Last year, Arrowhead's Helldivers 2 became a standout success in the multiplayer gaming world, captivating players with its mission to spread democracy across the stars through intense battles with aliens and robots. Following their successful adaptation of Elden Ring into a board game, Steamforged Games is now bringing the fast-paced, frenetic action of Helldivers 2 to the tabletop. The board game is currently available for backing on Gamefound. IGN had the opportunity to play a prototype and discuss the project with designers Jamie Perkins, Derek Funkhouser, and Nicholas Yu, gaining insights into this exciting new tabletop adaptation.
Helldivers 2: The Board Game
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Development of Helldivers 2: The Board Game began shortly after the video game's launch early last year. This adaptation captures the essence of what made the original game so popular: intense firefights, chaotic surprises, and a focus on teamwork. While staying true to the source material, the board game also introduces unique tweaks to enhance the experience.
Helldivers 2: The Board Game remains a cooperative, objective-based skirmish game for one to four players. The designers recommend solo players control two characters. Players assume the roles of different Helldiver classes, each with a unique perk, action cards, and a powerful "Act of Valor" ability that can be used once per game. The demo showcased classes like the Heavy, Sniper, Pyro, and Captain. Each player selects a kit including primary, secondary, and support weapons, a grenade, and three strategems. While recommended loadouts are provided, experienced players can customize their gear before starting.
Gameplay unfolds on grid-based boards that expand as players explore, revealing sub-objectives and primary mission locations, such as Terminid hatcheries in the prototype. As players progress, more challenging enemies spawn, and a mission timer adds urgency, keeping the gameplay tense and frenetic. The final release will offer various objectives, and the base game will include two main factions: Terminids and robotic Automatons, each with 10 unit types. While not confirmed, there's potential for the Illuminate faction to be added through an expansion.
The board game aims to replicate the video game's feeling of being overwhelmed by opting for fewer, stronger enemies rather than swarms of weaker ones. This creates a more tactical and close-up combat experience. Turns involve players and enemies adding action cards to a pool, which are shuffled and placed on an initiative tracker, similar to Steamforged’s Elden Ring game. Combat relies on dice rolls, with every four action cards triggering a random event that can disrupt plans, such as spawning additional enemies.
Combat for Helldivers involves rolling dice based on weapon types, with damage determined by the total value of the roll. Every five points inflict a single wound on enemies, simplifying the damage system and eliminating the need for complex modifiers or defense values. Friendly fire is a risk, especially with area attacks, adding a strategic element to gameplay. A new mechanic, 'Massed Fire,' encourages teamwork by allowing players to focus fire on a target if it's within range of another Helldiver's weapons, enhancing group play and reducing downtime between turns.
Enemies have straightforward damage and effects, with players drawing wound cards that impose detrimental effects. If a player accumulates three wounds, their character dies, but they can respawn after a set time, returning with a full loadout. The galactic war aspect of the video game was not included in the board game to maintain a unique feel, as per Arrowhead's wishes. However, the board game is framed as a training simulation for Helldivers, adding a fun lore element.
"In the video game, you're encouraged to work together as a team," Nic explained. "You have a heavily armored enemy, you need to flank and shoot at the weak points if you don't have a support weapon to deal with it. But there wasn't a good way to do that in a board game without complex facing and armor mechanics. So, we implemented 'massed fire,' allowing players to focus fire on a target within range of another Helldiver's weapons, explicitly rewarding teamwork."
The designers emphasize that the board game retains the core Helldivers experience, despite the new mechanics. Unexpected events, stratagems that can go awry, and a dwindling pool of reinforcements all contribute to the feeling of playing Helldivers.
Currently, the game's core mechanics are about 75-80% finalized, allowing room for community feedback and potential adjustments. Despite recent concerns about tariffs affecting the board gaming industry, Jamie assures that these won't delay their plans.
After playing the prototype, the game systems, including random events and the 'Massed Fire' mechanic, promise epic moments. However, the desire for more smaller enemies and a more dynamic enemy combat system remains. The anticipation for new Helldiver classes, game types, and mixing them with different enemies and biomes is high.
Looking forward, the excitement for what Steamforged Games has planned for Helldivers 2 is palpable. The prototype has left players eager to explore more, with the question on everyone's lips: "Where are we dropping next?"
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