10 Board Games That Would Make For Great Video Games

Board gaming is in its golden age. Here are some of the best experiences that need to go virtual.

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There was a time when anything ‘geek’ was seen as ultra nerdy and seriously uncool. Dungeons and Dragons was taboo, comic books poisoned the mind, and the best thing in board gaming involved introducing your family and friends to the joys of capitalism as you ruthlessly shoved your massive pile of Monoploy money under their destitute noses.

Boy, how things have changed.

Nowadays people watch D&D campaigns on line. There are websites dedicated exclusively to board gaming, whose popularity is such that they are able to host fan conventions with attendance counts in the hundreds. In Marvel Comic books have spawned the most expensive episodic TV show in history. You can go to board game cafés.

And with that kind of popularity video gaming has got in on the act too. Resident Evil, Fallout, Doom, Dark Souls, Bloudbourne, Vampire: The Masquerade, to name but a few – all have board games.

But what about the other way around? Battletech and Warhammer have made the jump to video gaming, but remain largely alone in the success. And yet, with all the creativity on display and a massive audience waiting to be tapped into it makes perfect sense for video gaming to start taking inspiration from its cardboard cousin.

To clarify, the idea is not a digital conversion but to take the essence of the game along with gameplay mechanics and convert it into a fully-fledged video game complete with all the bells and whistles.

So gather your meeples and your D20. It’s time to get started.

10. Star Trek: Ascendancy

One could wonder why, with its penchant for politics, galactic conflict on a grand scale, and, in the case of DS9, cinematic space battles to rival Star Wars, Star Trek has not produced more strategy titles. Ascendancy, however, offers a glimpse of how to do it right.

Crucially, it captures the feel of Star Trek. Unexplored planets are not simply expansions waiting to be conquered but often host to intelligent life forms, some of whom are advanced enough to object to heavy handed exploitation.

How the various races deal with this lies at the game’s heart. The ideals of the Federation favour diplomacy. Klingon honour demands battle. Romulans are devious manipulators. Conquer an inhabited planet as the Klingons and you risk intervention by the Federation, with the Romulans waiting to stab you both in the back. Managing this web of intrigue would be challenging, tense, and quintessentially Star Trek.

But Star Trek is not confined to politics. Blending the starship simulation of Starfleet Command with real-time RTS combat would capitalize on what is arguably Star Trek’s greatest appeal and place the player in the midst of those cinematic battles rather than commanding from above.

The point-and-click Star Trek adventures are great, but with the franchise such a perfect fit for the grand strategy concept it is about time we saw the attempt made.

 
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