Skyrim’s New Board Game Will Have A Prequel Campaign

The publisher behind the Dishonored, Fallout, and The Elder Scrolls tabletop games is planning to release a Skyrim board game in 2022. Skyrim – The Adventure Game will include several story campaigns, including a prequel to the events of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Here’s the main plot, which was taken from Modiphius Entertainment’s crowdfunding page:

“Before the Dragonborn came to Skyrim… You are surviving members of the Blades, a legendary group who long protected the Empire of Tamriel! Abandoned by the empire, you must work together to thwart a plot which threatens the whole of Skyrim.”

Originally reported in Polygon, the Skyrim board game will be playable by one to four participants. Each session is 90-120 minutes long, and players can pick from six races (Altmer, Dunmer, Imperial, Khajiit, Nord, and Orsimer). Different equipment choices can also affect how each hero overcomes challenges on their journey.

Besides the unique abilities that each race brings to the gameplay experience, The Adventure Game also contains roughly 700 story cards. This deck functions as a kind of save file, causing your decisions during the campaign to have lasting effects. Unlike some games, however, no components are damaged or destroyed in play, and the deck (and, effectively, the game) can be reset at any time. The first campaign takes place 25 years before Skyrim, the second campaign starts before the Dragonborn arrives and ends after the Dragonborn arrives.

Besides the board and story cards, the game also includes custom dice, detailed miniatures of the playable races, and hundreds of game tokens. Two expansions will be available, and add-ons can be purchased if you’re interested in additional hero or enemy miniatures, a neoprene mat, or gold Septim coins.

The base game costs a little more than the publisher originally estimated, due to the worldwide supply shortage which started with the coronavirus pandemic, and which is still affecting logistics across multiple sectors.

According to its crowdfunding page, early backers of Skyrim – The Adventure Game will receive their copies in August of 2022. Afterward, the game is slated for an eventual retail release.