Elder Scrolls Skyrim The Boardgame Update

The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim The Boardgame is a 1-4 player co-op game of adventure and exploration across Skyrim.

We know you’ve all been waiting a long time to find out more about The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim The Boardgame. and here is the first of a series of updates to build-up to the launch of the project. We’ve been keeping quiet whilst we get everything well underway but now we’re close enough that we can start telling you more about what’s to come.

The game has been in development behind the scenes at Modiphius for a couple of years and we’re pleased to confirm it completed external playtesting earlier this year. All the written content on the cards and rulebook have all been approved by Bethesda. Sculpts for miniatures and the graphic design of all the components has been ongoing and we’re in the middle of submitting to Bethesda with final submissions due by the end of this month. Once we have graphics approved by Bethesda we’ll be doing a huge reveal for you. The design team will be sharing some designer diaries talking about the process of bringing Skyrim to the tabletop over the coming weeks and we’ll start exploring the game mechanics in more detail.

Now let’s move on to the game itself.

The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim The Boardgame is a 1 to 4 player cooperative game of adventure and exploration across Skyrim. Players take the roles of heroes involved in epic quests, working together to defeat their enemies and exploring the vast expanse of Skyrim. You will be able to choose character miniatures like the Khajiit, Nord or High Elf, plan your strategy with weapons or spells, fight your way through forgotten mines, Draugr infested tombs or ancient Dwemer cities to find ancient treasures and increase your power.

The players must keep an eye out as the threat increases across Skyrim, as Dragons, Daedra, Trolls and more roam the lands and wreak havoc across the holds. Players will need to work together to keep the lands free, whilst balancing the demands of their most important quests.

The base game is divided into two campaigns of three chapters each. The decisions the players make from their first turn have a distinct effect on the unfolding story and encounters, making the whole campaign experience different every time you play. You can even save your progress after each game and start the next chapter with the same character, equipment and skills.

With the numerous choices of characters, gear, magic, and skills matched with the many decisions each player makes through their quests, there are literally hundreds of hours of gameplay, with some stories not even seen based on your early decisions. The face of Skyrim can change during the game, impacting the course of the players’ experience in subsequent chapters. At any time the players can simply reset, choose another character and play style, make different choices, and experience things differently. Alternatively, pick a chapter that sounds fun and drop in to just play that adventure as a one-off.

I know some of you will have burning questions here’s a few obvious answers, please be patient as we unveil more of the game for you over the coming weeks.

Will the game be in other languages as well as English?

We’re talking to major publishing partners in many territories to localise the game. As soon as we can confirm which languages we will let you know in an update. It can take some time, especially with a game of this scope to do a translation and get it approved so bear in mind they will likely ship the game later than the English edition.

You said miniatures…?

The same team who sculpted the minis for The Elder Scrolls Call to Arms miniatures game that we launched last year, are working on the board game and you can expect some pretty cool stuff. We can confirm the miniatures will be the same 32mm scale as The Elder Scrolls Call to Arms game so you’ll be able to use the boardgame minis in that game, or use Call to Arms miniatures in the boardgame – perhaps you have a painted hero you prefer that matches your playstyle? We’ll talk more about the miniatures and what you can expect in a later update.

Will I be able to check out the rules? How will I know if I like the game?

We’re going to have a complete Tabletop Simulator demo of the game available to play using all official components at the launch of the project so you can try it for yourself. You’ll also be able to download the rules to read in pdf. We’ll be getting the game preview in front of reviewers to get their take on it as well.

When will the project be? When will the game ship?

We will only launch the project once everything is ready, and the tooling has started at the factory as this will give us more accurate dates for delivery and physical samples to show you. Global sea freight logistics are a real mess at the moment and it can be very hard to get containers out of China so we’d prefer to confirm these details when we know more.

We will be posting a series of design diaries over the coming weeks leading up to unveiling more about the game.