Mass Effect Board Game Coming from Modiphius

Mass Effect: The Board Game

We're seeing a lot of beloved franchises taking to the tabletop, from Discworld to Halo, but it's Modiphius who are leading the charge on Mass Effect. The video game is a hugely popular, with four main titles (Mass Effect 1 through 3, and then Mass Effect; Andromeda), made by studio Bioware. It's a futuristic third person shooter, with RPG elements, where the core trilogy follows the battles between the playable characters and the Reapers, a race of machines indent on destruction and war. The characters are iconic, and Mass Effect has been praised for its visuals, and so it makes for a perfect space battle on tabletop. 

Mass Effect the Board Game - Priority: Hagalaz

Modiphius have confirmed they will publish Mass Effect the Board Game - Priority: Hagalaz, as a cooperative, story-driven board game for 1-4 players designed by Eric M. Lang (Blood Rage, Cthulhu: Death May Die, Rising Sun, etc) and Calvin Wong Tze Loon 黃子倫 (widely known for his role in Crazy Rich Asians, but amongst the board game world too on BoardGamePrices, Lands of Galzyr and more ). It will offer a branching narrative campaign to offer a variable story in each play, and will utilise Card driven AI and evolving stories that respond to the actions you take, meaning the choices you make will alter the missions you may receive later in the game. You'll be able to play from a selection of Shepard's squad, and to be able to customise their abilities. 

The game will come with six 32mm preassembled plastic miniatures of male and female Shepherd, Liara, Tali, Wrex and Garrus, and will take 45 min to 1 hour per chapter to play, with 3-5 chapters per story

It will be available "later in 2024" through distributor Asmodee. 

What's the Mass Effect Board Game Story?

Modiphius have described the following: 

Set during the events of Mass Effect 3, the crew of the Normandy has one more mission. It is the year 2186, and the Reapers have invaded the galaxy. Because the Council ignored Commander Shepard’s warnings, the Citadel Races are overwhelmed and on the verge of losing the war. Aboard the Normandy, Shepard carries out missions to prepare the Crucible, an ancient alien superweapon, for a last-chance attempt to defeat the Reapers. It’s a race against time, and Shepard must seize every possible advantage.

On the remote world Hagalaz, a research cruiser from the terrorist organisation Cerberus has crashed directly in the path of a deadly storm. With little time before the storm hits, Shepard must lead their squad through the cruiser to uncover its sinister secrets and keep them out of the hands of the enemy. However, the ship holds more dangers than just its former crew. Deep within the shattered cruiser stir creatures and enemies far worse than the Cerberus forces that guard them.

Who are Modiphius?

Modiphius are publishers of tabletop games, known for the likes of Achtung! Cthulhu RPG, Star Trek Adventures TTRPG, Official Dune RPG, The Elder Scrolls Skyrim: The Co-Operative Board Game, Fallout: The Roleplaying game, Fallout: Wasteland Warfare, Cohors Cthulhu, and Dreams & Machines – making their impact both in licensed property, as well as independent IPs, and across the range of tabletop. They recently announced an RPG around Terry Pratchett's Discworld, and show no signs of slowing down.