A tabletop adaptation of the grim world in The Last of Us is making its way to Kickstarter. Since the great success of the original The Last of Us game, the franchise has blossomed into a multimedia franchise and a new board game looks to be the next attempt to reach some new fans.

First launched in 2013, the original game would see a remaster released the following year, as well as a sequel, The Last of Us Part 2, in 2020. A remake of the original game was released on modern consoles in September of this year. Soon after the first game's release, Dark Horse Comics ran a 4-part miniseries, expanding on main character Ellie's story, and the franchise has now gone to television with the upcoming The Last of Us TV show from HBO.

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Now Naughty Dog and Sony look to be testing some new waters, bringing to fans an analog version of its dark and tragic world. Themeborne games have announced a Kickstarter campaign for The Last of Us: Escape the Dark that will go live on November 8. The developer is best known for previous Escape the Dark games which feature grim worlds, simple but significant gameplay, and a black-and-white aesthetic. The Last of Us: Escape From the Dark looks to be staying true to these traditions. Themeborne also has a "theme-first" design mindset, and it assures fans it will do justice to the world and expansive story in The Last of Us franchise.

Themeborne describes the game as a co-operative experience in which 1-5 players take on the role of characters from the video games, including Ellie, Joel, Tess, Bill, Tommy, or Marlene. They emphasize players' ability to tell their own unique stories while exploring an open-world map. An image shows the game in a striking black-and-white design with several sets of dice, location cards, and character cards for Joel and Ellie with what appear to be inventory slots.

Back in 2020, an upcoming Last of Us board game published by CMON was announced. CMON has published many board games including tabletop adaptations of Bloodborne and God of War. But the only information currently available on the company's website is its original announcement. With so little news, some fans are left wondering if the two games have anything to do with each other, or if rights to the board game have changed hands. Today's announcement regarding Themeborne didn't clarify the matter.

Tabletop adaptations of popular video games are becoming more prominent these days. But the high expectations of passionate fans demand that developers stay true to the tone and story of the game they love. With Themeborne's track record of gritty survivalist games, however, it may indeed be up for the challenge.

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Source: Naughty Dog