Popular video games being adapted as board games are fairly common these days. Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Fallout, Binding of Isaac, the list goes on. The demand is undoubtedly there, since most have no trouble getting crowdfunded. Less commonly seen is the vice versa. With a few notable exceptions – Scythe, Mansions of Madness, etc. – board games are rarely given the video game treatment (aside from ones that are simply digitized and ported over). With that said, the most recent announcement out of Gen Con – North America’s premiere board game convention – is sure to pique some interest. The highest ranked board game, Gloomhaven, is getting a video game adaptation.
The PC version of the game will be similar, though not a direct translation by any means. The digital counterpart will attempt to capture the same vibe of the board game as a third person, dungeon-crawler RPG. Developer Asmodee Digital has opened up the Steam Early Access page for Gloomhaven, and a teaser to go with it. The trailer doesn’t show much beyond exhibiting the graphic engine and atmosphere of the game, however.
The developers will be collaborating with the original game designer, Isaac Childres, to ensure a faithful adaptation, and plan to retain a hex-shaped, turn-based combat system to simulate the board game experience. Unfortunately, the game will not launch with multiplayer, but that may come at a later date. As this is an Early Access title, the developers are counting on fleshing out the game throughout the course of its development, with constant feedback from early adopters.
To those that run in the tabletop circle, Gloomhaven is the indisputable best board game. After its successful Kickstarter campaign in 2017, the game rocketed to the top of the prestigious BoardGameGeek Top 100 leaderboard, and is one of the highest rated games in the website’s history. It’s really a surprise, then, that it took this long for a video game announcement. Gloomhaven is a dungeon crawler RPG with puzzle elements, and the core mechanic revolves around card-based character customization. Players essentially create a party of personalized characters to run through various stories and campaigns.
Gloomhaven will launch Q1 2019 on Steam for Windows PC. There are no other supported platforms announced at this point.