EVE: War for New Eden adapts complex MMO into uniquely grand board game

Of all the MMOs, few are as storied or epic in scale as EVE Online. Now, an exciting board game adaptation is closing out a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign, with a view to a full release in the last quarter of 2024.

On the face of it, playing EVE in any medium other than the existing video game may seem like a fool’s errand. EVE Online is absolutely enormous, allowing players to travel across a vast universe, trading, exploring and fighting as they go.

That said, the idea of a board game adaptation is a compelling one and an upcoming collaboration between CCP Games and Titan Forge, a miniature sculpting studio, is aiming to make that a reality.

The Kickstarter campaign for EVE: War for New Eden has drawn in over $500,000 from more than 2600 backers, promising an exciting blend of key gameplay elements, highly detailed miniatures and an impressively deep management system.

Bring the EVE Online board game to new and existing players

At first glance, and in spite of some impressive explainers, it can be a little difficult to get your head around the game. Thankfully, Kuba Sawka, Designer at Titan Forge Games, actually makes the whole prospect seem remarkably intuitive.

“In the EVE Online board game, players will explore uncharted cosmos searching for valuable resources, spend these resources to deploy diverse fleets of spaceships, and command these spaceships into spectacular interstellar battles,” Sawka told Dexerto.

“Board gaming fans can expect a modern take on the classic 4x strategy genre – streamlined into 2 hours of playtime, quick-paced with minimal downtime between turns, and with a focus on interaction between players. EVE Online fans will recognize their video game experiences in every aspect of the board game. They will surely enjoy the miniatures of over 40 distinctive popular spaceships and the stunning visuals created by Bryan Ward, the renowned EVE community artist.”

This two-pronged approach is critical to the game’s formula. There’s no doubt that a large percentage of its potential audience are existing EVE players and providing a recognizable experience is crucial. A large part of that will be the miniatures, but the mechanics underneath have to reflect that aim as well.

EVE: War for New Eden has to prioritize the game’s most enthralling elements

This article talks a lot about scale, but there is a good reason for that. It’s a huge part of what makes EVE as captivating as it is. The development team is acutely aware of that and inevitably has to prioritize certain areas in the game’s overall design.

“Our development priority was eradicating the common sins found in 4X space exploration games. Instead of a single game stretching over two days, you can finish this one in two hours. There is no waiting idly for your turn, as each player performs just one quick action, moving clockwise. Finally, the game promotes interaction, going out there and taking risks instead of passively bunkering down in base camp.

There are also a couple of key elements of EVE that we really wanted to bring to the game. The wide range of spaceship models makes the game uniquely diverse in terms of the number of playstyles that can be employed. The complete freedom of faction development reflects how in EVE Online the players can choose from endless skill options for their pilots.

Finally, realizing that EVE relies on immense combat and economy and that its players love
and expect to engage in it was a huge pointer in our design.”

Rule the galaxy in EVE: War for New Eden

All of the above said, there are inevitable concessions in this adaptation. A 1:1 translation of the video game is impossible for a multitude of reasons. As a result, the team working on the game took a number of decisions early to get ahead of the curve. Chief among these is the change of perspective.

“In order to convey the massive scale of EVE universe we have had to change the perspective from which the game is played. The decision was made very early on, that despite EVE Online being played from the perspective of a single pilot, the board game would need to portray New Eden from the perspective of a global faction. This way, the players can control large portions of the map, manage advanced economies, and command entire formidable fleets.”

Putting the player in charge of an entire faction, rather than an individual pilot feels like a bit of a masterstroke at this early stage. In lieu of being able to directly translate the scale of EVE Online, performing grander machinations feels like a fair trade-off.

War, war and more war in a brutal setting

So what about the nitty gritty? Well, the developer seems to have kept the systems behind combat in the board game relatively simple. Players are able to accrue vast fleets to play out their grandest machinations, with variety and sound tactics the order of the day.

“Designing a combat system that will feel familiar to EVE Online players was quite a challenge and we have tested it relentlessly from multiple angles until it finally clicked.

