The next Resident Evil: The Board game is on pre-order via the designer Steamforged Games, and specialist hobby sites like Wayland Games, but not yet Amazon.
A question that people really wanted me to put to lead designer Sherwin Matthews was whether board games of big franchises were all a bit cringeworthy.
Sherwin has not just worked on Resident Evil but also Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Horizon, Monster Hunter and the Sea of Thieves board games, so I didn’t want to ask it. Poking the debate around original titles and board games based on movies or computer games felt a bit too close to the bone. It felt pointed; it felt cruel.
I wimped out and asked Sherwin about changes in the board game community instead. Guess what? Sherwin’s a smart cookie and divined my meaning and answered straight up.
So, let’s get to the interview!
Resident Evil: The Board Game Interview
Sherwin Matthews is the Lead Writer and Games Designer at Steamforged Games.
Aside from the board games, which is your favourite Resident Evil?
That’s a tough one! They all have their charms, and I have extremely fond memories of all of them. The original game is the one that started it all for me, way back in 1996 on my battered old PlayStation, so I should probably say that — it’s the definitive Resident Evil experience in many ways, and defined the entire survival horror genre. That said, I was extremely impressed with the Resident Evil 4 Remake. They really smashed it out of the park — game of the year for me.
Why have the Resident Evil board games been so successful?
The Resident Evil fandom has a real thirst for more content for their favourite series, and our games have certainly proven to capture the experience of Resident Evil in a way that scratches that itch(y tasty). Ultimately, we’re all massive Resident Evil fans, and it’s supremely important to us to get the details right, and bring the game to life in a characterful way that’s evocative of the video game.
To give you an example, Resident Evil games are an interesting beast in that they have a very distinct experience on the first playthrough which is primarily narrative, than subsequent playthroughs that are essentially speed runs, with the player knowing where to find the map layouts and item locations, and what enemies await them.
The former is definitely something that our game hits — on every playthrough, as the layouts are obfuscated, the enemies and items are randomised, and events and their locations both change and might not appear at all. It’s a different experience on each playthrough, that can’t be metagamed, and that’s really exciting not only for me to see as a designer, but also what we hear from the community too.
How is the new edition of Resident Evil different from the previous ones?
The biggest changes are the revised encounter and exploration systems, and the new mission system.
The encounter system is now an evolving deck which allows us to slowly change the enemies, combat situations, and events as the players progress and most excitingly based on their decisions and actions during the games. It’s different for every group as a result, which is very exciting.
The exploration system started life as a way for speeding up scenario setup but quickly became a tremendous tool for keeping a sense of unknown during games; unlike previous entries, players never know what’s waiting beyond certain doors, as they explore ‘off the map’.
The mission system is probably most exciting for me; it’s an AI system for the characters the players have rescued but aren’t using in their current game, allowing those characters to go off and forage for supplies, search for other survivors, and so on. It really adds a lot of narrative to the game, and again, gives players some very meaningful decision points at several stages.
Is ‘Dungeon Crawler’ an appropriate tag for the game? If not, what is; ‘Resource Management’?
Haha, I think both of those work. Resident Evil is certainly a dungeon crawler, if an unorthodox one. Where it differs from a more traditional system is that players always have to consider their options and resources, rather than trying to defeat every enemy in their path. Just like the video games, fighting enemies isn’t the only way to succeed. There are plenty of meaningful decision points and events that shape the experience in a more narrative and cinematic way.
How has the board game industry changed since the Resident Evil franchise came to the tabletop?
That’s a big question. I think we’ve certainly seen a lot more engagement with video game IPs than before. Excluding card games, Steamforged Games were one of the first companies to translate a video game to the tabletop with Dark Souls, and at the time of Resident Evil 2: The Board Game there still wasn’t too much focus from the board game industry. Since then, we’ve seen a plethora of licensed IPs hit the market across a wide range of sources.
Whereas before, where licensed IP games were regarded with less enthusiasm, I think now they’re much more legitimised in most circles — as is shown by Dorfromantik winning the Spiel des Jahres award this year.
Which is more important: keeping true to the genre’s tropes or making changes to refresh things?
One of the most important steps for our team at the start of any project is to establish the key tentpoles of the game. For a licensed IP, this means understanding what makes the game unique; what feelings and themes are evocative for the player when they interact with it; what makes playing a Resident Evil game different to a Silent Hill game, and so on.
That step is essential in designing the game — if you ever lose sight of that, you’ll end up with an experience that fans will bounce off of. If you keep it in mind, even if you change a mechanic from how it’s presented in the video game, you’ll achieve both a trope and a refresh at the same time.
Can a board game be scary?
100% yes! Maybe not in a jump scare way, but certainly as a simmering tension and rising sense of unease. I’ve heard plenty of stories from players at shows on how they’ve been at the edge of their seats during the game.
Can you get a feeling of isolation in a board game?
We do a lot to create that sensation, as it’s a key element in the video game — some obvious, some not so obvious. Players always start isolated from each other. We also break the fourth wall with some of our game rules, like preventing players from speaking to each other at key moments, lest they spawn more enemies for their characters to deal with. Activations are purposefully designed to zoom in to a specific character and their immediate surroundings, to make the situations they’re more personal.
Quick Links
- Resident Evil: The Board Game – Steamforged Games | Wayland Games
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