By Alec Meer on February 15th, 2011 at 5:20 pm.
I’m very, very disappointed in all of you. This news broke yesterday and NOBODY TOLD ME.
Spotted at Toyfair by Kotaku was… was… I can barely say it. It’s just too beautiful to be true. Was…
Was a Plants vs Zombies boardgame. At last, the divided PC/boardgames mind of RPS is united.
It’s only at prototype stage for now, which means we have to wait until whatever on Earth a ‘Fall’ is this year. I’m going to predict we’ll see it in Autumn.
Two-to-four players, with multiple boards, dozens of cards and a general ongoing tussle between the titular chlorophyll- and rot-based factions. I.e. it’s making the game truly competitive, and hopefully co-operate too.
It’s from a firm called Screenlife, and there isn’t too much info available as yet. You can at least find a little more detail, including the rough structure of how it plays, here. Mashable, meanwhile, reckons it’ll be $20.
Disappointingly, it won’t come with any miniatures. Oh well. I remain 100% grateful.
Perhaps this a herald of more videogame-based boardgames. This is, of course, your opportunity to present your pitches below.
15/02/2011 at 17:29 Mr_Hands says:
Eve Online board game!
15/02/2011 at 17:35 Inigo says:
You decide to try mining in an attempt to purchase that Apocalypse you’ve always wanted.
Miss 75 turns.
15/02/2011 at 17:40 jaiwithani says:
Already exists.
15/02/2011 at 17:46 Jad says:
Lego should make an official Minecraft block set.
15/02/2011 at 19:20 passingstranger says:
Hit Ctrl+P and you’re ready to go.
15/02/2011 at 19:22 Chakawi says:
I would buy minecraft legos!
15/02/2011 at 21:15 Mr_Hands says:
All of these responses give me warm cuddly feelings for the RPS community.
15/02/2011 at 22:06 GreenMachine says:
I love it! I miss board games so much, last one I played was the Doom3 boardgame hehe…
15/02/2011 at 23:25 OpT1mUs says:
It actually does exist: EVE the boardgame
16/02/2011 at 01:36 ulix says:
There was also a EVE Trading Card Game a long time ago. Don’t know if they’re still producing that.
I’d rather play the Starcraft Boardgame or Twlight Imperium though.
15/02/2011 at 17:44 Heliocentric says:
We didn’t see it, because we don’t read kotaku, because its where press releases go to die, just because.
15/02/2011 at 17:51 Jad says:
So, thoroughly off-topic, but where do people go for their non-PC gaming news? I used to go to Kotaku (yes yes evil me), but the new site design is so hideous that I can’t stand going there anymore. Points for sites with standard newsroll format like RPS and the old Kotaku, no crazy Web 2.0 gee-gaws. Also points for sites that aren’t aggressively anti-PC (what little I’ve seen of Destructiod means I’m staying far far away).
Anyway, on topic: awesome! PopCap news is always welcome.
15/02/2011 at 18:09 Primar says:
Using uk.kotaku.com will revert to the old non-silly layout!
Aside from that, Joystiq tends to be the best place I’ve found for general gaming tidbits.
15/02/2011 at 19:16 mwoody says:
That’s handy, thanks. I’d been using m.kotaku.com myself.
15/02/2011 at 19:58 mrpier says:
I visit Eurogamer and occasionally Gamesradar for non-pc gaming stuff.
15/02/2011 at 21:16 Jad says:
Thanks Primar. I’ve also found out that ca.kotaku.com works to — it’s the Canadian site, which I would assume would be faster for an American like me than the UK one (although for all I know all of their servers are in the same place). I’ll check out Joystiq too, although I don’t like their comment system from first impressions. Thanks again.
Back to topic: every once in awhile my friends get together and play board games. It would be amusing to pull this one out.
15/02/2011 at 22:02 BodyByCake says:
You can also go to kotaku.com/classic to get a site that looks more like the old one.
Edit for clicky
15/02/2011 at 23:10 Hideous says:
I use joystiq.com myself. It beats new Kotaku, that’s for sure.
15/02/2011 at 17:50 amandachen says:
If someone’s too poor to afford a computer, how can they afford $20?
15/02/2011 at 17:55 jonfitt says:
Did you mean to add j/k?
If not I suggest reading Ro Flo’s columns when they come up:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/tag/cardboard-children/
15/02/2011 at 18:05 amandachen says:
I had this email from BoardGameGeek the other day: Congratulations – you have received the following microbadge for being a member for at least 5 years!
15/02/2011 at 17:56 davefp says:
Dungeon Keeper would make a pretty cool board game.
15/02/2011 at 18:14 woppyce says:
Dungeon Lords. Unless you believe euros are shite.
15/02/2011 at 22:43 leeder krenon says:
they generally are.
15/02/2011 at 23:11 Quirk says:
Thought I recognised that guy’s name…
Vlaada Chvátil is the same guy who designed Space Alert, which Quinns raved over lately:
http://videosgames.wordpress.com/2011/01/30/have-you-heard-of-space-alert/
If it’s cut from the same cloth, it could be incredibly entertaining.
