Elden Ring goes further - as a board game

The open-world action role-playing game from the Japanese developer studio From Software is entering the next round, albeit differently than some fans might have expected. The publisher Steamforged Games - in the industry a real expert in the implementation of licensed board games - takes on the template from publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment. That means: Elden Ring will appear as a board game. 

First of all, what it takes for fans to be able to bring Elden Ring to the table as board games is a successful crowdfunding campaign via Kickstarter. Steamforged Games wants to finance the licensed title there. The preview page has been live for a long time, you can see so make a note of the project already. 

Elden Ring: board game idea in good hands

The announcement of a board game for Elden Ring is not really surprising given the huge success of the video game. And the choice of Steamforged Games as a partner for the implementation also makes sense, especially since they have already worked with Bandai Namco several times. In the past, the publisher had adapted a large number of video games for the home gaming table, including Monster Hunter World: The Board Game, board games based on the horror series Resident Evil and Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game. And: Experience has also been gained with the adaptation of extremely difficult video games, because Dark Souls is also part of the license portfolio of the British publisher Steamforged Games.

With Elden Ring you now blow a similar horn. Not quite as crisp as the ideal predecessors, but still difficult enough to make players despair, is the latest work from From Software an epic, exciting and at times frustrating gaming experience. Nevertheless: You shouldn't miss the video game because of its identified qualities, even as a genre newcomer, only the training period would be longer in this case. In the end it's worth it.

Now Elden Ring is entering the next round as a board game. Steamforged Games has already published a few bits of information on this. Accordingly, the title is aimed at up to four players, but can also be played alone. Players end up in the intermediate lands, they visit well-known places, meet familiar opponents - but then hopefully defeat them much faster than in the template. Steamforged Games wants the challenging fights from the video game with a strategic combat system - and the renunciation of dice! – also convert to the Elden Ring board game. How well does that work? This cannot be predicted, but the approach appears to be correct. 

It is also unclear when crowdfunding for the Elden Ring board game will start. Steamforged Games states that it intends to announce the date "soon". You also want to reveal more details about the game. So far there are few of them. The British publisher reveals next to nothing about the board game itself, but they do let on that they are obviously aware of the challenge of the popularity of the template. In other words, you don't want to mess it up. In any case, what fans love about the brand should also be considered in the board game. You should be able to lose yourself in the analogue world of Elden Ring for "hours" - and "you will love it", says Mat Hart, co-founder and chief creative officer at Steamforged Games. Licensing boss Aâdil Tayouga from Bandai Namco Europe is just as happy: "Steamforged Games has been a partner for several years and has shown commitment to developing high-quality products that remain true to our intellectual property". The publisher obviously expects that the core factors of the template are also appropriately reflected in the board game. 

Only a successful campaign on Kickstarter will have to be put down first. But there is no doubt that it will be successful: Elden Ring has countless fans worldwide. The video game alone sold nearly 17 million copies.

Nevertheless, the industry experts of Steamforged Games will be warned and nothing will be left to chance - other campaigns for licensed board games have recently gone much worse than hoped, something like that CMON's Cyberpunk 2077 board game or now the implementation of one new dune strategy game. 

Last updated on 26.05.2023/XNUMX/XNUMX / Affiliate Links / Images from the Amazon Product Advertising API. * = Affiliate links. Images from Amazon PA API