Elden Ring board game in the works, because of course it is

Elden Ring is getting a board game adaptation from Steamforged Games, the serial Bandai Namco board game adaptation collaborator behind the prior Dark Souls and Monster Hunter: World board games.

In a news release on their website, Steamforged announced the Elden Ring board game will be sold via a Kickstarter campaign. The announcement was accompanied by a render for a miniature of infamous early-game boss Margit, the Fell Omen.

“The video game’s characteristically challenging fights will be recreated by intelligent dice-free combat, requiring players to strategise and adapt their plans during each encounter,” said the release.

“Our mission is always to deliver authentic tabletop adaptations that capture the essence of what fans know and love about the IP. Fans should expect a dark, richly-realised tabletop world of mystery and peril, with satisfying combat and rewarding exploration. Prepare to lose hours to this game, and to be glad about it,” said Mat Hart, the co-founder and chief creative officer at Steamforged.

None of that particularly describes what the game will be like, though. Diceless combat is more promising, as it's often a key to more functional, balanced, deterministic fights like those seen in Gloomhaven or even Into the Breach. I'm most interested in the idea that Steamforged might try to adapt or echo some of Elden Ring's open world spirit.

You can sign up for notifications about the Kickstarter campaign on the Elden Ring board game's pre-launch page over there. The time span before launch is “months,” however.

Will it be a good board game? Well, that means it's opinion time, but given Steamforged Games' history it'll be a very ok game. The miniatures will probably be gorgeous, as has been true with all the Steamforged adaptations so far. 

Rules-wise? None of Steamforged's adaptations have reached beyond functional into interesting, inspired, or truly great territory. They're functional if over-complex. Its release of the Dark Souls RPG earlier this year, however, was riddled with amateurish errors and—frankly—so lackluster that I wouldn't even recommend it to fans of the series.