List Day - 5 Video Games I Want As Kickstarter Board Games
This is the day you don’t skip at the tabletop gym because you don’t want your lists to look all scrawny and weak. It’s so unattractive when lists are neglected while everything else is robust and muscular…
That’s why we’re going to pump our lists full of Kickstarter convos, board game paraphernalia, and all of the other tabletop-adjacent talk that gets the Internet into a tizzy. Enjoy.
The Kickstarter scene has spawned multiple tabletop adaptations of board games in recent years. Games like Bloodborne, Frostpunk, Wolfenstein, Horizon Zero Dawn, and God of War have all featured on the crowdfunding platform, as well as others that I haven’t named. But if we’re moving more readily into the realm of adaptation, then there are some games that I wish get the board game treatment as soon as possible!
Some of these video games have already been turned into board games, but I’m talking about grander Kickstarter campaigns with bigger reach than what’s come out in the past.
Uncharted
Naughty Dog is my favorite video game developer and their Uncharted series is one of the best narrative and action-adventure stories out there. The protagonists are charming and roguish. The adventures are imaginative. It’s so well-done for so many reasons. Which is why I’d love the excuse to jump back into that world.
There are so many narrative campaigns out there, especially on Kickstarter, so I’m not sure that’s the way I’d want this board game adaptation to go. Instead, it might be interesting to see it as a deck-builder. That would simulate the gradual character growth and skill development that occurs in the video games. Maybe even a little bit of worker placement on the board to diversify the mechanics of the game. Each new adventure could be distilled into new decks of enemies, items, and opportunities.
Man, I wish something like this would happen…
Portal
The cake is a lie. So much so that when you see the old Portal board game, it’s dubbed as the “cake-acquisition” game, albeit a competitive one.
But I want a more focused and visually-attractive return to one of the most memorable video games in recent memory. And since Portal is a puzzle game, I think that a polyomino design could be really interesting. Something with the visual appeal of Project L, but infused with the deadly humor and atmospheric theme of the video game. I’m pretty new to polyomino games, yet it feels like the right direction for a tabletop adaptation of the scientific experiment gone wrong.
The tricky part, which would be essential to me, is figuring out how to scale it in complexity to mirror the increasing difficulty of the spatial puzzles.
Overwatch
If Overwatch isn’t perfect for a board game adaptation, then I don’t know what is. You could go the direction of Dice Throne and have a competitive or cooperative dice-chucker layered with hero decks that provide tactical depth. You could go the asymmetric deck route of Unmatched and have delightful little miniatures jumping around the beloved Overwatch maps in a constant push-and-pull fight to see who wins. Super Fantasy Brawl provides a good blueprint for team-based hero battles and you could easily translate the world of Overwatch into a similar tabletop experience.
There are a lot of directions you could go with it, but I think it’s a fabulous choice because there is a depth of lore and history with all of these characters. It would be enriching from a thematic standpoint, but so many different mechanics could help make this a reality.
Rocket League
Dexterity game, anyone? Replace the giant metal ball with a disc and you might have an interesting opportunity on your hands. I’m not sure what the best way to build the rocket-car, soccer-ball arena would be, but if it was done right this could be a really engaging family game.
Part of Rocket League’s success rides on the simplicity of the concept. I love soccer. It’s the sport I’ve grown up playing and watching. Its appeal, unfortunately, is not widespread (in the U.S.). But replace the people with cars and then super-size the ball? That’ll get their attention.
A well-done dexterity game could really translate the manic fun of Rocket League and turn it into a nitrous-fueled Crokinole competitor. Just think of all the cosmetic stretch goals that a developer could show off on Kickstarter…
Firewatch
Out of all the video games out there, this may seem like a strange choice. Hear me out, though. I want Firewatch done by Keymaster Games. I want them to recreate this alluring world in the wilderness, leveraging the same artistic expertise with which they attended to PARKS.
I want visual splendor, but I also want an engrossing story, so flavor text and narrative cards, like Dead of Winter’s Crossroads cards, are a must.
I think this could be a really special game if it was done right. It’s got the theme. It’s got the story. It’s got the environment. It just needs a guiding hand to bring it to life. It’s my dark horse on the list, but it could be one of the best.
What other video games would you like to see as Kickstarter board games? Let us know in the comments!