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"Because No One Else Will!": Making a Good Assassins Creed Board Game



Hey, I'm allowed to like stuff other than Star Wars.  For this week, because the hype for Assassins Creed Origins is literally reaching levels we never thought possible, I figured I'd talk about one of my other passions.

I contributed to a thread a month or so ago on the Ubisoft forums about some Assassins Creed board games that have been released, and also speculated on a better designer game that could be made.  I'd strongly check out the thread, but to sum it up, I'd say two things:

1. There aren't a ton of good Assassins Creed board games out right now.  Arguably, none at all.

2. I'd love to have an epic board game spanning the globe and an entire era in the series.

Admittedly, my idea is a little derivative of Star Wars Rebellion and Pandemic, but it's also a pretty young brainchild.  It has room to grow.

To help kind of brainstorm what else I think could make for a good Assassins Creed game, I figured I'd outline some of the things that I'd want to see.

Hidden Roles


This is a big one that isn't yet really integrated into the suggestions I've made on the forums, but I think that given Social Stealth's importance in the series, a hidden role component could be fundamental to an Assassins Creed board game.  For those who don't know, hidden role games like The Resistance, Secret Hitler, and One Night Ultimate Werewolf typically involve players secretly taking on various roles.  The goal of the game typically involves players then trying to deduce the identities of both friends and foes, while simultaneously trying to avoid revealing too much about their own identity.  This usually involves a lot of player interaction, including lying, interrogating, and framing your friends- perfect for a series whose protagonists are but a blade in the crowd.

The alleged Assassins Creed: Vendetta is supposedly going to implement this, but as of now I can't even say for sure that the game actually exists, or if it has an English translation (seeing as the release date is apparently in 12 days, I'm starting to feel a little pessimistic about the chances of it being real).

Scale and Scope



Assassins Creed is a series that currently spans over 2,000 years, at least 19 playable protagonists, over 15 different countries, and 33 games (more or less, depending on how you count).  Why, then, is the most complex Assassins Creed game one that is based off of the multiplayer component in Revelations?  

The fact that we haven't had an Assassins Creed game set on a world map board is utterly baffling to me.  It's begging to be made! The conflict between the Templars and the Assassins has been waged for centuries across pretty much every continent- yet the most diverse set of locales we have on the tabletop is on a frickin' Monoploy board.

Lore




Assassins Creed has a ton of lore.  Like, a ton.  Between the main series games, the spinoff titles, the books, comics, videos, Initiates website... there's a lot going on in the world of AC that many casual fans have absolutely no idea about. So I get it, making a game that fits within that lore could be constraining.

Take a look at the aforementioned Star Wars Rebellion or the classic War of the Ring, though.  I think, in fans minds, they're not typically expecting a board game to add to the lore, or even necessarily mesh totally with it- no, they're wanting to instead by immersed in the world that they love.

In Assassins Creed Arena, the most well known playable character is probably Shakhulu, a minor target in Revelations. Don't get me wrong, Shakhulu's pretty cool, but it seems a shame that we don't have a game where we can play as Ezio and friends, or Connor and... acquaintances.  I'm not saying lore needs to be totally forgotten about, but I think that the upcoming Assassins Creed Rebellion (of no relation to the Star Wars board game) shows that lore can be embraced even when canon isn't prioritized.



So yeah, those are just some of my thoughts on how we can help get our favorite hooded friends to take a break from the consoles and to start hitting the tabletop more often.  Oh, and for the love of Juno, we don't need any more Assassins Creed Monopoly, or Hidden Blade Operation, or Clue: Firenze Edition.  These weird family game crossovers are shameful and need to stop.  We can do better.

Even though we're not talking about Star Wars today...
May the Force be with you!

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- Thomas


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