Explore the Wasteland in FFG’s New Fallout Board Game
Get a first look at the FFG’s newly announced Fallout board game.
War…war never changes. Whatever the medium, some things are always the same. Power armor. Super Mutants. The Brotherhood of Steel. Raiders. Lots of sidequests. Exploration. All of these elements come together to make up Fallout–and whether your Fallout is experienced on PC, one of the myriad consoles out there (for Fallout 3 and up), or your favorite mobile device, Fallout has long had a home in the hearts of us all. And now it’s coming to the tabletop thanks to Fantasy Flight Games.
FFG shared their announcement with Game Informer. And from them we have a look at how the game will play out:
via Game Informer
As shown in the picture above, gameplay is going to be built around exploring a series of modular hexes, so that whatever Wasteland you’re exploring, there’ll be an element of danger and discovery:
The board game version of Fallout looks to Bethesda’s blockbuster titles for inspiration in both gameplay and tone, but establishes storytelling and mechanics of its own that suit the tabletop experience. One to four players (solo play is an option) select one of five playable explorers, from a savvy Wastelander to a stout member of the Brotherhood of Steel. Players range out across a modular, hex-based board that matches with one of several scenarios and settings – all of which are drawn from Bethesda’s core Fallout games or their expansions.
Looks like there’s a ghoul there, as well as some kind of Super Mutant (perhaps a member of Broken Hills). At any rate, you’ll be moving miniatures across the wasteland, tracking this game’s iteration of the SPECIAL system all while looking for the tools and allies you’ll need to survive and rule the wastes. As you might expect from a tile-based exploration type game, there are a lot of things to uncover in your exploration. Whether it’s weapons–like the devastating Fat Man launcher–or combat drugs like Psycho or Mentats (the Smartmaker), the Wasteland is home to risk and reward alike.
But all this is just set dressing for the system. What really seems like it has legs is the games emphasis on decision-making. You’re not just exploring the Wasteland, you’re unfolding your character’s story:
[T]he most innovative feature of Fantasy Flight’s Fallout board game is its focus on decision-making. Throughout the game, encounters and quest cards offer choices about how to confront a situation. Your choice has definitive consequences. Depending on the route you take, new numbered cards are pulled from a card library, and enter the draw deck for subsequent encounters, changing the entire course of the potential adventure for both you and the other players. In one instance, you might choose to free some super mutants from imprisonment. Afterward, super mutant encounter cards enter the draw deck, as the hulking creatures range out across the wasteland.
Thanks to this system, even a second playthrough of the same scenario can have drastically different encounters, quest outcomes, and opportunities for alliances and enemies. Emergent stories begin to arise at the table as players joke about the way the session has unfolded, and the odd interconnections between story threads. Familiar nods to the video games take on new meanings as they unfold in unique ways in the board game. Replayability is especially high.
So there you have it folks. A new Fallout game that looks like it embodies the spirit of the source material while offering up a new take on a familiar experience. The game is due out “soon,” so be sure and stay tuned for more news as we get it.
Until then…FFG is keeping this game in some kind of vault.
