Last year's breakout hit in the multiplayer gaming world was Arrowhead's Helldivers 2, a game that embraced the thrill of spreading democracy across the stars through intense battles with aliens and robots. Now, following the successful release of their Elden Ring board game, Steamforged Games has turned their attention to adapting the fast-paced and frenetic experience of Helldivers 2 into a tabletop format. The Helldivers 2 board game is now available for backing on Gamefound. IGN had the opportunity to play a prototype and sit down with designers Jamie Perkins, Derek Funkhouser, and Nicholas Yu to delve into the details of this exciting new tabletop game.

Helldivers 2: The Board Game

17 ImagesDevelopment on Helldivers 2: The Board Game began shortly after the video game's launch early last year. This board game captures the essence of what made the video game so popular and exciting, including tense firefights, chaotic surprises, and a teamwork-centric experience, while also introducing its own unique tweaks to the formula.

Helldivers 2 remains a cooperative objective-based skirmish game where one to four players (with the designers recommending solo players use two characters) work together to achieve the selected objective while fending off mobs of enemies and navigating unexpected events. Each player assumes the role of a different Helldiver class, each with a unique perk, a set of action cards, and a powerful one-per-game "Act of Valor" ability. The demo featured the Heavy, Sniper, Pyro, and Captain classes. Players outfit themselves with a kit that includes primary, secondary, and support weapons, grenades, and three strategems, with recommended loadouts listed on their class cards, but players can customize their choices once familiar with the game.

Gameplay unfolds on grid-based boards that expand as you explore, requiring you to place new boards that reveal various sub-objectives and locations for primary objectives, such as the Terminid hatcheries in the prototype. As exploration progresses, increasingly challenging enemies spawn, and a mission timer adds a sense of urgency, keeping the gameplay frenetic and tense.

The prototype focused on destroying Terminid hatcheries, but the final game will offer multiple objectives. Jamie explained that the base game will feature two main factions – the Terminids and the robotic Automatons – each with 10 unit types. While not confirmed, there's potential for the Illuminate faction to be added via an expansion, given Steamforged Games' history with stretch goals.

A key curiosity about this adaptation was how it would replicate the video game's sense of being overwhelmed and outnumbered. Unlike games like Zombicide, which rely on sheer numbers, Helldivers opts for fewer but stronger enemies, emphasizing tactical close-up combat as missions progress.

Turns involve players and enemies adding action cards to a pool, which are then shuffled and placed on the initiative tracker, similar to Steamforged's Elden Ring game. Combat is based on dice rolls, with a unique feature where every four action cards played trigger a random event, often adding chaos and excitement to the game.

On the Helldivers' side, combat involves dice rolls determined by the weapon type and number of dice, with damage based on the total roll value. Every five points inflicts a wound on an enemy, simplifying damage mechanics and focusing on the impact of hits rather than hit-and-miss calculations. Friendly fire is a risk, especially with area attacks, adding a realistic element to the game.

A novel feature the designers are particularly proud of is the 'Massed Fire' mechanic, which emulates the cooperative firing on a single target seen in the video game. Nic explained, "In the video game, you're encouraged to work together as a team. You have a heavily armored enemy, you need to flank and shoot at weak points if you don't have a support weapon. In the board game, we implemented 'massed fire,' allowing other Helldivers within range to join in the attack, incentivizing group play." This mechanic reduces player downtime and encourages teamwork.

Enemies, however, have simpler mechanics, with set damage or effects causing players to draw wound cards. Each wound has a detrimental effect, and three wounds result in character death. However, players can respawn based on the chosen difficulty, returning with a full loadout.

One aspect not making the transition from video game to tabletop is the galactic war. The designers considered it but ultimately omitted it to keep the board game unique, with Jamie noting that it's positioned as a training simulation for Helldivers.

Thanks to the talents of Nic, Jamie, and Derek, this latest offering from Steamforged Games feels true to the Helldivers experience. Nic emphasized maintaining the game's essence, saying, "We wanted to ensure that, despite different mechanics, it felt like Helldivers – with unexpected events, stratagems that can misfire, and a dwindling pool of reinforcements." Derek added, "We knew we needed to keep the core loop of Helldivers with mission objectives and the thrill of chasing the shiny, while also dealing with enemies trying to eat you."

Currently, the core mechanics are about 75-80% finalized, leaving room for community feedback and potential adjustments. Despite recent concerns about tariffs impacting the board gaming industry, Jamie assures that their plans remain on track, with the studio ready to adapt as needed.

After playing the prototype, the systems in place, such as random events and the Massed Fire mechanic, lead to thrilling moments. However, while the tactical focus with larger, tougher enemies is appreciated, a desire for more smaller enemies to clear out remains. Additionally, enemy attacks feel static compared to the rest of the game, suggesting potential improvements with variable outcomes based on dice rolls.

Anticipation is high for what other surprises Steamforged Games has planned for Helldivers 2. The prototype has left players eager to explore new classes, game types, and combinations of enemies and biomes. The question on everyone's mind is: Where will we drop next?

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