Bloodborne Card Game Puts Chalice Dungeons On Your Table
Aug. 16, 2016Bloodborne Card Game Puts Chalice Dungeons On Your Table
Tabletop and card games are natural counterparts to video games. The first RPG video games were inspired by tabletop games, and today, the inspired have become inspirations back to the physical medium. Bloodborne the Card Game is another upcoming emblem of this trend, joining fellow From Software brainchildDark Souls the Board Gamein making the transition from pulverizing video game to the social and no less brutal tabletop. Published by Cool Mini or Not and designed by award winning creator Eric Lang, Bloodborne the Card Game takes 3-5 players back into theChalice Dungeonsbeneath Yharnam. Over a series of rounds players face off against iconic monsters from the game to gather blood echoes and trophies, with only one emerging as the victor.
Players begin the game with their basic hunter tools andweaponsin their deck and start the round facing off against a monster pulled from the monster deck. Themonster, which fall under the familiar categories of beast, kin or humanoid attacks all the players dealing damage with death a very real possibility. Surviving players are able to retaliate in turn by playing a weapon from their hand to do damage and receive blood echoes equal to the damage dealt to the creature. All players who deal damage receive a trophy when the creature is slain.
Once all the creatures and mini-bosses in the deck have been defeated, players take on the final boss of the match, a formidable representation of some of the game’s iconicbosses, likeEbrietas. Additionally each final boss features an ability that alters the parameters of the game such as buffing all monsters with extra blood echoes. Once the final boss is defeated, the game ends and players add up their blood echoes and trophies. The player with the highest score is the victor and has earned their escape from the eldritch labyrinth while the others are doomed to explore the madness of the underworld.
Death is real and the penalties are as expected. Players who die lose their accumulated blood echoes forever, and in a game where tallying the highest score is the way to victory, this is a potentially devastating outcome. There is respite however, in the form of theHunter’s Dreamcard, where players can retreat to relative safety. There you can bank you blood echoes, reclaim your used actions, gain an upgrade, and rest to full health. Dead hunters return here as well and can gain an upgrade and recover health, but can not bank their blood or reclaim actions.
The upgrade cards allow players the opportunity to get their hands on the game’s more powerful pieces ofequipmentsuch as theKirkhammeror ranged delights likeLudwig’s Riflewhich can give players turn advantage against the monsters. The game is as much a battle against the others players as it is against the game’s twisted monsters, so any advantage is a good advantage.
Games will last 30-60 minutes so players can expect fun and fluid sessions that allow for multiple runs and a chance to experience all the different possibilities and card combinations. The creative pedigree is also there, as designer Eric Lang has featured on a long list of iconic tabletop games, including another successful video game adaptation in XCOM: The Board Game, as well as other seminal fantasy franchises made into card games like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones.
Bloodborne the Card Game is expected to release to the masses this October. We’ll definitely be keeping all of our granted eyes on it until then.
Visit theBloodborne Wiki
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Emergence
Editor at Fextralife. I look for the substantial in gaming and I try to connect video games to the emotions and stories they elicit. I love all things culture and history and have an odd fondness for the planet Jupiter. I think my dogs are pretty awesome too.
I made a page on the wiki for this, it is located here:Bloodborne Card Game
The concept is interesting, and anything that may expand on the lore is certainly welcome. I wonder if we’ll need a mini-wiki or if we just make a set of pages on the bloodborne domain?
They were selling the game at Gen Con a few weeks ago. I considered buying it but didn’t think my family would want to play it more than once. It still looks pretty cool.
I’m pretty sure I’ve played this game before, except when I did it was dressed up as Adventure Time. Everything else looks the same, though.
Edit: Should probably mention, that game was fun and I’d play it again.
