This will be the year of board games inspired by video games. True, board game adaptations of video games have been happening for quite a while now, but we have had an almost unprecedented influx of brilliant titles to explore over the past several weeks, Apex Legends: The Board Game one of them.
Video Games Find New Home in Board Games
Now, Steamforged Games, the studio and publisher that adapted the board games versions of Dark Souls, Resident Evil, and the Elden Ring, is back with an exciting new announcement, as the company is looking to plunge itself into Sea of Thieves, a pirate theme game.
How do we know? Well, Steamforged Games dropped the news themselves teasing an image of the video game’s map melded with the company’s logo in what is a clear statement of what is to come next. On the map, you can make out some of the locations in the video game, including Shipwreck Bay, The Crooked Masts, Old Faithful Isle and more, meaning that we are going pirate once again.
While board game adaptations of video games were seen as a little more than a cash grab, companies such as Steamforged Games have put in a lot of hard work to prove that a game can work on tabletop as it can digitally. After all, Scythe, a game by Stonemaier Games, is pulling in about the same numbers in physical and digital sale copies.
Not only that, but Kolossal Games is currently raising funding for Street Fighter V: Champion Edition – Legends on Kickstarter. The campaign started on Tuesday and has already exceeded its goal. But back to Sea of Thieves, the game was released for Xbox and PC in 2018 and enjoyed a strong reception. The game is based on an open-world setting, with players able to interact with crew members and enjoy the various joys of seafaring life.
Board Game Adaptations Not About Recreating Every Last Detail
Of course, this type of open-world setting will be reimplemented completely differently in a tabletop experience, but it’s something that at least sets out the theme. As to Steamforged Games, there has been little to suggest that the company is anything less than great with handling such adaptations while giving them their own unique and meaningful twist.
Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, the Sea of Thieves franchise has already been successfully adopted into a tabletop RPG by Mongoose Publishing, so there is some solid groundwork already laid out there.