Gaze Upon The Majesty That Is The Mass Effect Board Game

2 months ago 14

A floating head poster of Garrus, Wrex, Liara, Tali, and Shepard.

Image: Modiphius Entertainment

The original Mass Effect crew is reuniting 12 years after they saved the galaxy, but not in a video game. Mass Effect the Board Game—Priority: Hagalaz is a four-player tabletop game set during the events of Mass Effect 3, and it stars most of the Normandy SR-1’s team in a brand-new adventure. Asari scientist Liara T’Soni, Quarian nomad Tali’Zorah vas Normandy, Krogan leader Urdnot Wrex, and Turian vigilante Garrus Vakarian all star alongside protagonist Commander Shepard in a mission set during the height of the Reaper invasion. Rest in peace to all the Ashley Williams and Kaidan Alenko stans (me)—the human squadmates are not part of the board game.

Mass Effect the Board Game is now available for pre-order ahead of its November 7 launch, and we’ve got a nice look at all the figures, boards, and character sheets that will come with the game. When it was announced back in March, it was pitched as a “low maintenance, easy dungeon crawl” so it could be more accessible to folks often intimidated by complex tabletop games. Another big part of the pitch was for it to be cheaper than the $150+ prestige board games that typically deter people from making the jump into the medium. Mass Effect will only run you $50. The full synopsis reads as follows:

“Set during the events of Mass Effect 3, the Normandy crew has one more mission. On the remote world Hagalaz, a research cruiser from the terrorist organization Cerberus has crashed directly in the path of a deadly storm. With little time before the storm hits, Shepard must lead their squad through the cruiser to uncover its sinister secrets and keep them out of the hands of the enemy. However, the ship holds more dangers than just its former crew. Deep within the shattered cruiser stir creatures and enemies far worse than the Cerberus forces that guard them.”

Alongside the figures featured in the board game itself, manufacturer Modiphius is also releasing miniature sets of enemy forces, including Reaper-reanimated versions of the Mass Effect aliens and Cerberus troops. The company is also putting out alternate poses for the Normandy crew, all of which are scaled to fit the Mass Effect board game. Click through to see more.

Mass Effect has been gone from gaming a while following the middling reception of Mass Effect: Andromeda, but BioWare has been in full swing promoting the series again after announcing a new game is on the way and releasing the Legendary Edition remaster of the original trilogy on modern hardware. Right now, however, the studio’s main focus is Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which is finally launching after a 10-year wait on October 31.