The world of tabletop games is getting yet another descent into facing the undead. Specifically, Steamforged Games have announced a Resident Evil board game.
As it stands right now, Steamforged Games' official page doesn't have much information about this announcement. They have announced that the board game will be an adaptation of the first Resident Evil, where agents of the special ops team STARS explore the mysterious Spencer Mansion and uncover its horrible secrets.
This will mark the third time Steamforged Games have made a Resident Evil board game. They have found great success with adapting Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 to the gaming table, with their RE game system managing to hit that perfect mix of tension and unpredictability.
Luckily, we at TechRaptor managed to get a hold of the developers and asked them to shed some light on this recently re-animated monster of a game. When asked about how this Resident Evil board game will stand out from the others, lead designer Sherwin Matthews was quite astute. RE2's board game adaptation was very linear and scenario-driven, focusing more on retelling Leon and Claire's journey through the abandoned Raccoon City Police Department. RE3's tabletop version was more exploration-focused, reinforcing the open environment of Raccoon City as well as the dynamic threat of the Nemesis creature.
Resident Evil 1 will be a mix of both of these styles. There will be scenarios to go through with scripted events, which will help keep the claustrophobic tension of wandering the Spencer Mansion. Furthermore, there will be a bigger emphasis on resource management and navigating encounters. Zombies can come back as Crimson Heads. You can trip over corpses. Every encounter isn't just immediately about combat here. On top of that, there are special missions where you can send other members of the STARS team out to get items and resources that aren't currently in use. It helps make the game's story feel bigger with events happening "off-screen" from your particular part in it.
As for how Matthews and his team's experience with working on this series, he remains humble and diligent. He states, "I tend to see every release as an opportunity to learn and grow as a designer, and try never to grow complacent. I've spent plenty of time in our communities discussing our games and listening to their feedback. It's all-important, good and bad - whether its a rule which could have been written a little more clearly, feedback on where something didn't feel quite as intuitive as it could have been, or that we've smashed it out of the park, I always make a note for the next project going forward, so I can help polish our games to the best they can possibly be."
Resident Evil The Board Game's Kickstarter campaign will be going live on October 26.
