Video games are a hot topic in movies these days with the success of films like Sonic the Hedgehog 2. However, many video games based on movies aren't as good as franchise fans would like them to be. Tabletop games, on the other hand, have enjoyed a longer history with film and allow players to jump into their favorite fictional worlds.
Tabletop role-playing games have seen a big rise via the internet. Despite the "table" in the name, players can connect over long distances to live out complex experiences. Movies are just as common subjects for these tabletop games as any fantasy world. Plenty of iconic franchises from the Silver Screen have attempted a tabletop adaptation over the years.
Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game
Star Wars has had multiple board game adaptations since its debut. There’s been a few tabletop adaptations, like one by Wizards of the Coast in the Aughts. The original one was Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game by West End Games, which ran from 1987 to 1999. The game was popular enough that it was re-released as an original property called D6 Space after WEG lost the Star Wars license.
The books from this game created a lot of ideas for the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy even used gamebooks from this game as reference material. The game was also praised for its roleplaying system. This used the D6 system that the developers had created for another game on this list.
Star Frontiers: 2001 a Space Odyssey
Technically this is a module for an existing game, but it’s still a memorable tabletop experience. Star Frontiers was a sci-fi companion to the original 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The module was incredibly faithful to the film. It featured unique physics mechanics to simulate the space station. It walked players through every event of the original film. There was even a follow-up based on the novel sequel 2010. Unfortunately, this game is hard to play nowadays due to the cancellation of Star Frontiers.
Aliens Adventure Game
Aliens is pretty well suited for dungeon-crawling adventures. While the original films aren’t strictly party-based, the environments in the action/horror franchise are perfect fits for exploration. Science fiction elements can easily fit in where fantasy game mechanics used to be. This was the case with the Aliens Adventure Game.
The players take on the roles of Colonial Marines. The game was well known for its unique combat system, which utilized hit locations and injuries instead of HP. The game did receive some revisions, but was mostly ed for combat over roleplaying.
Ghostbusters
but the sci-fi comedy adventure works well. The movie is already party-based, after all. The game sees the Ghostbusters franchise out to Ghostbusters International to allow for more stories to be told. This was the game West End Games developed the aforementioned D6 system for.
The game was well-received for its use of humor. The karma system common in tabletop games was renamed “brownie points,” for example. Ghostbusters did a lot to expand the universe, adding aliens and monsters in addition to ghosts. Unfortunately, the game only received two editions before running out of print.
Army of Darkness Roleplaying Game
The Evil Dead series is often franchised out with bizarre spin-offs. Based on the third movie of the same name, the Army of Darkness Roleplaying Game was no exception. It was developed in 2004 and released in 2005. It was based on developer Eden Studios’ Unisystem.
While it wasn’t the first Evil Dead Board game, it was the first roleplaying game for the series. It used the cinematic rules of Unisystem to maximize epic moments. Players could use points to deck out Evil Dead's groovy Ash Williams or their own character for maximum carnage. Unfortunately, the game only allowed scenarios based on the third film, so replayability was fairly limited.
Men in Black: The Roleplaying Game
Men in Black was technically a comic book before it was a film. However, this tabletop game is based on the film’s universe rather than the comic. The game received three gamebook expansions: The Director's Guide (1997), Aliens Recognition Guide #1 (1997), and . As it was by West End Games, it utilized its D6 system.
The game features a sense of humor. It was often compared to the developers’ previous game Paranoia. Players take the role of agents tasked with trying to keep the peace among tons of alien immigrants, much like the film. The game was praised for how well the rules created controlled chaos.
James Bond 007
Role-playing games are power fantasy enablers that allow players to pretend to be something they’re not. A marriage with premiere power fantasy, James Bond, lets players step into the shoes of world-class secret agents. James Bond 007 was published throughout the 80s by Victory Games until the license expired. The game’s original system required both six and ten-sided dice to play.
The game received praise for its unique systems, which modeled themselves after the films. These were action rounds, split-second decision-making combat encounters, and hero points. The game saw players take the role of either James Bond himself or other intelligence agents of the players' creation.
Serenity Role Playing Game
While Firefly universe is still beloved. The game was developed by Margaret Weis Productions and featured an early version of the Cortex System ruleset which has remained a popular role-playing system.
Being printed in full color, which wasn't always popular in the tabletop RPG genre, the game’s booklets were of high quality. The system used assigned point values with stats that every action referenced for die rolls. As the game did not have the rights to the TV show, modules and gamebooks could not directly reference or get too close to fan-favorite Firefly episode concepts. This was fixed in the successor, Firefly Role-Playing Game, which had the rights to the entire fiction.
The Adventures Of Indiana Jones Role-Playing Game
Despite being a professor, Indiana Jones is often seen as a champion of action heroism. Given the franchise's popularity, it's unsurprising that there are two tabletop RPGs with the Indy name. The second was called The World of Indiana Jones and was released in 1994. It was released to capitalize on the expired license of the first, The Adventure of Indiana Jones Role-Playing Game.
The 1984 game embraced the pulp style of the original films, letting players set an adventure any time during the 30s. The game let players take the role of characters from the film, with an expansion for original character creation. The game featured plots based on the films and comics and received a lukewarm reception from most players and critics.
Star Wars Roleplaying Game
Though a similarly-titled game was released in the 80s, this tabletop RPG was first published in 2012 by RPG giant Fantasy Flight Games. The system is unique for actually being a collection of self-contained books that all share the same terminology, stats, and systems.
Each of these books encomes individual parts of the Star Wars universe; Star Wars: Edge of the Empire deals with Bounty Hunters, Age of the Rebellion focuses on rebels, and Force and Destiny has Jedi and Sith. Finally, The Force Awakens and Rise of the Separatists deal with the sequel trilogy and the Clone Wars animated series respectively. Though characters from each book play best together, parties can mix and match to create their ultimate Star Wars fan story.
