Why it works: While running around Columbia as Booker and Elizabeth is fine in a video game, it probably wouldn't work so well as a board game. Which is why The Siege of Columbia wisely focuses its strategic gameplay on the struggle between the Vox Populi and the Founders. Bioshock Infinite's many individual parts make for a compelling whole, but It's a hell of a lot for a board game to take in. Oh, and time rifts, too-can't forget those. And two factions that both want to use you for their own gain. And Thomas Jefferson robots with rocket launchers. And deal with a bunch of jerks in giant mech-suits. The board game: Find the girl, wipe away the debt. The most common complaint is that the various components aren't as high quality as, well, the other games on this list - but don't let that stop you from enjoying this fast-paced assassination game. There's a great sense of rivalry between the players as you try and balance keeping others down while boosting yourself ahead. It's very easy to pick up and learn as well the most complicated component is probably the equipment cards, which provide simple modifiers. Why it works: When it gets rolling, AC: Arena only takes about a half-hour to finish, making it one of the shortest games on this list. Guards also patrol the board and can weaken, or kill, your character if you're spotted, and there's a fair amount of in-fighting that inevitably breaks out among the assassins themselves. Completing assassinations - among other tasks - earns you points needed to win the game.
Board games video games version full#
You and your heated assassin rivals start at the edges of a large game board and must work your way towards the center, which is full of poor saps awaiting the pointy end of a hidden blade. The board game: Assassin's Creed: Arena introduces what is perhaps the grimmest premise on this list: competitive assassinations. Plans are often useless - but planning indispensable - as you try and navigate the chaos unfolding around you. Together, these mechanics and others make PTUCAG very unpredictable. Players also collect and play cards that change the rules of the game itself for all players - until another card overrides it. In fact, portals are just a small part of the larger puzzle that is Aperture Science, which is a modular game board players reshape throughout the game. Why it works: It doesn't focus on portals. Much of this game's strategy revolves around keeping your cake pieces safe while driving your opponent's pieces into the incinerator. Cake is your key to victory, as having the most cake wins you the game. Players assume responsibility for a herd of test subjects and guide them through Aperture Science performing tests and collecting cake tokens. The board game: If the internet's ceaseless discharge of memes and references haven't ruined Portal for you, then you may yet enjoy this game of uncooperative cake acquisition. The board game perfectly adapts that frantic desperation for the table top. In XCOM: Enemy Unknown, you constantly feel like you have 10 things to do but only enough time to finish one. Turns here feel like a rounds in the cooperative shouting game Spaceteam, with one player calling out commands and updates while the others scramble to address them.
Board games video games version free#
Playing this board game requires the use of a free companion app, which keeps time during turns, tells you what the aliens are up to, and keeps track of your overall progress. You're constantly prioritizing and re-prioritizing different tasks on the fly in a mad dash to complete everything you need to before the end of turn. Each turn has a time limit, and within that brief window UFOs descend upon Earth, aliens assault your base, countries fall into panic, and so much more. You and up to three friends take on different roles within XCOM, and must work together to repel the alien menace. The board game: XCOM: The Board Game is the most fun you'll have watching everything go horribly wrong.