Review of Elden Ring: The Board Game

FromSoftware’s acclaimed Elden Ring has captured the gaming world’s attention like few others in recent years. As video games continue to inspire board game adaptations, it seemed inevitable that this powerhouse title would make the leap to the tabletop. The folks at Steamforged Games, known for bringing other video game favorites like Resident Evil and Monster Hunter World to life as board games, took on the challenge. Following a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2022, Elden Ring: The Board Game—let’s just call it Elden Ring—has been eagerly awaited by backers and is now available for preorder. Get ready, Tarnished. The adventure awaits.

Elden Ring is a campaign-driven board game that invites players to tackle a series of scenarios, allowing them to enhance their characters as the story unfolds. Steamforged Games has crafted three campaigns: Realm of the Grafted King, The Weeping Peninsula, and Stormveil Castle. The Grafted King serves as the main “base game,” while the other two stand strong as individual expansions. Players can explore these expansions on their own or continue their journey from Grafted King, carrying their beefed-up characters into the fray. Each box offers different character classes. In Grafted King, you’ll find the Vagabond, Samurai, Astrologer, and Prophet. Meanwhile, Weeping Peninsula includes the Hero, Prophet, Astrologer, and Bandit, and Stormveil Castle offers players the Confessor, Prisoner, Samurai, and Vagabond.

The game makes quite an impression with its large, monster-laden boxes packed with miniatures, tokens, countless cards, tiles, and books jammed with rules, maps, and guidance. This heft alone can be intimidating, especially as I’ve only dipped my toes into one of the campaigns without acquiring the bonus boss sets. The quality here is undeniable, with Steamforged knocking it out of the park in terms of production. The miniatures are stunningly detailed, and the components are well-made, enhancing the player’s experience.

Elden Ring offers a mix of scenarios to keep players engaged. While various types of scenarios keep the game from feeling repetitive, not all of them resonate the same way. The narrative scenarios involve reading through segments of story and making choices, occasionally mixed with skill checks. Though they are well-written, these didn’t particularly captivate me. I’d rather lose myself in an epic book or immerse myself in Dungeons & Dragons for storytelling.

Exploration scenarios, on the other hand, are a highlight. They vividly capture the essence of exploration intrinsic to the original game, leaving players to speculate on what secrets the next hill might reveal. These are all about map exploration, with players unveiling tiles as they journey, finding enemies, treasures, Sites of Grace, and surprises to exploit. I’ve always loved board games that grow the map as you go, like Betrayal at House on the Hill. It makes every adventure feel like a unique challenge, which greatly ups the game’s replayability.

Combat-focused scenarios—Gauntlet, Dungeon, and Boss battles—are plentiful and thrilling. Gauntlets overload you with dangerous enemies while Dungeons lead you to a fearsome boss. When you finally face a Boss scenario, brace yourself for a real test of your party’s tactics and coordination. If you thrive on combat, Elden Ring’s richness in battle experiences won’t disappoint, as it’s where the game truly shines.

The combat takes place on grids made from ring-bound notebooks included with the game. Although you might need multiple pages open for larger skirmishes, these setups smartly allow strategic movement. Players and foes alike can use rows for tactical advantages, be it inflicting added damage or reorganizing turns. My friends and I often deliberated positioning to weather enemy onslaughts, only to find ourselves outmatched by the game’s tough adversaries.

Enemies have their own cards detailing potential actions with intuitive symbols for attacks or movements. Once mastered, they’re straightforward, though bosses are an entirely different beast. These fearsome foes have action decks tailored to launch attacks at various points, keeping players on edge. Yet, thanks to scalable health pools, the game remains fair and exhilarating, with each boss encounter a nail-biting affair.

A unique twist with Elden Ring is its omission of dice. Instead, it offers a card-driven, deck-building mechanic. Players use cards based on equipped gear and skills, while an Attribute Deck determines the damage and special effects during combat. This innovative system captures the strategic depth without the randomness of dice rolls.

Character growth is essential in campaign-based games, and Elden Ring delivers with vigor. Players can not only level up but also personalize their loadouts with different weapons and gear. The Rune system aids in character customization, but its current card-based tracking feels cumbersome. The community or Steamforged might find more streamlined solutions in the future.

Initially, I had a rough start with Elden Ring, having jumped into Stormveil Castle first. Despite being a standalone expansion, it assumes a familiarity with previous quests, complicating the experience for novices. I’d firmly recommend newcomers begin with the Realm of the Grafted King for a smoother introduction.

For those intrigued, more video game-inspired board adventures await. Get ready to dive into a world where your favorite digital escapades materialize right on your tabletop.