Call of Duty: The Board Game by Arcane Wonders has long been in the works, but the game has finally hit Kickstarter on Tuesday, August 1 surpassing the $75,000 funding goal a day later on Wednesday. Since then, the game has received a total of $120,311 in funding from 867 backers and still 19 days to go.
The game is set to release in 2024 and is being designed by Bryan Pope and Benjamin Pope who have previously worked on Mage Wars, Spoils of War, and RWBY: Combat Ready, and have been handpicked to bring one of the biggest video game blockbusters to the tabletop hobby. The game is exclusively designed for two players and plays in 45-90 minutes.
The age is surprisingly set at 17+ but there is nothing known about its complexity. Players will be able to play as famous operators from the video game series, such as Captain Price and Ghost Riley, and choose from a variety of weapons. Each player builds a custom combat deck they will then use to move strategically across the game.
Actions are chosen in secret for a chance to catch your opponents off-guard. There are explosive traps and aiming your shooting carefully would have bearing in the game. The system, at least at first glance, doesn’t look too shabby at all and reminds of the way how the Undaunted series does things. Besides, both designers’ previous games were sound.
Call of Duty: The Board Game tries to simulate the first-person shooter dynamic without making it forced or restrictive for the tabletop medium, with players able to pick from options such as dodging or maneuvering to get a better shooting positions, aiming carefully or burst-firing their full clip.
There are many strategic decisions that come into play, but the good news is that if you die – you will end up respawning. Just like you would in the video game. The core game box is now available for $49 at the Kickstarter crowdfunding page of the project.