Image: Steamforged Games
Video games are but one of gaming’s many forms, existing alongside board games, tabletop RPGs, and collectible card games. Unsurprisingly, many popular video games are often adapted into various tabletop formats.
There are large-scale board games that adapt the gameplay of popular video games into cooperative tabletop adventures. Some standouts include Monster Hunter, Skyrim, Fallout, Doom, Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, and Horizon: Zero Dawn. From Software’s Dark Souls and its spinoffs like Bloodborne and (coming soon) Elden Ring also have massive co-op dungeon crawlers with numerous expansions to collect. Be prepared to spend a couple hundred dollars on some of these games and their respective add-ons.
There are also smaller board games based on family-friendly games like Portal, Minecraft, and Pac-Man that are simpler to set up and play, and more affordable.
If you’re looking for something to switch up D&D night, there are pen-and-paper RPGs set in the worlds of The Witcher and Dark Souls, or you can take them back in time with one of the TTRPGs that inspired popular video games such as Vampire: The Masqurade, Shadowrun, and Cyberpunk.
Lastly, there are tons of card games linked to video game franchises. The Pokemon trading card game is the most obvious one, but there are card games based on Final Fantasy, Warcraft, and (of course) Dark Souls and Bloodborne.
Whatever franchise or theme you choose, these can be an excellent way for video game fans to try a new gaming format or introduce your tabletop gamer pals to your favorite video game franchises.