15/02/2011 at 23:27 OpT1mUs says:
@leeder krenon
Yes, because for example, Agricola is shite, right?
16/02/2011 at 01:39 ulix says:
And Tribune. Also shit.
Only one of the most elegant, fun and balanced game designs in recent history.
Thus: everything that US-Boardgames aren’t.
Thus: shit.
(I’m exaggerating…)
16/02/2011 at 16:25 Dances to Podcasts says:
It’s true. Euros look rubbish compared to the old Dutch bank notes.
http://blogger.xs4all.nl/images/blogger_xs4all_nl/pvdb001/8825/o_250-1.jpg
15/02/2011 at 18:00 oceanclub says:
Hmm. I’ve already playing it to bits on both PC and iPhone. Do I really want it on another format?
HELL YEAH.
P.
15/02/2011 at 21:16 Mr_Hands says:
Y’know, I thought of that when I picked it up on the DS.
3 playthroughs now. 3 of them. I feel like Sisyphus on a particularly good day.
15/02/2011 at 18:02 Fumarole says:
But does it have a Zen Garden?
15/02/2011 at 18:14 DeathHamsterDude says:
DotA; The Boardgame!
Team Fortress 2; The Boardgame!
Revenge of the Titans
Left 4 Dead.
. . .
Leisure Suit Larry.
15/02/2011 at 19:23 Chakawi says:
I second DotA as a board game.
15/02/2011 at 23:20 Ninja says:
MOBA style board game.
Roll the dice, if the two add up to 12, sucesfully not get ganked at mid. If they add up to anything else, get ganked.
Also, it’d have to have a steep as hell learning curve to be true to the franchise.
A friend and I were talking about making a TF2 chess game :V
16/02/2011 at 09:48 neolith says:
+1 for LSL board game! :D
15/02/2011 at 18:17 JayTee says:
Blood Bowl!
…
Oh no wait.
16/02/2011 at 14:52 Koozer says:
I’d love to see Dawn of War in some kind of board game format.
15/02/2011 at 18:21 Stompywitch says:
That looks like more than a $20 game, from those components. I’d be guessing $30 minimum.
15/02/2011 at 18:22 andtriage says:
Doom: The Boardgame is surprisingly good, actually. Tactical co-op type stuff.
EVE is a good boardgame, too. But it pales in comparison to Twilight Imperium.
15/02/2011 at 18:30 Lu-Tze says:
What do you mean at last?
15/02/2011 at 18:40 Gap Gen says:
Supreme Commander, the board game. Each take turns to move a thousand tiny pieces! Stomp your enemy with giant plastic spiderbots! Points for giving your games increasingly incoherent storylines and awful writing!
15/02/2011 at 18:43 TCM says:
“It’s like Axis and Allies, with three times as many pieces on the board at once.”
15/02/2011 at 19:52 symuun says:
Experimental units are just the players themselves, standing on the board, kicking over as many of the enemy’s pieces as they can manage.
15/02/2011 at 20:43 Gap Gen says:
symuun has the best idea.
16/02/2011 at 10:48 Kdansky says:
Check out the “fast-paced game” [box blurb!] World in Flames.
15/02/2011 at 19:08 McDan says:
A Stalker boardgame? This would have to be D&D like though, but has the potential to be brilliant (in my head). Looking forward to the PVZ one as well.
15/02/2011 at 19:21 MuscleHorse says:
The Civilization board game is meant to be rather good.
15/02/2011 at 22:44 leeder krenon says:
there’s about 5 of them (civ, advanced civ, sid meier’s civ, through the ages, re-do of sid meier’s civ).
16/02/2011 at 01:40 ulix says:
Well, re-do gives the wrong impression. It is only the same license, the design is completely new and different (and better, aparrently).
15/02/2011 at 20:26 Zogtee says:
No plastic minis? FAIL.
15/02/2011 at 20:39 Medo says:
A Fall will only happen during a Pass, when the eccentric red planet is close. Oh wait, you said on Earth :P
15/02/2011 at 22:14 DarkNoghri says:
First Pern reference I think I’ve ever seen on RPS.
15/02/2011 at 21:05 P4p3Rc1iP says:
The Warcraft boardgame was enjoyable, but in the end, flawed. Night elf archers are way overpowered.
15/02/2011 at 21:32 JuJuCam says:
You know, I’m more interested in video games taking inspiration from board games, in particular euros, which tend to be more focussed on developing a thriving economy that produces victory points rather than straight up domination of enemies. I mainly mention it because my girlfriend wants to join me in my love of gaming, but dislikes direct conflict, so finding games to play with her is difficult to say the least.
16/02/2011 at 01:44 ulix says:
How about some cooperative action (also involving conflict, but against an “NPC”):
Pandemic, Arkham Horror, Space Alert.
Problem with most competitive games that don’t have direct conflict is that they also often lack a decent ammount of player interaction, thus making them more or less “Single-Player” affairs, where you sit next to each other but essentially play for yourself.
