Batman is a franchise that has been adapted into a variety of different games. Both video games and tabletops have been set in Gotham City, celebrating the Dark Knight along with his impressive rogue gallery and allies. Cryptozoic Games alone has five games (mostly deck building), that are explicitly Batman-inspired and a handful of others set in the larger DC Comics Universe, in which Batman and his associated characters feature heavily.
Now, with plenty of buzz surrounding the Caped Crusader thanks to Warner Bros’ DC Comics Extended Universe planning to give Ben Affleck’s hero a solo film, another Batman game is headed into development.
Today popular French gaming company Monolith teased that their next major project will be Batman: The Board Game. While no explicit information has been released, Monolith posted a photograph to their Facebook page from the International Games Festival in Cannes, France. The booth not only features familiar contemporary Batman comic book art, but boasts the name, Batman: The Board Game.
The game itself will be available to play in demo at the International Games Festival later this week. In addition to the Caped Crusader, keen-eyed fans will spot art of The Joker and Catwoman, which is likely a nod to these familiar faces playing an important role in Batman: The Board Game.
Monolith came to the attention of the tabletop community via successful Kickstarter campaigns for two previous games: Conan and Mythic Battles: Pantheon - either of which may be a blueprint for the design of Batman: The Board Game. Conan’s campaign raised an impressive $3.3 million, while Mythic Battles: Pantheon brought in $2.7 million. As with their first two offerings, Monolith will be running a Kickstarter for Batman: The Board Game later this year.
Given the decades-long worldwide popularity of Bruce Wayne’s alter-ego, one has to wonder why the game is not simply being marketed in advance on the direct market. Surely early orders through comic book distributor Diamond or even DC Comics itself would more than make up for the cost of production of the game in the first place. A crowdfunding platform would seem to complicate the process on what is certain to be an incredible success.
That in mind, Batman: The Board Game sounds like a great idea. If the demos are well-received later this week and some more well-known tabletop people get their hands on beta versions (looking at Wil Wheaton here), and confirmed to have great gameplay then it probably is. Hopefully larger American conventions like San Diego Comic-Con or New York Comic Con will have demos later this year.
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We will keep you posted on any developments for Batman: The Board Game.
Source: Monolith [via TableTopGaming.co.uk]
