Freespace Boardgame: Sort-Of Interplay Sort Of Returns

It's the day for gaming comebacks! Just so long as they're gaming comebacks in which it's difficult to ascertain whether anyone meaningfully involved in the original thing is on board. Interplay's latest attempt to re-enter our affections isn't quite as suspicion-clouded as West Games' second dodgy-lookin' gesture towards a spiritual STALKER sequel, but it's fair to say that whoever wears the Interplay skinsuit are not Interplay's original founders. They have, however, managed to recruit Chris Taylor, one of the Fallout's designers, and it's he who's made an "officially-licensed" boardgame adaptation of Interplay's space combat sim Freespace. Wot no Clayfighter 4?

Miniatures game Freespace Tactics is on Kickstarter now, looking for $75,000. It's conceptually appealing, and seems to have something in common with the rather nice X-Wing miniatures game, but it's probably not what folk are hoping Interplay would do, skinsuit or not.

This isn't quite Interplay, though - this is Freespace Development Corp, an unspecified collective who say they work for Interplay by day and play and design boardgames in their down time. Clearly, the use of the Freespace license means they've either got Interplay's blessing or are a straight-up Interplay offshoot. Taylor is namechecked of course, and the Kickstarter page points out that this is not his first published boardgame.

I dunno. It looks quite nice? Probably better than raking over Earthworm Jim's grave, anyway.

Incidentally, Freespace only reclaimed rights to Freespace relatively recently, as part of the THQ firesale.