From Digital To Analog – Five Board Games Based on Video Games

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – The Adventure Game

I’ve talked at length several times about how the Skyrim board game perfectly captures the feel of the video game, so I won’t bother you too much about it again. But broadly speaking, it does a great job of mimicking the overall gameplay loop of the video game. Wander around, do quests, fight monsters, level up, gain skills and new items, etc.

Watch How To Play Skyrim on YouYube

If you’re looking for that kind of open world gameplay in a board game, you should definitely check out the Skyrim board game.

Fallout: The Board Game

The Fallout board game is another I’ve talked about before. It’s obviously very similar in general to Skyrim, but the Fallout board game doesn’t focus as much on the aimless wandering like the Skyrim game does. No, Fallout‘s main focus is arguably character progression and quests. You still are moving around the board, fighting radroaches and deathclaws. You still go on quests and become even more S.P.E.C.I.A.L. It’s a game that plays overall pretty quickly and won’t require tons of time to set up and break down, unlike the Skyrim game might.

The Oregon Trail: Journey to Willamette Valley

If you have knee pain right now, you remember The Oregon Trail video game. The board game turns it into a exploration and resource management game, which is really what it was from the beginning. But here, it’s a race to the finish. Along the way, you’ll run into disease, raging rivers, wildlife to eat and some wildlife to avoid. It wasn’t easy back then and it isn’t easy now. But find out who’s the best pioneer in your group with The Oregon Trail board game.

Sea of Thieves: Voyage of Legends

Sea of Thieves was one of my favorite video games for a while. The board game scratched a lot of those same emotional itches, in a good way. Just like in the video game, you have a lot of options on how you want to play. You can be a merchant ship, you can be a monster hunter, or, of course, you can be a pirate.

Watch Sea of Thieves Review on YouTube

As the game progresses, your ships get bigger, you hire more crew, you gain more abilities, and overall become bigger, badder brigands.

Resident Evil 3: The Board Game

Resident Evil 3 is a board game where each game is fun, of course. But the game as a whole really thrives in its overall campaign. As you progress through each mission, there are branching story paths, new unlockable story beats, and a full narrative to watch unfold.

Watch How To Play Resident Evil 3 On YouTube

As you’d expect from any Resident Evil game, there’s a lot of tight corridors, careful consideration to each bullet fired, and monsters that stopped being the cookie cutter definition of “zombie” ages ago.