A Dying Light board game is in development
From Frostpunk: The Board Game studio Glass Cannon Unplugged.
A board game based on zombie survival video game Dying Light is in the works.
A Dying Light board game was first teased in a short YouTube video posted on February 15th, in which Glass Cannon Unplugged CEO Jakub Wiśniewski was ‘interrupted’ by banging and snarling noises while announcing the studio’s next game.
The video ended with Wiśniewski saying “I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait for the announcement,” before panning the camera down to reveal “Stay Human” - the subtitle for this year’s Dying Light 2 - scrawled on the wall behind.
A follow-up video sees Wiśniewski joined by Tymon Smektała, lead game designer at Dying Light developer Techland, to confirm that Dying Light: The Board Game is currently in development.
The announcement video offers little in the way of hard details, beyond stating that Techland and Glass Cannon Unplugged will be working on the upcoming board game together. No indication was given of a crowdfunding campaign or release date, with Wiśniewski simply asking fans to “stay tuned”.
The first Dying Light was released in 2015, building on similar gameplay seen in Techland’s earlier zombie game Dead Island. The video game blends together open-world exploration of a city infested by zombie-like infected with first-person melee-focused combat and parkour movement, as players vault over walls, jump between roofs, clamber up buildings and zipline back to the ground. A day-night cycle sees the infected become more deadly at night, presenting a risk-reward in staying out after dark.
A full sequel set more than 20 years after the original, Dying Light 2: Stay Human released earlier this month, building on the gameplay of its predecessor with more ambitious storytelling - including a number of factions that the player can ally with or oppose - and a wider array of equipment, weaponry and physical skills for the player to use as they eliminate or avoid the undead. Our friends over at Eurogamer called it a “brutal blockbuster that's inelegant but hugely entertaining” in their review.
Both Dying Light games feature co-operative multiplayer for up to four people who can explore and survive the city environments together, potentially hinting at what form Dying Light: The Board Game might take.
Glass Cannon Unplugged previously adapted PC survival-strategy game Frostpunk as its debut tabletop title, with the studio having been founded in 2020 by veterans of the board game industry. Wiśniewski previously co-created the board game based on sober war survival video game This War of Mine.