With how many games these days seem to get board game adaptations, it’s clear that there’s a market for board game creators to adapt the worlds and mechanics from all sorts of different games into a tabletop format. Even just in 2023, games likeDead Cells,Terraria,Slay the Spire,Deep Rock Galactic, and evenMonster Hunterhave all had board game adaptations either announced or released.
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So, let’s go over a few more of the most standout examples of games that could be easily translated into a board game format. Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean overlaying the styles of these games over the mechanics of other board games, but theorizing how exactly the mechanics of these video games could work in a board game format.
9Inscryption
First up is an obvious one, butInscryptionis probably one of the easiest video game to board game adaptations out there,since this roguelike gameitself is based around the idea of a card game.
Granted, if it was translated into a tabletop format, the creators would have to figure out a way to integrate the fourth-wall breaking and visual-change aspects ofInscryptioninto the mechanics of the board game, but if they managed to do so it would likely become immensely popular. It would be amazing if, hypothetically, the creator of said game was able to integrate the aspects fromInscrytionsuch as solving puzzles around the room the card game is being played in, switching up the mechanics of the game the further players get, or even the found-footage aspect of the video game.
8For The King
For the Kingis basically already a board game formatted into a video game given that it’s cooperative and the map itself is made up of hexagonal tiles similar to many actual board games likeSettlers of Catanand so on. All that said, this game actually ‘technically’ started as a board game, as it was originally a pet project tabletop RPG being made into a board game by Colby Young, one of the three original developers at IronOak Games. From there, the team realized how well this would work as a video game, created a Kickstarter for it, and the rest is history.
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In any case, because this literally started as a board game (or at least the concept of one)For the Kingwould be so incredibly easy to translate into a board game format, thougheach session would likely be rather long. Though, whoever ends up making it would likely want to reach out to IronOak to either build off of or reference their original board game concept.
7Hollow Knight
If titles like Dead Cells and Binding of Isaac can receive creative and unique board game adaptations, then other roguelikes and Metroidvanias can as well. And, among all the roguelikes/Metroidvanias out there,Hollow Knightis by far one of the most inventive around. Whether this is in regard to its visuals, its mechanicssuch as the general combat or Charm system, or just the overallworldbuilding and history of Hallownest.
Fans of the series would be more than happy to spend more time in the world of Hallownest, especially if doing so gave them something else to do while waiting for any news on Silksong. As for how exactly Hollow Knight’s mechanics would translate to a board game format, it would likely either follow a similar format to other ‘boss battle’ type board games such asTownfolk TussleorKingdom Death Monster, or it would follow aMunchkin-type format similar toBinding of Isaac: Four Souls.
6Hotline Miami
Hotline Miamiis on here primarily because it would be incredibly interesting to see how a game that incentivizes meticulously attempting to create a ‘perfect run’ of each level would work in a board game format. So technically, other games such asKatana ZeroorSifucould even work in place ofHotline Miami.
In any case, as a hypothetical board game, maybe players would have to make a series of decisions and dice rolls in a row while ‘progressing’ through a series of boards that function as levels. In these maps, they would have to successfully pass every single dice roll to ‘win’. And, while that task would be literally impossible at first, with every attempt players could potentially earn or discover items that buffed their roles such as different weapons or any one of the Masks from both of theHotline Miamititles.
5Hades
For many of the same reasonsHollow Knightwould make a great board game, so wouldHades, Supergiant Game’s most well-known title to date. Again, it’s hard to come up with ideas for how the combat inHadescould translate to a tabletop format, as that’s a job better left to the people who actually create these board games, but just about everything else in the game would translate rather easily.
As players progressed through the realms of Tartarus (which would likely be represented by different physical ‘boards’ for the player pieces) they would routinely be faced with different choices ofwhich Gods or Greek Heroesto pick for different Boons, and could even be offered unique events like the opportunity to switch their Infernal Arm or gain some benefit from one of the game’s many companions that Zagreus steadily builds his bond with.
4The Earth Defense Force Series
IfWarhammer 40kcan make controlling entire armies work exceedingly easy on a tabletop format, then it should also be possible to makeEarth Defense Forcework in a tabletop format as well.
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This longstanding pillar of campyStarship Troopers-esque goodness is a favorite game series for many, whether it’s for the wackiness of the games themselves or for the love of the gameplay loop of the titles. If it was ever adapted into a tabletop format, the main draw of the game would need to be surviving as long as possible or until a certain threshold more than it would be able ‘total victory’, as the levels in these games almost exclusively have objectives based around forcing the enemy to retreat. Still, just thinking about what a board game developer could do with the hundreds of weapons, monsters, and levels across all these games is enough to warrant wanting a board game adaptation of it.
3Loop Hero
Loop Herois another one of those games that seems like it was almost designed with a future board game adaptation in mind. The in-game mechanics can almost directly transfer to a board game mechanics 1 to 1, with the exception of the auto-battling aspect of the game.
Whether it’s the placeable titles, the town area players steadily upgrade, the gear they’ll unlock through subsequent loops, or the boss fights, all of it would be pretty easy to figure out a board game equivalent for. The only real drawback of the game would be figuring out how to include multiple players into this conceptual gameplay loop, asLoop Herois a single-player game by design.
2Moonlighter
While this listalready features a couple of roguelikes on it, not includingMoonlighterseems silly given how well its shopkeeping by day, dungeon-crawling by night gameplay loop would work in a board game format.
InMoonlighter, players manage their store by day that sells all sorts of knick-knacks, materials, and weapons gathered from the nearby dungeons. Then, at night, the player character named Will heads into those dungeons himself to slowly clear more and more of them each night and gather more materials for his shop the next day.
1Enter the Gungeon
And finally, let’s talk aboutEnter the Gungeon. Alongside games likeHollow KnightandHades,Enter the Gungeonis on here primarily because its designs, world-building, and overall aesthetic would be a huge draw if they were adapted into physical board game pieces. So much so, in fact, that capturing a similar style with physical cards, dice, and more would easily create enough interest, in general, for people to buy this hypothetical board game adaptation.
And, with the wide variety of guns, character classes, potential bosses, and items players can experience with each run, there’s more than enough material for a board game adaptation that would make every play session feel completely unique.
