Elden Ring: The Board Game Review

by

Steamforged Games has skillfully transformed one of the most influential video games from recent times, and the end product is largely a triumph. The Elden Ring Board Game mirrors the essence of exploration, tough battles, and character development, while keeping fans hooked with its difficulty level. Despite some flaws, Elden Ring drew me in with its stunning miniatures, stimulating tactical combat, and wide range of customization options. Given Steamforged’s past practice of providing support for their games, it wouldn’t be shocking if additional campaigns and expansions are on the way. If you have a circle of board game aficionados, particularly Elden Ring fans, this is an effortless recommendation. Begin with The Realm of the Grafted King. So, venture forth, Tarnished, and discover what lies ahead!

Over the past decade, not many games have stirred up quite the same level of excitement in the gaming community like Elden Ring from FromSoftware. With tabletop games based on video games gaining popularity, it was only a matter of time before Elden Ring made its way to our tables. That’s where Steamforged Games, known for their adaptations of other popular video games such as Resident Evil, Monster Hunter World, and FromSoftware’s Dark Souls, stepped in to bring this behemoth to life.

After a highly successful crowdfunding campaign in 2022, Elden Ring: The Board Game (or simply Elden Ring from now on) is almost ready for delivery to backers and available for pre-order for everyone else. So, prepare yourself, fellow gamers. It’s time to rise once more and fight!

In simpler terms, Elden Ring is a board game where you and your friends move through various story-based scenarios as you develop and enhance your characters. Steamforged Games has developed three different “stories” or campaigns for players to pick from – Realm of the Grafted King, The Weeping Peninsula, and Stormveil Castle. The Realm of the Grafted King serves as the main game, while the other two are standalone expansions. You can play these expansions individually or after completing the base game, allowing you to continue your characters’ journey and become even stronger. Depending on which box you buy, you will have access to unique character classes such as Vagabond, Samurai, Astrologer, Prophet (in the base game), Hero, Bandit, Confessor, Prisoner, and Vagabond in the different expansions.

As a gamer, this tabletop game is an impressive beast, arriving in massive boxes overflowing with miniature monsters that seem straight out of nightmares, alongside hundreds of cards, tokens, tiles, and an abundance of rulebooks, combat maps, and scenario guides. It’s one of the most daunting games in my collection, made even more intimidating by the fact that I only own one of its campaigns – I’m yet to get my hands on the other two boxes or any of the bonus boss sets. For a game of this scale, Steamforged has truly outdone themselves with Elden Ring, offering some of the most intricately detailed miniatures I’ve ever seen, coupled with high-quality cards and robust cardboard components.

In other words, there are several types of scenarios designed to keep things interesting and avoid repetition, but not all of them work equally well. The narrative scenarios require you to read through passages, decide on actions (which may involve skill checks), and then pull a card to find out the outcome. Though I admire the use of skill checks, these scenarios didn’t appeal much to me because if I were looking for reading or storytelling, I would either read a book or play Dungeons & Dragons instead.

Without a doubt, my preference leans towards Exploration Scenarios, which embody the essence of discovery and the thrill of not knowing what awaits you over the next ridge – a sensation that encapsulates the core of the content. In these scenarios, you, along with other players, traverse a section of the map, rotating and positioning random tiles as you strive to fulfill various tasks. Tiles might hold enemies, loot, Sites of Grace, or other hidden treasures for you to unearth and utilize. I’m particularly fond of the “build as you play” method in board games, be it in Betrayal at House on the Hill or Clank! Catacombs, because it amplifies both the sense of discovery and the game’s longevity thanks to the unpredictability of tile placement. These scenarios strike a harmonious balance between all that Elden Ring offers – combat, narrative, and exploration – without feeling overwhelming.

The last three scenario types predominantly revolve around intense combat: Gauntlets, Dungeons, and Boss battles. Gauntlets present you with tough fights against numerous adversaries, along with some unique rules. Dungeons are similar but end in a powerful boss battle. Lastly, Boss scenarios pit you and your companions against the game’s formidable enemies – a true test of your character builds and teamwork. As you navigate through these combat-focused scenarios and random encounters while exploring, Elden Ring offers a challenging and engaging combat experience, which is particularly impressive given the quality of its battles.

The battles occur on battlefields made from connected ring-bound notebooks provided with the game. Certain skirmishes necessitate spreading out several books across multiple pages, resulting in a strategic battleground where players and adversaries move tactically as they strive to overcome each other. Spells and weapons have defined ranges, but standing in certain rows can grant additional advantages – like dealing extra damage, manipulating turn order, or improving defense. My friends and I often found ourselves deeply engrossed in discussions about positioning, trying to withstand the barrage of incoming attacks. Regrettably, even our most carefully planned strategies often failed us – as the enemies in this game are incredibly formidable.

In simpler terms, each basic opponent has a card detailing their actions, marked with symbols for attack positioning, movement, and other rules. It may take some time to understand all these symbols, but eventually, it becomes manageable. Once an enemy completes the steps on its action list (or skips if it can’t), its turn ends. This process is straightforward and easy to handle.

However, bosses are a different story – they have decks of actions with specific positions in the initiative order. Sometimes, you get lucky and their attacks come last. Other times, they attack before you even react, making the fights intense and challenging. The health pools for each boss adjust based on the number of players, ensuring fairness. Each boss battle is thrilling with moments that make us hold our breath, hoping to disrupt the boss or dodge a powerful attack. Despite just being small figures moving on a grid, the combat provides more strategy and depth than expected.

Elden Ring forgoes dice entirely, opting instead for a card-driven deck-building experience.

A fascinating detail that might catch players off guard is that Elden Ring abandons the traditional dice mechanics, instead offering a card-based system for gameplay. The cards you play are drawn from a deck influenced by your selected weapons, abilities, and equipment. Yet, the amount of damage inflicted or mitigated, as well as unique effects such as Bleed, are regulated by an independent Attribute deck. This Attribute deck uses cards with symbols symbolizing stats like Strength, Dexterity, and others, with attack and defense decks favoring specific symbols over others.

In board games based on campaigns, character development is a crucial aspect, and Elden Ring follows suit. Like the video game, you can upgrade your class for additional skills and personalize your character by exchanging weapons, armor, trinkets, and Attribute cards while also enhancing overall stats via Trait cards. This customization is facilitated through the Rune system, serving as an equipment capacity limit; as you advance in the campaign, your Rune count rises, enabling more tailoring. Nevertheless, the method of tracking Runes could use improvement – Steamforged offers small Rune cards to monitor the total, but they’re scarce and contribute to card congestion. A streamlined tracker, like the one for health, would have been preferable. Currently, the most practical approach is to keep track of Runes manually on paper, which feels cumbersome. Ideally, a more efficient solution will come from the gaming community or from Steamforged itself.

Although Elden Ring boasts many impressive aspects, my first encounter was challenging, not because of the game itself, but due to starting at Stormveil Castle, which is actually the third campaign. Although it can be played independently, it presumes your characters have completed earlier missions and makes immediate adjustments to equipment, runes, and decks. This was daunting for newcomers. I wholeheartedly recommend that anyone considering this game begin with the Realm of the Grafted King instead.

Where to Buy

  • Get it at Steamforged Games

More Board Games Based on Video Games:

Read More

2025-03-07 00:28