FromSoftware's Dark Souls franchise has proven to be a hit with gamers due to it's challenging gameplay and immersive setting. Now Dark Souls is coming to a tabletop near you in the form of Steamforged Games board game adaptation of the hit RPG. Recently launching on Kickstarter, the game has already raised more than €200,000 well over it's initial goal of $70,832 and has reached several of its stretch goals.
Steamforged is striving to create an experience that's faithful to game's action-RPG roots with challenging combat, multiple character classes and plenty of treasure to find. In order to increase replay value, the game will use a set-up similar to other games, such as D&D's Castle Ravenloft, where the map is built during gameplay so each adventure will be different from the last.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOM3OCAQMP8 The lowest tier is €75 which comes to about $106. Admittedly, that seems like a lot to pay for a boardgame, but this does put in a similar price range as other component-heavy branded boardgames such as Star Wars: Rebellion. What does €75 get players? The base game comes with miniatures for each player character, boss, mini boss and random monster, custom game dice, character sheets, multiple decks of cards and, of course, the game board pieces. That being said we don't know how much it will cost to simply buy the game at retail once it's launched, but it would probably be safe to assume it would be at least equal to the lowest Kickstarter tier.
The first set of stretch goals have been reached, with more to be revealed as soon as the graphics get the final approval. The ones achieved as of just before passing €200k were posted in an update while they work on getting the final approval for the images for posting. Further stretch goals will be added at every £20k up to £500k and then every £25k up to £1m Most of the stretch goals are being automatically added to all orders, although a few are being set for add-ons there. First up is the 5 player characters that have been unlocked, as the Pyromancer, Cleric, Sorcerer, Thief, and Mercenary join the game's line up. There are ten new boss behavior cards, with 5 of them being Dancer Behavior cards and 5 of them being Executioner Behavior cards. To help you fight them are 5 new legendary weapon treasure cards, and to make things more difficult are 5 more Lothric encounter cards.
For Add-Ons there are two different ones split up. The first is a Gaping Dragon Boss Mode Add-On that they will be showing the model of tomorrow. The other is the first Retailer exclusive add-on with the mighty Last Giant mega-Boss.
Despite the game's success, it isn't without some degree of controversy regarding the reward tiers. Specifically regarding the €200 retail-only tier which offers six copies of Dark Souls-The Board Game as well as free worldwide shipping which is not offered for any of the non-retail tiers. Even ignoring the free shipping, which depending on where you live could save a lot of money, retailers are getting a pretty good deal considering that they are getting six copies of the game for a price that wouldn't get a normal pledger half that many copies.
Supporters have been voicing their displeasure in the comment section and the developers have recently posted an update clarifying the retailer-only option stretch goals. Some supporters are satisfied with the response, but others disagree with the concept of a retail-only tier on Kickstarter as a matter of principle. Beyond the tier causing more controversy appears to be the retailer exclusive add-ons which are not purchasable by those on Kickstarter and will only be available through retailers, although it will not be a Kickstarter exclusive. However, despite these complaints it's important to keep in mind that retail-only tiers are fairly common among boardgames on Kickstarter.
Are you looking forward to Dark Souls the Board Game? How's your quest in Dark Souls 3 going? Let us know!
