Plano-based Robot Entertainment's video game series Orcs Must Die is heavy on action, but there's a lot of strategy involved in setting up traps and preparing for waves of enemies. You can be great at shooting a crossbow or swinging a sword, but if you haven't properly thought ahead, you won't get very far.
So as far as video games becoming board games go, Orcs Must Die actually makes quite a bit of sense. Apparently, the folks at Robot and Rockwall-based Petersen Games agree, and they're working together to bring Orcs Must Die to a tabletop near you.
"The people at Robot are mostly former co-workers and friends of mine from my years at Ensemble Studios here in Dallas," Sandy Petersen told me via e-mail. Ensemble was a developer best known for the Age of Empires series of strategy games on PC. "Some of them are actually students of mine from when I taught game development at SMU from 2009-2011. I have been testing my games at Robot since January 2013, and know their people well. The idea to work together on Orcs Must Die! The Boardgame grew out of that association. "
Petersen isn't new to making board games. He worked for Chaosium making pen & paper games in the 80s before jumping to computer games. Now he's come full circle and is back to tabletop gaming with Petersen Games, which recently released the board game Cthulhu Wars.
Cthulhu Wars was the result of a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, which is the same path Petersen took with Orcs Must Die. Petersen Games launched the Kickstarter for the board game adaptation on March 30, looking for $40,000. By March 31, the game was fully funded. As of this writing the game sits at more than $100,000 pledged with 24 days left to go in the campaign.
That's not a big surprise. The Kickstarter page for the game lays out an exciting and detailed pitch for the game -- or, games, plural, as Orcs Must Die: The Board Game actually comes in two editions: Order Edition and Unchained Edition. Both editions stand alone and can be played by 1-4 players cooperatively, but if you have access to both versions, two teams can actually play head-to-head.
While the components of the game are still in the prototype stage, the rules are more or less final and can already be downloaded from the Kickstarter page. Much of what's left is the pieces and presentation, and Robot Entertainment is with Petersen Games every step of the way. "I playtest the game with them at least once a week," Petersen says, "and consult with them on art, design concepts and so forth. "
If the board game looks interesting to you but you're new to the Orcs Must Die franchise, don't worry. Backing the game on Kickstarter also nets you copies of Orcs Must Die 1 and 2, as well as a key for the closed beta of Orcs Must Die Unchained, the multiplayer-focused entry in the series that's currently in development.
You could play through those while waiting for the board game to be produced, which may feel like a long wait. The estimated delivery date on the Kickstarter project page is February 2016.
You don't have to back the project to get in on the action when the game is released, though. Since the project has met its funding goal, the game is more or less guaranteed to be finished and released. Petersen Games plans on bringing it to retail store shelves once that happens.
You can learn more about Orcs Must Die: The Board Game on the Kickstarter page, or on the Petersen Games website.