16/02/2011 at 01:49 ulix says:
You were talking about videogames of course… a well. Do you have a PS3? Try PixelJunk Shooter or PixelJunk Eden, they’re great and involve relatively little direct conflict.
You could also try the Coop-Mode added in the Anno 1404 (“Dawn of Discovery” in NA) Addon (“Venice”). I don’t know if its good, but playing this game co-operatively sure sounds awesome, especially in the way they (apparently) implemented it.
Since the Anno series requires a lot of multi-tasking its very nice to be able delegate some of the tasks.
16/02/2011 at 10:50 Kdansky says:
Space Truckers! Also by Vlaada Chvátil and very, very amusing.
15/02/2011 at 22:57 Jake says:
Maybe you can make your own miniatures out of real life plants and, erm, real life tiny zombies.
15/02/2011 at 23:34 Freud says:
I’ve been too busy trying to figure out if it is worth spending £7 on Dexter – the game. Which is an iPhone to PC conversion. There is a small chance it won’t be absolutely horrible.
Apparantly it features “Advance dynamic audio support, includes ducking and 3D sound.”
16/02/2011 at 00:18 JackShandy says:
I’m personally making a Geometry wars board game right now.
16/02/2011 at 02:12 WJonathan says:
I wonder how this would translate to the world of videogames? An electronic video game version of “Plants vs. Zombies” specially designed to be played on the personal computer. Nahh, pipe dreams.
16/02/2011 at 11:02 Fitzmogwai says:
They’d have to make a Feature Film “inspired by” the board game first. Then a terrible licensed game-of-the-film. No doubt a dreadful console port, the PC version of Plants vs. Zombies: The Videogame would define “Worst. Game. Ever” for a generation.
16/02/2011 at 05:40 Shadowcat says:
Portal, the board game.
16/02/2011 at 09:40 3lbFlax says:
Could work! You can create portals to and from any square in your line of sight, but opponents can slide walls, manipulate turrets and place their own portals to stop you. I’m thinking it’d be a bit like sci-fi Othello in a lot of ways. A lot of very important ways.
Also, those little blue and orange tokens would be adorable.
16/02/2011 at 09:53 Thants says:
If they really wanted to be true to the PC version they’d include a Whack-A-Mole game you have to play at the same time.
16/02/2011 at 10:46 Fitzmogwai says:
How about Test Drive Unlimited: The Board Game?
Massive board that takes up most of the room, play with the old dinky toys in the box up in the loft, push your car around the board wherever you like, roll a die once every minute to determine if you
a) smash in to an invisible car,
b) smash in to an invisible bump in the road
c) smash in to an invisible wall while a new chunk of board loads “seamlessly”
d) smash in to a car that has just stopped dead in front of you for no readily apparent reason
e) stop to pick up a “supermodel” who is none the less standing at the side of the road, hitch hiking.
f) continue your journey unimpeded.
16/02/2011 at 13:42 razorblade79 says:
Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game: The Boardgame
16/02/2011 at 18:10 Araxiel says:
Warhammer:Dawn of War – The board game!
That would be awesome. It will be turn based and stuff! And you have to buy overpriced miniatures and paint them! I’m going to be so rich…
Ok just joking. I want a Bulletstorm board game.
Oh wait, now I’ve got a great idea!
EA – The Board of directors game. Your goal is to buy as many studios as possible and once done, you have to fire as many people as possible. You get bonus points if you’re firing one of your studios just after they finished a game. Also a good way to rank up points is to releas shitty sequels and keep your long dead series alive while letting other, far more popular and original but less money-printing studios/series go bust.
The game is mainly aimed for two players: One playing as EA Inc. while other one plays as Activision/Blizzard. However, you can play with up to for players and adding Ubisoft and Valve.
You recieve different starting boni according to which company you’re playing. As Act/Bliz you’ve got the “Make your opponent go WoW”-card. It basicly gives you a basic income of a gazillion dollars. On the downside, your players buy less other games.
As EA you’ve got “Alloo, ragen plaga! Dag dag”-card. You can play it once to recieve a bazillion dollars, however you’re then able to play the Addon-card as many times as you want and still getting money. On the downside, there’s no point in playing the DLC-card on this one.
Of course, the game features a lot more. For example: Raging fans, Arguments with your developers, Copyprotection, Lawsuits, Sequeal canceling, Lawsuits with your developers, DLC-ripoffs, Hiring developers of the other players, Lazy support, Firing more developers after hiring them, Huge advertising campaigns, Lawsuits with your fans…and much more!
Of course I’ve got a lot more Board related puns for you: Half-Board 2, The Elder Boards, Call of Duty: Board Ops, Killing Tabletop, Team Boartress 2, Boartal, Alpha Boartocol, Boardlefield: Bad Company, The Board for Middle-Earth 2, BoardShock 2, Just Board 2, Homeboard 2, Sins of a Solar Board, Dark Sboare’d, World of Boardcraft (yes I know, there are actual boardgames of this) and Boardcraft 2.
And my favourite: Boarderlands