I’m no tabletop expert, but I am slightly obsessed withResident Eviland always have been. So, when the opportunity came around to take a look at SteamForged’s board game adaptation, I didn’t take a lot of convincing. Known for a number of similar tabletop translations fromSea of ThievestoHorizon Zero DawntoDark Souls, the company is no stranger in taking classic properties and translating their video game origins into sprawling tabletop campaigns. In the case of Resident Evil, it uses the 2002Nintendo GameCuberemake as a blueprint.
The base game and its two expansions - Into The Darkness and Bleak Outpost - recapture the pre-rendered backgrounds and classic enemy designs perfectly, almost like you’re peering into a fading tome with a dusted cover and tattered edges, ready to tackle puzzles and foes that have remained dormant for decades. The Spencer Mansion is a brilliant setting for a co-operative tabletop adventure designed to be played with a minimum of two players and all the way up to four. you’re able to play a shorter version of its 19 scenarios, or plan for a campaign that lasts upwards of 20 hours, although you’ll likely want a full party around to avoid repetition, or prevent feeling too spooked by all the zombies, dogs, and spiders.
My partner and I never ventured on a campaign this bulky, but we did take a few scenarios for a test run. It seeks to imitate enemy encounters and puzzles from the classic game, and we would need to consider every possible puzzle solution, bullet fired, and herb used, because Resident Evildoes notmess around when it comes to resources and how careful you must be with them. It wants you to feel like every challenge could be your last if you get too gung-ho or fail to prepare. Scenarios will lock you into specific locations or tasks across the Spencer Mansion, while campaigns combine them into larger, overarching narratives.
You might be playing as existing characters like Jill Valentine and Barry Burton, but there’s more value in campaigns where you create your own stories after being pushed up to the wall by a single zombie, escaping by the skin of your teeth, before catching your breath and doing it all over again. I know in reality we’re hunched over a table moving around pieces of plastic, but Resident Evil executes each turn in a way that feels immersive and rewarding.
Each player’s turn is split into three phases - Action, Reaction, and Tension. You can perform up to three actions in every turn, doing everything from picking a lock to using a medkit. After you’ve used up all of your actions, the reaction phase will begin. Here, both you and surrounding enemies move about the board with rules designed so that, much like its video game counterpart, enemy pieces are able to react to you. Move too liberally or draw too close to an awaiting zombie, and you have a fight on your hands.
Finally, comes the tension phase, where you pick a card from the tension deck. These moments are the game’s most unpredictable, behaving as modifiers which can either benefit your mission or turn it upside down. Green cards can be a saving grace, while Amber and Red ones screw you over with sudden threats to deal with and escalating factors that fold into the rest of the game. It isn’t fair, but Resi isn’t either.
One thing people tend to forget about the games, yet is really well represented here, is that characters also have subtle class archetypes. Jill Valentine is a more adept lockpicker, Barry Burton can hold his own in battle, and Rebecca Chambers kills it as a medic, so you’re best to work together instead of prancing about the mansion willy nilly. Exploration prevents this sort of foolish spontaneity anyway, with most areas building out as you move further into the mansion, with encounter cards adding unique enemies and threats into new locations in ways you can’t prepare for.
I embraced chaos while my teammate bemoaned my lack of proper resource management. I’d risk dishing out an attack before running away, healing myself, and preparing to repeat this dance all over again. Running is an option too, and sometimes legging it to focus on an objective is better than sticking around trying to win a fight you’re destined to lose.
As mentioned, resources are sparse, but if you’re playing a full campaign, you can choose to either replenish them after scenarios, or limit them across the whole of the mansion.,. It is entirely possible to recreate the video games’ mad dashes across the property in the later stages as you do everything in your power to avoid the enemies who now populate most locations on the map. When you die, it’s all over, but homebrew rules could easily be implemented if you fancy seeing everything it potentially offers without needing to restart. But the thrill is your need to survive, so be careful with how much homebrew you introduce to your game..
Watching the board fill with gorgeously familiar miniatures is thrilling, even if my two cats kept trying to eat them – I pretended they were weird bioweapons or something. Resident Evil: The Board Game’s attention to detail and love of the source material is clear. While the majority of the pieces you interact with come in fairly standard colours, a closer look reveals details that suggest Steamforged had original game assets to work with when crafting these pieces, and many players will enjoy painting them up to match the characters they know and love. Shark and Spider miniatures found in the expansions are especially chilling. I’m terribly arachnophobic, so refused to pick up the latter piece because it was both massive and resembled a real creepy crawly enough for me to keep my distance. I was freaked out, which is Resident Evil’s prime directive, so I’d consider it a success.
Board games adaptations of famous video games always feel like a dice roll (wahey) for me. I love Dark Souls, but I don’t know if I have enough patience to spend hours in its fantasy world with friends at my side. Resident Evil is different, and does a spectacular job capturing that nostalgic survival horror with mechanics that feel dense and curated to the game it takes inspiration from. Whether you’re embarking on an isolated scenario or a big campaign across the Spencer Mansion and its surrounding grounds, there’s plenty to sink your teeth into. Just be careful with your resources and don’t go wasting your bullets like I did. This ain’t Resident Evil 5.
