For a long time it has been popular to turn board and tabletop games into video games, but nowadays it seems the trend is reversing, where increasingly we are now seeing popular video games adapted into board games. And not just variants of Monopoly or Chess with re-skinned tokens and boards, but fully fleshed out board games with their own rule sets like BioShock Infinite: The Siege of Columbia, released last year by Plaid Hat Games.
For 2014, the video game themed board game to watch for is The Witcher Adventure Game. That’s right! CD Projekt RED has signed up with Fantasy Flight Games to produce a 2-4 player tabletop adventure game based on The Witcher universe, coming just in time to tie in with the hype for the upcoming PC, PS4 and Xbox One launch of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
From the official website:
The Witcher Adventure Game takes players on a journey across the world of the Witcher as they assume the roles of four distinct characters known from the books and video games: Geralt of Rivia, monster slayer; Triss Merigold, cunning sorceress; Yarpen Zigrin, dwarven warrior; and Dandelion, roguish bard. Each character has unique skills and multiple ways of overcoming obstacles – the choice is yours: do you fight your way to victory, call on your charm or try your hand at diplomacy?
A variety of quests invite players to hunt monsters, earn gold and interact with the characters they meet in a web of alliances and treachery – a wild ride that starts as soon as you sit down to play, thanks to clear, simple rules and intuitive mechanics. Players may assist one another from time to time, but make no mistake — there can be only one winner!
A pre-order mailing list is available if you would like to sign up for newsletter updates, but at this time no specific details about pricing or a release date have been confirmed. Interestingly, The Witcher Adventure Game will also be made available as an actual video game for Android and iOS tablets. As someone who doesn’t own a tablet, I sure hope there will eventually be a PC version as well.
Here’s a quick teaser video introduction: