Review of Elden Ring: The Board Game

Few games in recent memory have managed to capture the attention of gamers quite like FromSoftware’s Elden Ring. With video game-inspired board games becoming the norm, Elden Ring’s leap to tabletop was inevitable. The task was taken on by Steamforged Games, a company known for translating hits like Resident Evil, Monster Hunter World, and FromSoftware’s own Dark Souls into board game form. After a highly successful crowdfunding effort in 2022, Elden Ring: The Board Game (let’s call it Elden Ring from here on out) is on the brink of reaching its backers and is also up for preorder for everyone else. Gear up, Tarnished, and prepare for battle once again.

Elden Ring is structured as a campaign board game, which means you and your friends journey through various scenarios, leveling up your characters and enhancing their skills as you unravel the story. Steamforged has crafted three distinct “campaigns” for you to embark on: Realm of the Grafted King, The Weeping Peninsula, and Stormveil Castle. “Grafted King” serves as the main “base game,” while the other two are standalone expansions. You can tackle these expansions independently or after completing Grafted King, enabling you to continue your characters’ journeys and power them up. Each box offers different character classes: Grafted King comes with Vagabond, Samurai, Astrologer, and Prophet, while Weeping Peninsula features Hero, Prophet, Astrologer, and Bandit. Stormveil Castle includes Confessor, Prisoner, Samurai, and Vagabond.

This game is an impressive beast, arriving in hefty boxes filled to the brim with intricately designed monster miniatures, hundreds of cards, cardboard tokens, tiles, and numerous rulebooks, combat maps, and scenario guides. It’s one of the most daunting games in my collection, even more so considering I have just one of the campaigns without the additional bonus boss sets. Yet, for such an epic game, Steamforged has truly excelled in production value, delivering some of the most detailed miniatures I’ve seen alongside cards and components that feel robust and durable.

The scenarios are varied enough to keep the gameplay dynamic and engaging. While some scenarios may not hit as strongly as others, the narrative-driven ones weave in well-written storylines, often asking players to make choices or perform skill checks. However, this wasn’t my go-to style. If I’m in the mood for heavy reading, I’d probably grab a book or dive into Dungeons & Dragons instead.

The Exploration scenarios were where Elden Ring truly shined for me. They perfectly encapsulate the thrill of discovering what’s waiting just over the horizon, much like the original game. As you and your companions venture through the map, you’ll flip and place random tiles that could reveal enemies, items, Sites of Grace, or other surprises. This element gives a fresh dimension of adventure and replayability akin to other board games like Betrayal at House on the Hill or Clank! Catacombs.

Three other scenario types focus heavily on combat: Gauntlet, Dungeon, and Boss scenarios. Gauntlets pit you against tough mobs and require you to navigate special rules. Dungeons have a similar structure, ending with a boss fight. Finally, Boss scenarios present the ultimate challenge, testing your skills and teamwork. Elden Ring is combat-oriented, and thankfully, the combat is superbly executed.

Combat unfolds on grids formed from ring-bound notebooks that come with the game. Some battles require multiple pages, creating expansive battlegrounds where players maneuver strategically. Attacks, whether spell or weapon-based, have specific ranges, and positioning on the grid can grant various benefits, altering damage, turn order, or defense capabilities. My group and I often found ourselves engrossed in strategic discussions over positioning, trying our best to fend off aggressive enemies – and yes, they’re tough in this game!

Enemies come with cards outlining their actions using symbols for attacks, movement, and other mechanics. While the array of symbols may seem daunting at first, you soon get the hang of it. However, bosses are another story. They come with entire decks of actions that slot into the initiative order. Depending on your luck, they either attack last or catch you off-guard. Despite their ferocity, thanks to adaptable health pools, based on how many players are involved, boss battles never feel unfair. Every fight teems with tension and excitement, offering depth and strategy while maintaining its intensity.

Surprisingly, Elden Ring avoids the typical dice mechanics, replacing them with a card-based deck-building system. Your moves come from a deck defined by your character’s equipment and skills, while separate Attribute decks determine damage, defense, and special effects. These decks boast cards with symbols representing stats like Strength and Dexterity, which interact with your attack and defense strategies.

Progression in Elden Ring mirrors the video game series closely – enhancing your class abilities while customizing your character through inventory management and Attribute cards. This is all regulated through the Rune system that limits equipment load. While progressing, your Rune capacity expands, enabling more flexibility. However, keeping track of Runes can be cumbersome due to the insufficient small Rune cards provided by Steamforged. A simple tracker would have been preferable, though pen and paper do the job for now.

Despite its high points, my launch into Elden Ring was frustrating, not because of the game itself but because I jumped into Stormveil Castle, the third campaign. Although standalone, it assumes prior campaigns have been completed, leading to a complex setup for newcomers. My recommendation? Start with the Realm of the Grafted King to ease into the game’s mechanics.

Eager to dive into Elden Ring or explore similar board game adaptations of video games? Elden Ring: The Board Game is on the horizon, ready to offer an immersive experience for tabletop and video game enthusiasts alike.