Will there be a Starfield board game?

Starfield isn’t even out, but it already has a fandom of would-be space adventurers eager to leap into the unknown and explore its massive virtual galaxy. If, like us, you’re also addicted to cardboard and counters, you’ll be wondering – will there be a Starfield board game?

Just as video game to film adaptations have improved in recent years, so we’re seeing more and more of the best board games based on video game franchises. Our Darkest Dungeon board game review found lots to like with the grungy dungeon crawler, while the Monster Hunter World: Iceborne board game preview left our reporter totally transfixed with its epic monster battling.

So far no Starfield board game has been announced, but if the right developer got the chance to adapt the incredibly deep content coming in the Starfield videogame, it could be one of the best space board games out there.

Here’s what we predict about a Starfield board game:

Starfield board game release date

We can’t predict a Starfield board game release date with any accuracy because we don’t know if it’s even in production! However, Bethesda has existing board game licensing deals with Modiphius Entertainment and Fantasy Flight Games, so an agreement to design the game could be in place.

The Starfield release date is September 6 2023. Without any other information, we guess that a tie-in board game might release in September 2024 for the one year celebration – but that really is pure speculation.

Starfield board game designer

As far as we know there’s no Starfield board game in development. If it is secretly in the works, then the Starfield board game designer is most likely to be either Modiphius Entertainment or Fantasy Flight Games. Both firms currently produce games using Bethesda licenses, and have done for several years.

Fantasy Flight Games publishes the truly epic sci-fi board game Twilight Imperium among many other designs, while Modiphius is more tightly focused on adaptations of licensed properties. Both firms have put out good and bad games; our overview of Fallout: The Roleplaying Game was very positive, while our Skyrim The Adventure Game review was scathing.

Starfield board game gameplay

Starfield promises to be a huge game with many different, connected elements and gameplay modes. If there’s ever a Starfield board game, its gameplay will have to pick one part to focus on. We can imagine a couple of different models it could follow.

Both the Fallout board game and Skyrim adventure game focus on their massive overworlds, with players wandering the Wasteland or the mountains of Skyrim in pursuit of their next quest – despite both games being made by different companies.

You could easily imagine a Skyrim or Fallout dungeon crawler, but instead they’re more like RPG board games. That kind of adaptation could work for a Starfield board game, with players moving from star to star in search of adventure.

Here’s a Geek & Sundry walkthrough of how the Fallout board game works:

Bethesda lead developer Todd Howard has stated that the classic tabletop RPG Traveller is a big influence on Starfield’s design. Traveller puts an equal focus on space faring and planetary exploration, and has a cold hard economic center that forces players to scrabble for the cash to keep their ship running, whether through fair means or foul.

A Starfield board game that leans more heavily into the economic side of space adventuring would be more like Merchant of Venus; Xia, Legends of a Drift System; or Firefly the Game. That kind of game focuses less on narrative and a lot more on economic crunch.

Whatever it turns out like, if there ever is a Starfield board game, Wargamer will definitely cover it!

Still looking for more? While a good Starfield wiki can be a handy source of information, our new Starfield Database goes further, offering you daily news, searchable databanks, and even interactive tools.