Worst To Best: Movie Board Games

Ender's Game: Battle School

The Board Game: Shrugging off the film’s final sequence as the obvious choice for the setting and bowing to the sheer awesomeness of the Battle School scenes, the game takes place entirely in the zero gravity arena.

Why It’s Loads Of Fun: Because we all went goo-goo watching the battle scenes in the movie, desperate to ‘ave a go. Think you can do better than Ender and his victorious trojan horse tactics? Here’s your chance.

Best Detail: The zero-g rules mean that, much like real life, once you set a course there’s no turning back. May require a stroky beard meeting and plenty of cunning.

Dawn Of The Dead

The Board Game: Based on George Romero’s undead 1978 classic, the aim of the game shares an all-too-familiar quandary with the movie’s characters. Secure the mall or die tryin’.

Why It’s Loads Of Fun: The gameplay makes room (literally, the huge board represents the entire mall) for a ton of different routes to conquer, depending on who you’re playing and what your plan is, making the win different every time.

Best Detail: The far more irreverent option to become one of the zombies and senselessly tear apart three humans in order to win. That is if you become a ‘Berserk Zombie.’

The Great Muppet Caper

The Board Game: Serving up the spectacle and grandeur of the Muppets’ tale, the initial setup requires players to construct some of the movie’s locations before making a mad dash through the London streets to catch those dastardly thieves.

Why It’s Loads Of Fun: The gargantuan board and its 3-D machinations rival all the wacky devices of Mouse Trap without the tedium.

Best Detail: Control of the action is triggered via a set of dials beneath the board. It’s like you’re really there!

Dune

The Board Game: Not to be confused with the inferior 1984 version, this adaptation by Avalon Hill in mint condition fetches upwards of $200 nowadays. Thanks to its cunning factions out to rule Dune, mixed with politics, strategy and a heavy-handed dose of bluffery, it’s a fanboy classic.

Why It’s Loads Of Fun: It’s packed with enough details and add-ons (treachery cards, hidden bidding, giant sandworms) to sate the more complex gamer, whilst you race around a good old fashioned board.

Best Detail: On each turn, one side deals the other a “spice blow.” It’s about cumin, apparently.

Alien

The Board Game: Kenner’s 1979 companion game to Ridley Scott’s monster in space chiller takes inspiration from the film to scare the bejeezus out of kids age 7+ in this “exciting game of elimination and escape.”

The player crowned victorious is the first of the astronauts to reach the Narcissus shuttle, avoiding a brutal mauling at the hands/mouth/mouth-within-mouth of a xenomorph.

Why It’s Loads Of Fun: ‘Cause you commandeer an alien and munch away on the astronauts. Brilliant.

Best Detail: The pre-pubescent kids smiling on the instruction manual.

Army Of Darkness

The Board Game: Leaping straight into the last act of the movie, the game takes place during the Arthur’s castle sequence of the flick. Players can choose to rally against the evil dead via designated cards, or nominate one player to act out their naughty undead schemes.

Why It's Loads Of Fun: Because whoever is playing Good Ash can say “groovy!” as much as they like, rebutting any sighs from fellow gamers with the excuse that they were “in character.”

Best Detail: The Ashmobile miniature you can race around the board. It’d no doubt run over the Monopoly dog.

300

The Board Game: Persian or Spartan? You decide whose side you’re duking it out for in this epic tabletop retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae.

Why It’s Loads Of Fun: There’s a ton of variety in how you steer the game’s action. If you’re a Persian your aim is to prevent the Spartan win by offing as many as possible.

If you’re one of Leonidas’ bunch, your goal is grabbing glory points. No, not like that.

Best Detail: A stack of cards including quotes from the film will aid in adding a layer of authenticity to your games, as it is impossible to recite dialogue without doing a Gerard Butler impression.

A Bridge Too Far: Operation Market Garden

The Board Game: Based on the Michael Caine-starrer of the same name which delved into the events surrounding the 1944 Allied attempt to shoo the Germans out of the Netherlands.

Why It’s Loads Of Fun: Offering up two scenarios for your gaming pleasure, you can opt for the historically-accurate version depicted in the film or devise your own plot to knock out the German defenses.

Best Detail: Each player’s turn consists of five smaller battle strategies all in one, keeping the boredom at bay and annihilating creativity at a high.

The Shining

The Board Game: With the novel’s author Stephen King on hand as creative consultant, this public domain game has become a fan favourite. One player takes control of the Torrance family, and another assumes the evil presence of the Overlook in a battle for the throne of the hotel as a wintry storm hits.

Why It’s Loads Of Fun: Getting to play in the scariest behemoth of a hotel ever committed to celluloid is equally as creepy in the game, with ghosts having the option to possess or just plain terrify you at every turn.

Best Detail: The one method for beating the ghosties is nipping outside to trim the topiary. No, seriously, that’s how the hotel’s power is diminished.

Zombies!!!

The Board Game: A recycled tapestry of zombie tropes, Zombies!!! snagged two reputable gaming awards as well as fuelling an entire series of spinoff games including Martians!!! and Humans!!!

Why It’s Loads Of Fun: Getting to manoeuvre miniature zombies around the board, as the roll of the dice threatens to mangle you into one of the undead. The whole “will I make it to the heli-pad, or will I become savagely eaten and lose out to Grandma again?” vibe certainly gets one’s pulse racing.

Best Detail: Depending on how ambitious you are, the board continues to grow with 30 map tiles available to expand your mission. As well as the aforementioned army of miniature flesh-eaters.