Popular Video Game Franchise Is Getting A Board Game Adaptation
The Last of Us is now getting a tabletop board game.
The Last of Us, a critically acclaimed video game franchise, is the next one in line to receive its own board game adaptation, following the likes of Elden Ring, whose board game adaptation is set to release this month. Naughty Dog, the company in charge of The Last of Us franchise, teamed up with Themeborne, the creators of the Escape the Dark series, to create the amalgamated board game titled The Last of Us: Escape the Dark.
Escape the Dark is a series of cooperative board games with chapter cards that players have to solve together in a true survival fashion. According to IGN, Themeborne’s The Last of Us board game will have 1-5 players take control of some of The Last of Us’ prominent characters, including Ellie, Joel, Tess, Bill, Tommy, or Marlene, on their mission to attempt and reach safety while exploring an open-world game setting. The game’s development will be funded through Kickstarter, with its campaign beginning on November 8 this year.
The upcoming The Last of Us board game will be based on Themeborne’s usual Escape the Dark mechanics, consisting of three acts of randomly generated short-form adventures that take approx. 45 minutes to complete. Rolling dice and using their character’s equipment, abilities, and attributes, players cooperate to conquer a succession of unpredictably placed adversaries and challenges. It follows that The Last of Us: Escape the Dark will probably be able to find inspiration from each title in Naughty Dog’s widely popular video game series, which actually included multiplayer at one point.
In fact, the announced The Last of Us board game would feature locations from the original The Last of Us, including the Suburbs, Sewers, and University, as well as combinations of human and infected enemies. Naughty Dog has already announced a Deluxe or a Collector’s edition of the board game, and those interested could catch the first glimpse of the game as soon as the Kickstarter campaign starts.
We sincerely hope that the Deluxe of Collector editions won’t suffer the same fate as the video game’s Firefly Edition, which most gamers received damaged in transport — and many are blaming Sony for the damages and lack of refunds. The upcoming The Last of Us board game is the latest in the string of reveals for the fans of the franchise since Naughty Dog recently released a remake of the original 2013’s The Last of Us.
The television adaptation of the games, currently in post-production at HBO, is apparently coming in January next year, with Pedro Pascal in a lead role and Nick Offerman — whose involvement with the upcoming show was confirmed some time ago. Other than The Last of Us board game, and the recently released remakes, the franchise hasn’t seen much development in terms of sequels or spin-offs.
The third installment in the franchise is already written, but Naughty Dog has halted production due to internal reasons, which were most likely tied to time and funding requirements for massive projects such as The Last of Us video game releases.
