would result in steam clouds, which would obscure vision, and stop ranged attacks. Meanwhile, striking an oil barrel or a tank with electricity or fire would lead to an explosion. The statuses of oil, wetness, and fire are all applicable to characters. These statuses (wet, oil, fire, etc.) also applied to enemies and characters, so that players could use similar reactions to overcome obstacles. It was important to have this added level of strategy and interactivity when switching from the old medium.

Kelly said that every time the team changed the mechanics of the status effects, they were never close to the way the game actually worked. Kelly explained that after eight iterations, they had decided to consult outside professionals to gain a different perspective. They said that status effects slowed down a game which was otherwise very good. Using the feedback provided, the mechanics as they existed were scrapped. A new system was designed from scratch using this feedback.

Chip Theory Games

Developers are sometimes able to tweak and adjust their existing systems to fit in an adaption project. Elder Scrolls 2: Betrayal in the Second EraChip Theory Games. Known for its premium board games utilizing dice and poker-style chips (including it’s most popular title, There are too many bonesChip Theory Games’ RPG customization system was used as the basis for their upcoming Elder Scrolls title.

There are too many bonesThis version of the game has a stricter approach to player choice. Players choose characters that have pre-selected abilities and skills, which level up with time. This approach is distinct. It is not clear how to get there.Fans of Elder Scrolls can experience progression in a different way. Bethesda’s series touts its freedom in character development, allowing players to explore any and all aspects of its game’s narrative and design. Speaking with Josh Wielgus, Chip Theory’s chief marketing officer, and Ryan Howard, the company’s development director, they explained how Chip Theory was able to adjust its Gearloc system and fit it with the world of Elder Scrolls.

“In an effort to better get class and racial traits into Second Era, we arrived on the similar system we have now, where stats and skills all operate on the same grid, and we force you to pair certain stats/skills across from one another depending on your race,” Wielgus said. The approach creates a choice where players have to compromise on one thing to achieve a better result in another. Chip Theory Games is hoping that these choices will encourage players to put thought into the character they create. Second Era’s replayability.

One of the joys of crowd-funding board games is the fact that the fandoms also have a chance to speak. Sometimes they say things that developers just don’t expect. Jakub Wiśniewski, CEO of Glass Cannon Unplugged, the studio behind the recent successful campaign for Apex Legends The Board Game, In our interview with the developer, he revealed that it is thanks to fan requests and positive feedback that the original solo game mode of this project was added.

“When we announced the game, people started asking about a solo mode, and at first we thought it was a joke, but then we saw they were serious about it,” Wiśniewski said. “They were serious about it because they know what we did for Frostpunk, and they had expectations that if it’s Glass Cannon that’s making this game, [Apex] is going to have a good solo mode, and we realized the potential there.”

Simply because the potential was there, though, didn’t mean that the new addition of a solo mode was a foregone conclusion. Adding in a new mode, especially one that hadn’t initially been included in the scope or the funding target, requires a lot of careful thought and planning to happen. Wiśniewski and the rest of the team at Glass Cannon had to work out whether they could work with the content in ApexGive the fans an enjoyable solo mode. Then, once it was agreed that the team could, they needed to determine how the solo version would work. Glass Cannon invited the entire team to sit with them and some external friends. After several days of brainstorming and testing, they came up with a fun and satisfying solo experience.

Overcomplicating a tabletop game is risky. There are so many systems to consider. By aiming for board game enthusiasts with complicated mechanics and a strong table presence, it is possible to scare off those who enjoy video games. These players may only have experience with the source material, where many of the systems are handled behind the scenes by the software,You can also find out more about they haven’t experienced a tabletop game more complex than Uno or Scrabble.You risk alienating existing fans if you choose to create a simple game, which may appeal to video-game crowds. They expect more complexity and depth from you.

To create a successful tabletop adaptation, you need to understand the fundamentals of the game or property that is being adapted. It’s simply not enough to make sure it mimics or recreates its systems one to one. Designers strive to create the same feelings as the video games and to choose the best aspects that will evoke those feelings. This particular adaptation genre is becoming increasingly popular. Developers will try to emulate the spirit of digital games in dice and cards.