Last year, Arrowhead's Helldivers 2 became a standout hit in the multiplayer gaming world, captivating players with its mission to spread democracy by battling aliens and robots with a barrage of bullets. Now, fresh from their successful adaptation of Elden Ring into a board game, Steamforged Games is bringing the high-octane, fast-paced action of Helldivers 2 to the tabletop. The board game adaptation is currently available for backing on Gamefound. IGN had the opportunity to play a prototype and discuss it with the designers Jamie Perkins, Derek Funkhouser, and Nicholas Yu, gaining insights into this thrilling new tabletop experience.
Helldivers 2: The Board Game
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Development on Helldivers 2: The Board Game began shortly after the video game's release early last year. This tabletop version successfully captures the essence of what made the video game so popular: intense firefights, chaotic surprises, and a focus on teamwork, while introducing its own unique twists.
Helldivers 2 remains a cooperative, objective-based skirmish game, playable with one to four players. The designers suggest solo players use two characters. Each player assumes the role of a different class of Helldiver, each with a unique perk, a set of action cards, and a powerful "Act of Valor" ability usable once per game. The demo featured the Heavy, Sniper, Pyro, and Captain classes. Players equip themselves with a kit including primary, secondary, and support weapons, a grenade, and three strategems, with recommended loadouts listed on their class cards, though experienced players can customize their setups.
Gameplay unfolds on grid-based boards that expand as you explore, revealing sub-objectives and locations for primary objectives, such as destroying Terminid hatcheries in the prototype. As exploration progresses, tougher enemies spawn, and a mission timer adds urgency, keeping the gameplay tense and frenetic.
The prototype focused on destroying Terminid hatcheries, but the final release will include multiple objectives. Jamie mentioned that the base game will feature two of the three main factions: Terminids and robotic Automatons, each with 10 unit types. While not confirmed, the Illuminate faction might be introduced via an expansion, given Steamforged's history with stretch goals.
A key curiosity was how the board game would replicate the video game's feeling of being overwhelmed and outnumbered. Unlike Zombicide's approach with numerous weaker enemies, Helldivers 2 opts for fewer, stronger enemies, fostering a more tactical, close-quarters combat experience.
Turns involve players and enemies adding action cards to a pool, which is then shuffled and placed on an initiative tracker, similar to Steamforged's Elden Ring game. Combat is dice-based, with a unique twist: every four action cards played triggers a random event, often complicating plans with new enemy spawns or other challenges.
On the Helldivers' side, combat involves rolling dice based on the weapon's specifications, with damage calculated from the total roll value. Every five points inflicts one wound on an enemy. This straightforward system avoids complex modifiers, emphasizing the Helldivers' elite status as soldiers who always hit their targets, though friendly fire is a risk.
A standout feature is the 'Massed Fire' mechanic, designed to emulate the video game's teamwork. Nic explained, “In the video game, obviously, you're encouraged to work together as a team. You have a heavily armored enemy, you need to kind of flank around and shoot at the weak points if you don't have a support weapon to deal with it. But there wasn't a really good way to do that in a board game without going to lot of facing and armor mechanics. So what we implemented was we called 'massed fire,' so when anyone shoots at a target, if that's within range of another Helldiver's primary or secondary weapon, they can also focus fire with you at that time, and so you're kind of explicitly rewarded or incentivized to work as a group.” This mechanic reduces player downtime and encourages group play.
Enemy actions are more straightforward, with set damage or effects from their cards causing players to draw wound cards. Three wounds result in a character's death, but players can respawn after a set time, based on the chosen difficulty, with their full loadout restored.
One aspect not included in the board game is the galactic war from the video game. The designers chose to make the board game a unique experience, positioning it as a training simulation for Helldivers, as Jamie noted, “We're positioning it effectively as a training simulation. So you would get this board game as a Helldiver as a training simulation to learn how to be a better Helldiver.” This decision aligns with Arrowhead's vision for a distinct tabletop experience.
The designers emphasized maintaining the essence of Helldivers despite the new medium. Nic stated, “We wanted to make sure that even though had different mechanics, it felt like Helldivers – like we want to have unexpected things that you have to deal with from turn to turn. We want to have stratagems that could go awry and actually blow up your friends in addition to the enemies. The pool of reinforcements that dwindles as you go through the game and calling in stratagems, those are things that feel uniquely Helldivers.” Derek added, “We knew we needed to keep the core loop of what Helldivers is with the mission objectives, and just being able to chase the shiny, right? We've got points of interest and sub-objectives and the objectives to uncover and find, while also having to deal with enemies that are, you know, trying to eat you.”
Currently, the game's core mechanics are about 75-80% finalized, allowing for adjustments based on community feedback or new ideas. Jamie assured that recent tariff issues in the board gaming industry won't delay their plans, and they are moving forward as intended.
After playing the prototype, the systems in place are engaging, particularly with random events and the Massed Fire mechanic creating memorable moments. However, while the tactical focus with stronger enemies is appreciated, there's a desire for more smaller enemies to clear out, mirroring the video game's experience. Additionally, more dynamic enemy attacks could enhance the game's chaotic feel.
Excitement builds for what else Steamforged Games has in store for Helldivers 2. The prototype has left players eager to explore new Helldiver classes, game types, and combinations with different enemies and biomes. The question on everyone's mind is: Where are we dropping next?
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