Review of Elden Ring: The Board Game

Over the past decade, few games have captured people’s attention quite like FromSoftware’s Elden Ring. As board games inspired by video games become ever more popular, it was only inevitable that FromSoftware’s massive hit would find its place on game tables too. Enter Steamforged Games, well-versed in crafting beloved adaptations such as Resident Evil, Monster Hunter World, and Dark Souls, who seized the opportunity to bring this universe to life once more. Following an incredibly successful fundraising campaign in 2022, Elden Ring: The Board Game is about to reach its eager backers and is available for preorder. So, for all the Tarnished out there, prepare to rise and face new challenges.

Elden Ring: The Board Game unfolds as a campaign-style experience. You and your friends will navigate through a series of scenarios, enhancing and evolving your characters throughout the story. Steamforged Games offers three distinct campaigns to choose from, aptly titled Realm of the Grafted King, The Weeping Peninsula, and Stormveil Castle. Grafted King is your core game, while the others act as standalone expansions you can dive into or engage with after completing the base game. This lets you continue your journey, carrying over your characters and strengthening them further. Based on your choice, you’ll unlock access to a variety of character classes. The Grafted King has classes like Vagabond, Samurai, Astrologer, and Prophet; Weeping Peninsula features Hero, Prophet, Astrologer, and Bandit; and Stormveil Castle includes Confessor, Prisoner, Samurai, and Vagabond.

When you open the game, you’re greeted by a robust setup—large boxes filled with detailed monster miniatures, an array of cards, cardboard tokens, tiles, and a slew of books containing the rules and storyline guides. Among my collection of games, it’s certainly one of the most imposing, and that’s just from owning one of the campaigns! Steamforged really delivered on the production quality here. The miniatures are some of the best I’ve come across, and the cards and components feel satisfying to handle.

Gameplay involves varied scenarios to keep the experience lively, although not all are equally engaging. Narrative scenarios present intriguing reading material, asking you to make choices that affect outcomes, similar to role-playing games, but if I were in the mood for a hefty narrative, I’d rather pick up a novel or delve into a game of Dungeons & Dragons.

Exploration scenarios, however, are a real treat, embodying the game’s essence of adventure and curiosity. They allow you to discover map regions by flipping and arranging random tiles, tackling various quests along the way. The tiles reveal encounters with foes, items, or other beneficial discoveries. This unfolding mechanic, reminiscent of games like Betrayal at House on the Hill and Clank! Catacombs, cleverly enhances the exploration factor and keeps players engrossed with ever-changing environments. These scenarios flawlessly blend combat, story, and discovery, avoiding complexity overload.

Three other types—Gauntlet, Dungeon, and Boss scenarios—focus intensely on combat. Gauntlets throw you into challenging battles with enemy hordes, backed by unique rules. Dungeons are similar but climax with a formidable boss fight. Finally, Boss scenarios stand as the pinnacle test for your characters and teamwork against the game’s toughest foes. Thanks to its solid, tactical combat, Elden Ring shines here, creating a thrilling, action-packed experience.

Fights happen on grids formed from ring-bound playbooks. Some battles grow even larger by connecting multiple books, setting the stage for strategic player and enemy movements. The positioning becomes crucial as it influences the effectiveness of spells and weapons due to specified attack ranges and potential bonuses from standing in particular rows. My friends and I often found ourselves intensely strategizing to dodge the relentless surge of attacks. However, despite our best strategies, we would often find ourselves overrun, thanks to the challenging foes.

Enemies operate via cards that outline their actions, stating attack patterns, movement, and other mechanics. These take some getting used to, but once mastered, make the turns smooth to manage. Bosses bring an intense challenge with their own decks of actions that vary unpredictably. Some rounds favor the players, while others strike unexpectedly. Even though boss fights are tough, the player-adjusted health system ensures they’re not unbeatable, offering moments of tension and relief as victories hang upon a razor’s edge.

A unique aspect of this game is the absence of dice, replaced by a card-driven deck system. Players draw and play from individual decks molded by their gear and skills, while an Attribute deck decides outcomes like damage and special effects. Cards symbolize various stats, and certain decks offer advantages depending on the combination.

Character progression mimics the video game’s complexity, allowing you to level up and swap gear for an evolving strategy. The Rune system acts as a cap for strategic customization, growing throughout your journey. Unfortunately, the in-game tracking for Runes falls short, suggesting players might be better off using paper to track them—a clunky method hopefully remedied by the community or future editions.

While compelling, my first foray into Elden Ring: The Board Game was overly taxing, as I began with Stormveil Castle. Positioned as a standalone expansion, it presumes familiarity with previous content, which proved daunting for newcomers. A word to the wise: onboarding with the Realm of the Grafted King offers a smoother introduction to the extensive world Steamforged has lovingly crafted.