The trend of Videogames receiving tabletop adaptations has only continued to grow. These range from TTRPGs like Modiphius' Fallout and Steamforged Games' adaptation of Dark Souls to direct board game adaptations like Glass Cannon Unplugged's recently announced Apex Legends: The Board Game.
Now, Ukraine's most popular videogame franchise is coming to gaming tables with Stalker The Board Game.
Stalker The Board Game announcement
The Stalker videogame series is set in an alternate historical version of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine. In this alternate timeline, a second disaster took place within a series of laboratories in 2006, permanently altering the various natural processes of the environment, leading to nature-defying phenomena, twisted mutants, and sought-after artifacts. Players take on the roles of Stalkers, an acronymized term meaning "Scavengers, Trespassers, Adventurers, Loners, Killers, Explorers and Robbers," as they explore this zone and try not to die. It's a series characterized by its bleakness as well as its unforgiving nature.
According to an official press release, Stalker The Board Game will embody this brutal atmosphere and gameplay. GSC Game World has partnered with tabletop developer Awaken Realms (Robinson Crusoe, Tainted Grail, This War of Mine: The Board Game) to bring this survival horror series to gaming tables. The game will allow 1-4 players to control a Stalker and explore the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone in a story-driven experience. Each story will consist of 2-4 scenarios to play through. Each scenario will take roughly two hours to complete and will range between stealth missions, tactical gunfights, retrieval missions, and navigating through dangerous anomalies. Each stalker is customizable with different gear and skills that carry across these scenarios.
Stalker The Board Game will be crowdfunded on Gamefound. While the campaign will not go live until Q2 2023 if you follow the campaign right now you will get the Monster Hunter Character Pack for no additional charge with your pledge.