Reviving classics isn’t reserved for books and videogames – tabletop games from yesteryear are getting refreshed and revised all the time, either directly or through spiritual successors. Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion remake caught headlines for retaining the original game’s soul while updating its graphics and features for modern audiences. In this piece, we’re going to look at how a couple of classic, original titles are still inspiring new fantasy board games.
In short, there’s magic in this cardboard.
Divine Right – The Original Tabletop Fantasy War Game
Travel all the way back to 1979 and you’ll find, tucked within a magical cave, Divine Right. Labeled a fantasy wargame, you might think it’s a progenitor of such recent fare as Burning Banners or even Dungeon Degenerates. In some ways, that’s true – Divine Right has a hex map, lives and dies by the dice roll and special events, is flush with a mystical rules conflux at once specific (to siege, one must surround the city precisely and snag a perfect die result) and amenable to ‘feels right’ house ruling in the moment. Shifting alliances between the up-to-six players are common, and unit stacks might be swept from the field with a little bad luck. This is, in short, not the title for those wanting a strict, refined experience.
It’s for those who want to tell a story with every game.
With Worthington Games and Pungo Games remastering it, Divine Right gets to bring its unique fantasy blend back into print. No more scouring garage sales for a moldering copy (though, if you’re seeking the original or its 20th anniversary edition, Noble Knight has a few squirreled away). We’re talking mounted maps, modernized components, and the promise of a coming expansion. It’s enough to make gamers of a certain age fall into nostalgic memories about the world of Minaria – after all, how many board games get a novel?
So what does one do in Divine Right?
Almost everything. We mentioned sieges up above, but you’re also scrambling armies and fleets across a broad map. You’re summoning leaders like the Black Knight to your banners or marrying others to bring neutral kingdoms into your fold. Phases unfold like a grand tapestry, from movement to mustering, random events to crushing the enemy under your troll onslaught. All of this happens with a trust d6 or two by your side. You’ll tally up points based on your conquests, leading to wildly divergent scores, but that’s the least interesting part of the game. By the time you’re looking at those numbers, after some three to five hours have passed, you’ll have witnessed the rise and fall of empires, the meddling of gods and magicians, and enough die rolls to curse and praise in equal measure.
All that said, Divine Right demands the right group. One ready to dance with tricky rules questions or disregard them altogether in favor of the story, one able to handle twists of fate with a laugh rather than hurt feelings, and one willing to look past a game’s age to find the magic within. Should you not want to take your group quite that far, you’ll be able to find more smoothed out, but similar, experiences with a few other games:
- Game of Thrones brings a bold, big collection of shifting alliances and strategy to your table, with back-stabs and battles aplenty with a fantasy veneer.
- Successors sheds fantasy for history, but retains the march of generals, sieges, and a grand scope.
- Here I Stand and Virgin Queen come close to Divine Right’s all-of-the-above scope, with combat, diplomacy, and side mechanics galore.
If Divine Right broke wargaming conventions with fantasy innovations, another classic did the same with Dungeons and Dragons, proving tabletop adventure can be found in the most unusual places.
Unique Fantasy Adventure Games
Magic Realm, which we’ve touched on before, emerged in the 70s as a complex grab bag of possibilities. A game for folks who wanted tabletop RPG flexibility
with more stability. Accommodating that scope meant meaty rules that handle everything from hiring mercenaries to combat on horseback to stealth and so much more. It’s a treasure best appreciated by those with both patience and a desire to see fantasy boardgaming pushed to wild, thorny limits.
For everyone else, and perhaps those same folks without a whole bunch of coffee, Magic Realm’s parts can be had in a slew of modern titles, refined into magical experiences that’ll get you the adventure you’re looking for.
First, Dragons Down offers as close to a straight up revision of Magic Realm as you’ll find, providing a big fantasy sandbox to explore in pursuit of game-winning points. Hexes stuffed with quests, treasure, and monsters await, all with updated rules and components. You’ll cast enchantments, battle other players, and forge your own destiny turn by turn. If you have fond Magic Realm memories, this is the game to add to your want list, as it’ll bring back much of your nostalgia without the associated difficulty.
From there, it’s useful to think about your favorite part of fantasy tabletop gaming: is it exploring a world and uncovering its mysteries? Is it crafting a character and seeing them rise up to world-conquering awesomeness? Do you prefer your journeys solo or played together?
If exploration and narrative is your keystone, then Tainted Grail and its sequel, Kings of Ruin might climb right up to the top. Both of these titles and their expansions build an incredible story in the fallen remnants of King Arthur’s kingdom, buttressing quests with deck-building combat. You’ll pick from a few heroes central to the story and drive their destinies, potentially replaying the campaign with the others to see all sides of the story.
For solo gamers seeking an expansive story, consider The 7th Citadel, the sequel to The 7th Continent, where you’ll escape your slave’s confines to venture into a diabolical fantasy world, exploring bit by bit, solving mysteries en route to confront ‘the Threat’ over a long adventure. Both 7th Citadel and Tainted Grail are long campaigns, played over numerous sessions, as befits a story focus.
Zero-to-hero adventures are easier to accomplish in a single evening, and you’ll find them in games like Too Many Bones, Assault on Doomrock, Euthia, and Massive Darkness. All of these delight in putting you in the hands of a customizable, unique caster of spells or swinger of swords. You might, though, take Magic Realm’s example and step into the unusual, the gnarly, the unique, and find:
Solo designs like Iron Helm and Rogue Dungeon, which use cards and a rogue-like design (think die and repeat, with upgrades and your own knowledge helping you get farther) to put you into unique peril, where you must find treasure, make difficult choices, and escape or defeat the monster at the dungeon’s heart in an hour or two.
Dungeon Alliance, like Arcadia Quest, lets you clash hero teams in a race to secure loot and escape the dungeon, leveraging a unique deck formed from drafting those heroes. Savvy tactics and a good team composition will see you earning XP tokens, which both act as victory points and resources to purchase new cards and abilities.
Or maybe you’re a lapsed DM, someone who’s watched the heroes win one time too many and need get crush your hapless pals. Games like Descent and Conan are more classic monster-player vs heroes setup, but recent years have seen neat ideas:
League of Infamy puts you in the one-vs-all shoes, but casts the other players as sinister thieves, all striving to backstab and steal the best treasure while one player tries to take them all down. You’ll see usual dice-chucking trickery here, but the villainous angle colors every interaction. Is your fellow thief letting you take first
crack at picking a lock being nice, or setting you up to take a whack from whatever lies beyond the door? You’ll all lose if too many heroes get alerted to your nefarious shenanigans, but would it really be so bad if a couple of your buddies took an arrow to the knee while you made your getaway?
Cryptic Explorers pits several players against a literal god, as they venture into a nightmare dimension in search of treasure. A boutique experience with lush black-and-white artwork, the blend of horror and environmental storytelling you’ll find here is apart from anything else in this genre. It’s a game you’ll never forget, whether you’re summoning abyssal legions to confront your friends, or snagging a key upgrade to let your desperate team warp across endless pits and escape alive.
Both Magic Realm and Divine Right broke conventions and flourished outside the board game mainstream. That creativity still exists today, waiting beyond the many excellent big titles to offer awesome experiences bristling with personality, story, and care. So if you’re looking to dive into a fresh fantasy adventure, take a lesson from the classics and venture forth into the wild unknown.
You just might find the best game of your life.
