Apex Legends board game brings competitive battle royale to the tabletop

An Apex Legends board game is on the way from the team behind the Dying Light and Frostpunk adaptations, bringing battle royale to tabletop.

Designed by Glass Cannon Unplugged, the press release calls the Apex Legends board game a "highly competitive, intensely tactical team vs team miniatures game" for two to four players (however, you can add more people via expansions). While we don't have any information on mechanics just yet, the starter box looks like it'll offer four playable characters - Bloodhound, Bangalore, Wraith, and Gibraltar - along with models to represent their in-game Ultimate moves. Wraith comes with two 'portals' while Bangalore features a rocket from her barrage attack, for example.

"Gameplay begins in a fully-immersive, three-dimensional environment taken straight from the screen," the description adds. "Every decision matters as teams must modify tactics and outmaneuver opponents based upon the Legends and finite resources in play."

Apex Legends: The Board Game will arrive on Kickstarter this May 17.

According to Glass Cannon Unplugged CEO Jakub Wisniewski in the accompanying YouTube announcement, Apex Legends "is not just a single game, it's a whole system designed with newcomers to the hobby in mind but crafted so that it can include organized play at some later stage." 

In a similar vein, more characters will apparently be added to Apex Legends: The Board Game system through expansions. Seasonal releases are also on the way, though it's unclear if these are the same thing. Either way, because there are 23 Legends to choose from in the video game (at the time of writing), there's plenty of inspiration to draw from.

As Apex Legends is usually played in squads of two or three, it'll be interesting to see how Glass Cannon handles the co-op aspects of the franchise. Considering the fact that there are only four characters included within the core box, will you be taking on teams of two? It's unclear, but presumably, expansions could boost that number up to the classic three. No matter what, it's safe to assume this will join cooperative board games like the XCOM adaptation seeing as Glass Cannon has said it's a faithful take on the source material.

It doesn't seem to be a quick cash-in, either. The Glass Cannon team has apparently been working on the Apex Legends board game for two years, and is "plotting a long roadmap with a growing line of modular maps and interchangeable Legends" to spice things up.

This would imply a real focus on competitive play, bringing it into competition with other focused team-based battles like Warhammer Underworlds: Gnarlwood or Godtear. As such, and alongside it being accessible for newcomers, it sounds as if it's geared toward hobbyists who want something new for the tournament scene.

For something to keep you busy until Apex Legends: The Board Game arrives, check out the best board games, these board games for 2 players, and the top board games for adults.