Board games and tabletop games are more popular than ever thanks to developers having access to crowdfunding and other resources, and a new adaptation of the popular Bloodborne from game designer CMON has a lot to offer fans. The board game goes a long way in capturing both the brutal difficulty of Bloodborne and the atmosphere of its dark, Victorian-era styled world.
Bloodborne is one of the most popular games in the Soulslike genre. The PlayStation exclusive took the basic formula popularized by Dark Souls and added in new gameplay elements, alongside a new setting called Yharnam. With the signature From Software flair, players are slowly engrossed in a world rife with Lovecraftian lore and a mysterious plague affecting the fictional European country. The new Bloodborne board game had a sizeable task ahead of itself, and many have decided that it performed admirably.
Bloodborne Board Game Has a Lot to Offer
One thing about the new Bloodborne board game is that it ticks a lot of boxes for what fans of board games and TTRPGs would want. Immediately the game's production value shines, the box arts for the base game and all of its expansions are meticulously designed, and the game features very detailed miniatures featuring the different hunters and creatures to battle. The map tiles and player character mats are all well-designed and manufactured to resist liquid and other normal types of tabletop damages. As fans wait hopefully for a PS5 and PC Bloodborne remaster, the board game delivers a lot of gothic beauty for them to enjoy.
The game takes place procedurally, random map tiles are laid down as the hunters progress through Yharnam. Fans of roleplay in their board games can still enjoy that as each game follow an overall campaign that is also randomly determined to a certain degree, alongside colorfully written prompts for each stage of the campaign and some tense moral choices for the players to make. Overall, the art and the writing of the game really help capture the dark Victorian-era tone that permeates Bloodborne while still being completely accessible to those that want a purely tactile board game experience. But these elements lend a lot of appeal for fans of Dungeons and Dragons and TTRPGs in general as well.
The miniatures themselves are very faithful to the source material, which is just one more reason why the Bloodborne board game managed to earn an official PlayStation endorsement. They're almost sure to make any heavily-invested-in-miniatures Warhammer or DnD player jealous in the level of detail. The base game comes with miniatures to represent the different hunters that are available alongside several iconic creatures from the early game including the Ogre and the Cleric Beast, Bloodborne's first boss. The figures do a lot to help really capture the feel of Yharnam in as close a manner to the game as possible.
The Mechanics of the Bloodborne Board Game
Obviously, one of the biggest hurdles to converting a brutal combat experience like Bloodborne into a board game format is just that, maintaining its difficulty and capturing what makes the combat in Bloodborne unique. The board game incorporates most elements of the combat in fairly deftly. Trick weapons, a Bloodborne feature many games should look to emulate, are recreated in the form of each "class" in the game. Several different hunters can be chosen, each with a unique weapon from the game. The hunter has a placemat with three slots for cards to be placed (the basis of the combat) that represents their weapon. At any point the player may discard a card in order to switch their weapons form.
The change in form is represented by a change in a passive ability. Each weapon has two different passives that define their playstyle, like being able to heal a small amount after dealing damage, or sacrificing some health to deal extra damage. Especially with all of the expansions, there a staggering amount of weapon options. Experimenting with weapons in the board game can feel more satisfying than even Bloodborne itself. Finding the right playstyles for each of the up to four hunters is crucial because much like its source material, the Bloodborne board game can be absolutely brutal. Enemies can deal massive amounts of damage in a short time, as every time the player attacks the enemy can retaliate on top of having their own turns.
Other elements from the game are also present, like firearms being used to stagger enemies, and the inevitable respawning of enemies after players are sent to the Hunter's Dream or if too much time has expired. The enemies manage to feel like their video game counterparts as well, with the Scourge Beast able to empower its slash attacks into a flurry that can kill a hunter incredibly quickly. With so many enemies in Bloodborne that will be some fans first complaint about the board game is the limited-by-comparison amount of monsters to fight in the game. But as several expansions are already available, with more likely to come, they will be able to expand the menagerie.
Overall the Bloodborne board game does a lot to capture the essence of what makes Yharnam feel unique, and offers a wide variety of ways to play the game to entice board game and TTRPG enthusiasts both. Fans waiting to hear about any news of a Bloodborne 2 will find a fun and engaging way to play through new adventures in Yharnam.
Bloodborne The Board Game is available now.