Kosmos (board game publisher) released a new series of board games inspired in classic PC adventure games.
The mechanics looks very interesting: rooms and items are represented by cards. Items (cards) can be combined and if successful the player gains another card representing the outcome of the action (or loose a turn if not). I’m excited to try this out!
product:
https://www.thamesandkosmos.com/index.php/product/category/games/adventure-games-monochrome-inc
video review:
Can you play them only “once”? I can’t find any information about that ATM.
Just watch the video
Spoiler: you can play them more than once… but most of the story would be spoiled, and since that is the main attraction, there isn’t that much replayability. Unless you’re a OCD completionist.
So they are similar to the other “adventure game like” games. I don’t know if I would buy such a game. Usually they are more expensive than PC adventure games and IMHO board games should be made in a way that I would like to replay them. I know, this is maybe an old fashioned view, but I like the idea of “hey, let’s play another round of XYZ”.
Yes good point. And you definitely not get as much playtime, stories usually last 90 minutes or less…
I think what excites me the most is that you play this with other people, each taking the role of a different character, something that we never see on digital games on the P&C adventure genre…
Indeed! And this is why I stop every time I see these kind of board games in a store and think about to buy them. (Actually I would buy them if they wouldn’t been so expensive and/or if you could buy cheap “extensions” with additional stories.)
Yeah, well… I fear the market for board games of this type is even smaller than computer P&C adventures.
Same reason we didn’t see any cheap “extensions” with additional stories to say, oh, TWP?
I don’t think so because there are many “adventure board games” out there at the moment - at least in the stores here.
Well, they could do this without a lot of effort - the proof is “Maniac Mansion Mania”…
(And there are some “adventure board games” with extensions. 
)
A little bit off-topic but just recently there was a Kickstarter campaign for a Shovel Knight themed board game, i.e. a side-scrolling platformer board game!
They should have put this on the TWP kickstarter: “Art assets not final, and may be subject to change.”
Also, a bit of a missed chance to include a pledge level that would get you fully handpainted models. (General gripe at the whole tabletop/model industry - most 3D models remain unpainted or end up terribly)
Not a new idea, btw.
But (spoiler alert,) they did use a lot of those assets in the wireframe world in the final game…
Except the inventory icons. They are still not final and subject to change in any possible future update!
I remember a Mega Man game on Kickstarter, but it seems like the gameplay didn’t turn out so great.
Other games I found on BGG:
Btw., three out of those four were Kickstarter funded.
We need to get this published:
For example the Labyrinth series uses a similar approach and …
… well.
wow! I missed that thread. That looks very cute!
Hm, we could call this a board variant of a platformer or maybe even metroidvania. Also who doesn’t love mazes!
Though the mechanic of changing the maze with shifting columns is neat, the side-scrolling aspect is missing.
Not sure about the Mega Man game but the others listed above seem to have proper side-scroller mechanics, like unfolding the world slice by slice.
I have seen a gameplay video of the Shovel Knight board game. It starts with a side scrolling part and then ends with a boss fight. It looks quite fun. You have jumping involved and a lot of the in-game items. When you die you lose half of your money which can be later collected, it’s quite true to the original.
Nitpicker. I just wanted to point out that the idea of a side scroller board game isn’t new. But:
The whole column or row is shifting, so to me it felt a little bit like a plattformer. But “metroidvaina” is a really good/better description. 
I agree: It looks very interesting. Let’s hope it will be available for non-backers too. 
I really liked them when I was a kid! (Now as a grown up they are a little bit too simple though.)
They are going to use Pledgemanager so it’s likely to be able to pledge later.
We’ve just bought Labyrinth the card game to give away to some younger relative, but I am actually thinking of getting a copy for myself . I’ve also had the original since I was a kid, but as I won a lot, nobody likes playing that one anymore …
We played Labyrinth recently with four adults. We thought that too. It turned out that it wasn’t that simple. And we had a lot of fun!