Warfare in EVE is not about who brings the biggest gun. A large ship trying to eviscerate a small one would have a hard time locking in on a target that can fly in circles around it all day. On the other hand, a small ship is not likely to penetrate the ironclad defenses of a large vessel. We have been able to capture this feeling by designing a system that uses different types of dice depending on the ship category.

Spectacular battles are also not concluded simply by who brings in the most ships. Using a proper formation and the special abilities of the ships can turn any battle around. In the board game, the ships are engaging in combat on three orbits simultaneously, so the players have to choose how they arrange their fleet, which ships will lead the fight, and which will be there just for support.

The combat mechanics are simple, yet extremely engaging. We did not want the beautiful models to be mere pawns or a single roll to decide a long-awaited confrontation. There is a wargame within the board game here that portrays the immense combat of EVE Online.”

Make a small fortune in outer space

It’s not all about fighting everyone else for ultimate supremacy. Anyone who has spent any time in EVE Online will know that its complex economy plays a huge role. Grand heists to secure or destroy the most valuable ships in the game have lost or made players the equivalent of tens of thousands of real-world dollars. The team behind the game is very aware of that.

“The economy in EVE Online is complex and player-driven, there are academic papers written about it. Our goal was to condense it into a system in which players both recognize the resources they use and their application from the video game.

The resources are spent not only to deploy ships and structures. You can manufacture other assets with them, exchange them for research, helpful assets, and even victory points. The economy is intuitively accessible thanks to the separation of accessories used for tracking each kind of resource. The main currency, ISK is traced conveniently on the faction panel, minerals are represented by cards, and the rare resources come as tokens.”

Galactic domination does not come easily in EVE

There is still one big obstacle that the makers behind the board game need to overcome. As with any MMO, there is no real way to win EVE Online. Sure, you can become the most powerful or wealthy figurehead in the game, but there is always the risk that some upstart will arrive one day and take it all away.

There is no world in which this would serve as a satisfying system in the board game. Most players will meet up for individual play sessions, and the idea of a never-ending game that people have to repeatedly return to doesn’t sound super appealing. Games like Dungeons & Dragons exist for that purpose, and a system like that just doesn’t mesh with everything we know about War for New Eden so far.

Thankfully, the development team has laid out clear paths to victory that place a notable twist into proceedings.

“Of course, a board game needs an ending, a culmination. In EVE, players earn Victory Points, but there is a twist to it. The first player to earn 10 points reaches the Verge of Ascendancy which stops everything in its tracks and commences the final round of the game.

At this point, players often compare their scores, look for opportunities to claim victory for themselves, and seek allies who, perhaps due to past actions of the current frontrunner, may want to retaliate or plot to seize the game in their own way.

The person with the most points at the end of the final round becomes the winner, but it is not uncommon for the person who reaches the Verge of Ascendency first to watch the victory slip away in the final round, so it is good to plan ahead and take everything into consideration.

Victory Points are earned in a wide range of ways, just like EVE rewards players for taking a wide range of roles in its universe. Actively and successfully engaging in combat is something that we promote with victory points right from the start of the game.

The Domination objectives, which change from game to game, grant victory points to those who devise a proper strategy to pursue them – like controlling the most systems or building the largest ships.

Victory points are also awarded for completing missions, which are secret objectives and completing certain developments, that may aid in increasing the score. Lastly, there’s also an economic pathway to victory, where players can manufacture victory points from resources.”

The Kickstarter campaign for the game comes to its inevitable conclusion tomorrow, February 21. Backing it before then will grant access to the associated rewards for each tier and, if the developer can deliver on everything they have promised, it could be a worthwhile investment.

The full release is scheduled for the last quarter of 2024, and there are already three confirmed expansions to keep boosting the fun. The Titan expansion brings EVE’s behemoth Capital Ships into the game, while the Havoc expansion introduces the Deathless and pirate factions, allowing a fifth player to join the game. The Azariel expansion brings Capital Ships for the pirate player, tying the whole thing together nicely.

At this early stage, there is a lot to like about the way EVE: War for New Eden is set up. Whether the game can maintain that momentum and deliver on its promises for full release remains to be seen.