An Elden Ring board game is coming
Become Elden Board.
An Elden Ring board game is in the works from the studio behind the tabletop adaptations of Dark Souls.
Steamforged Games revealed that it would continue its run of adapting From Software’s gothic fantasy video games - which has included a board game, card game, tabletop RPG and miniatures based on Dark Souls - by bringing this year’s spiritual successor Elden Ring to the tabletop.
Released in February, Elden Ring applied the punishing combat, rich world-building and enigmatic storytelling of the Soulsborne series - which includes Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne and Sekiro - to the vast open world of The Lands Between.
The game went on to become one of the biggest-selling video games of 2022 to date, with over 16.6 million copies sold, and a critical success. (Metacritic currently ranks it as among the 50 highest-rated video games of all time.) Over on Eurogamer, Aoife praised its “sumptuous visual design, dark and detailed lore and a vast-but-intricate open world”, calling it “a glorious game”.
Elden Ring: The Board Game will see up to four players - a single-player mode will also be included - become Tarnished characters journeying through the Lands Between in pursuit of becoming the Elden Lord. As in the video game, discovering the world via exploration is said to be a key part of the experience, with Elden Ring’s sprawling and distinct regions inspiring a “huge and varied adventure” in the upcoming board game.
The board game’s announcement predictably teases “iconic locations” and “familiar enemies and characters” from the video game, without confirming many specifics.
The only boss mentioned by name in the initial reveal is Godrick the Grafted - one of Elden Ring’s central shardbearers and major demigod foes, faced by players in the early Stormveil Castle dungeon - while the only mob-type enemy namedropped is a Godrick Soldier, one of the ubiquitous minions found throughout the starting area of Limgrave. The first images for the game confirmed that Margit, the Fell Omen, the boss fought to gain access to Stormveil Castle, will also appear in the game with a miniature.
The Elden Ring board game will recreate the video game’s battles using a dice-less combat system, which will “requir[e] players to strategise and adapt their plans during each encounter”. In keeping with the Soulsborne series’ infamously tough “Prepare to die” gameplay, fights in Elden Ring: The Board Game will be plenty challenging, its creators said.
“Fans should expect a dark, richly-realised tabletop world of mystery and peril, with satisfying combat and rewarding exploration,” said Steamforged’s chief creative officer and co-founder Mat Hart. “Prepare to lose hours to this game, and to be glad about it.”
While Steamforged has used variations of its boss deck AI system first seen in Dark Souls: The Board Game - which sees bosses gain new abilities and change behaviours over the course of a fight, as in the video games - in its later tabletop adaptations of Monster Hunter and Resident Evil 2, the studio did not confirm whether a similar system would appear in the Elden Ring board game.
Steamforged also did not provide any details on whether Elden Ring’s mounted combat - with players able to speed across The Lands Between on spirit horse-goat steed Torrent - would make an appearance in the board game.
Like Dark Souls: The Board Game - but unlike Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game - the Elden Ring board game will see a Kickstarter campaign. Steamforged said the crowdfunding date would be revealed soon. The publisher did not give indication of a release date or price for the game.
