Studios have long realised that a great way to get people to interact with their intellectual properties, even offscreen, is to turn that IP into board games. With so many great creators out there — Ravensburger, Gale Force Nine, Renegade, Fantasy Flight — there are tons to choose from for your next game night.
If I didn’t list your fave, or you think I’m wrong, that’s fine: share your own favourites in the comments!
12) Squid Game
Genuinely one of the least creative and most annoying cash-grab-feeling games out there, Squid Game (the board game) is an uninspired adaptation that makes you go through each of the Netflix series’ games with little to no interpretation. It’s insipid and annoying and completely ignores the themes of the show. 0/10
11) Any IP-based Monopoly
We’re going all in on capitalism today. Any kind of IP-ified Monopoly, whether it’s Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Golden Girls, Fortnight, Stranger Things, or whatever Klingon is supposed to be, is automatically bad. Sorry, it’s just regular Monopoly with flair. I do not care if it’s a special edition. Do better. 1/10
10) Stranger Things: Attack of the Mind Flayer
So this tie-in Stranger Things game is specifically for season three, hence Attack of the Mind Flayer being part of its name. It’s not bad, really, but it is… kind of hard to play. My group tried it out and we could never quite have fun with all the balance shifting, and ultimately it’s a trick-taking game with Uno reverse cards. Fun for some, but not for me. 3/10
9) IP-ified Uno
I bet you didn’t know that IP-ified Uno exists. It does, and it ranks higher than IP-ified Monopoly only because it’s actually fun to play and is pretty cheap, unlike Monopoly, which only sociopaths and double Scorpio signs take any pleasure in. You know what, if you’ve IP-ified anything else, you can just slide it right in here too. Another 3/10.
8) The Legend of Korra: Probending Arena
Including Legend of Korra: Probending Arena pains me, genuinely pains me, because I really really wanted to love this game. I got it as part of the Kickstarter a few years ago (I even bought the Amon expansion pack!), and while there is so much care and detail and love put into this board game, it ends up being unwieldy and kind of difficult to play. There’s just too high a learning curve, and while I love the designer (Sen-Foong Lim), I think that they were just too caught up in the IP-ness of it all to make a truly great board game. I’m so sorry. 4/10
7) Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar
Here’s another one that just felt a little too complex for me. I enjoy legacy games, but this one never got so good that it justified the $US120 ($167) price tag. It’s enjoyable and fun, but The Legacy of Isla Nublar was only truly fun because I got to pretend dinosaurs were actually eating the cast of the most recent movies. A bummer, but other people will dig this a lot. 5/10
6) Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game
I have some self-awareness. Now and then. Which is why I’m putting Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game at a solid place on this slideshow out of respect for the absolutely unhinged levels of preparation and absurd price tag. However, I would like it to be known that this game is fantastic, actually, if you’re willing to spend $US400 ($555) for a game that takes at least three hours to play a single session, not including setup or breakdown. I love this game, I really do! It’s tactical and smartly designed and makes my brain bones steam. But… also… I dread having to explain this to anyone who is not on my level of board game nerdery. 6/10
5) Disney: Villainous
OK I’m fully willing to be wrong here, but in my opinion the Villainous series is… fine?? Like it’s good, it’s fun, but most of its appeal seems to come from the fact that it is IP-ified. There’s some cool mechanics and the different standees are cute but… This just isn’t for me, I don’t know what to say. Everyone else can love this one, but it’s not my fave. A conciliatory 7/10
4) The Fast and the Furious: Highway Heist
One of the things I look for in board games that are based in IPs is that they should actually use the board game conventions to its greatest effect. The Fast and the Furious does that, and also adds in another little bit of catnip for me — a collaborative mechanic. Play with your friends, not against them. 8/10
3) The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31
This one got the themes of The Thing really well, and created a well-designed, intense game that responds to investigation on the board in a really clever way. It’s a little steep and the learning curve is high, but it’s genuinely a great game, and I’d recommend it highly to fans of the film. 8/10
2) Sons of Anarchy: Men of Mayhem
Look. I don’t know how to explain that Sons of Anarchy: Men of Mayhem is genuinely a great game with or without the IP-ification, but it truly is. As you increase your territory and increase the money coming in, the limited board creates a narrative pressure that’s incredibly evoacative and tense. Genuinely, like without any irony, this is a great board game. Hats off the Gale Force Nine crew, y’all truly killed it. 10/10
1) Jaws
This board game is pure, jaw-snapping fun. I cannot get over how good Jaws is. It’s a favourite during game night, it’s always down to the wire, and with a one vs. everyone else style, you can revel in being the villain. It’s two board games in one, and both sides make sense and keep you paying attention and strategising in real time. The fact that one person is the shark and the rest of the players are the protagonists of the movie is such a fun, fantastic concept, and I love this game. The fact that you can create your own soundtrack and sound effects while sneaking up on li’l swimmers? A bonus. 10/10
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