Originally published at: http://statelyplay.com/2018/05/19/paradox-bringing-their-ip-to-cardboard/
Tabletop •
Before I left for Europe I was asked if I wanted to attend PDXCON, Paradox’s annual navel gaze, in Stockholm. Of course I said yes, but before you think I’m a lucky bastard, I should tell you that I didn’t go. I’m traveling with my dad and deviating from our itinerary nearly put him in the cardiac ward, so I had to crawl back and turn them down. Luckily, there’s this thing called the internet and you can pretty much be there without actually, you know, being there.
It’s been a big week of announcements thus far: Age of Wonders: Planetfall, Imperator: Rome, and more. That said, the biggest announcement (in my board game centric eyes) was made today. Paradox is bringing some of their biggest franchises to the tabletop.
Paradox is going to be teaming up with designers and publishers of board games to bring universes such as Europa Universalis, Crusader Kings, Hearts of Iron, and, most intriguingly, Cities: Skylines to our tables. The first game getting the dice and minis treatment will be Crusader Kings, and Paradox just launched a Kickstarter this morning to make it a reality.
Crusader Kings will be published by Free League Publishing and is designed by Tomas Härenstam, the head of Free League Publishing and designer of Mutant: Year Zero.
If you were expecting a direct port of the PC game and were wondering how in the hell that would work, don’t worry. It’s not quite that:
Crusader Kings - The Board Game is not an attempt to simply port the computer game to the tabletop. A single campaign of Crusader Kings 2 can take hundreds of hours to complete. Recreating it in every detail on the tabletop would be futile. Instead, our design goal is to capture the essence of experience of playing Crusader Kings 2, and turning it into a rich and intense tabletop experience of 2-3 hours. The game rests on four core pillars:As per Kickstarter custom these days, the game will be loaded with miniatures. There are 70 in the base game and more possible if you buy the "deluxe" version or if the campaign hits stretch goals they haven't yet announced.
- Character Focus. The game brings characters and dynasties to the forefront, using traits and events to develop the characters and the story.
- Grand Strategy. Crusader Kings is a grand strategy game at heart, and so is the board game. To win, you will need to plan decades ahead and outwit your opponents.
- Emergent Storytelling. Like the computer game, the board game has an events system (using cards) that interacts with the game mechanics to create unexpected and memorable story twists.
- Steeped in History. The board game is based on historical characters and events of the Middle Ages, letting you relive - and change - the course of actual history.
The Kickstarter is looking for €48,453 to succeed and are already nearly €12K there. The Kickstarter is less than an hour old. I don’t think they’ll have a problem funding this thing. Head on over to the Kickstarter and see if the minis or first draft of the rules strikes your fancy. Personally, I’m far more excited about how Cities: Skylines will translate to the tabletop. A good city-builder is my grail game, and nothing I’ve played thus far gives me the same feeling as anything playable on a laptop. We’ll keep an eye on Paradox and see when they announce the next game in the series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-YbesNEXTM