Mass Effect: The Board Game Review

So here it is. Mass Effect: The Board Game – Priority Hagalaz to give it its full title is here on my table and I’ve been an excited chap for the past couple of weeks. I lost a lot of time to the Mass Effect video games when they came out, and I’m a big fan of the universe, the characters, and the stories that came tumbling out of them. When I heard there was a licenced board game coming out, I think it’s fair to say I was cautiously pessimistic. The jump from digital to cardboard has been a tricky one so far, and a lot of attempts so far have nearly stuck the landing, but not quite managed it. Like a cosplayer trying to land in a hero pose and slipping onto their arse.

So colour me surprised when Mass Effect: The Board Game turned out to actually be pretty decent. It’s the board game equivalent of trying a vegan sausage roll for the first time. You might have very low expectations, but you know what – it’s not bad. Not bad at all. In fact it’s pretty damn nice, and if you’ve got a spare one going I’m still hungry.

Does this unit have a soul?

Let’s get a few things straight before we go on. If you’re expecting the campaign game to end all campaign games, the Mass Effect version of Gloomhaven which you and your friends are going to feast on for the next year of your lives, then you’re going to be disappointed. Instead, Modiphius, Calvin, Eric and BioWare have chosen to give us Mass Effect in microcosm.

What do I mean by that? Well, for a start each time you play through the campaign, you’ll play three to five missions. That’s it. Then it’s game over and time to reset. Here’s the first interesting thing though – that reset is as difficult as rubbing-out dry erase marker. There’s no legacy-style destruction of cards or permanent stickers on boards here. Instead, campaign activity and character progression is saved with a few wipeable pens.

Secondly, those of you who live and breathe the world of Mass Effect and the intergalactic stories carved from its bedrock aren’t necessarily going to find the RPG-like narrative you might have hoped for. That isn’t to say there’s no writing, or bad writing, because that’s not the case. There’s an entire narrative book included, and the writing in it is really good. It feels and sounds like Mass Effect, but it’s limited. Reading passages from the narrative book punctuates moments in the action, slapping flavour on like adding more sriracha as you work down through your meal.

Action is the keyword here though. Mass Effect: The Board Game is built around the run-and-gun cover shooter core of the digital games’ action sections, so it better do it well, and luckily it does. I mean, you’d hope so with Eric Lang at the helm, but nothing in life is certain. It uses the now-standard game book to set the landscape for each level, much like Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion and Artisans of Splendent Vale (review here) did before it. It’s a great way to do it. It takes up so little room, lets us have a ton of different levels, and dictates any special setup changes or rules adaptations. In Mass Effect, it also lets you keep track of each mission’s goals and how close you are to achieving them.

Hard to see big picture behind pile of corpses.

I’m delighted to say that actually playing Mass Effect: The Board Game is really easy. Why should I care though? I like complex games that suck on my brain like a parasite, right? True, but this game isn’t just aimed at me. At the low price the game’s being offered at (£40!!!) you can bet your backside that fans of the video game will pick this one up on a whim, even if they’ve never played a modern hobby game before, let alone read a review of it. A (relatively) small box game at an impulse purchase price, coupled with a smooth, easy game is exactly what needed to happen. Picture instant action instead of tear-soaked cardboard as your friends defect to Mario Kart while you enter the third hour of punching out Frosthaven tokens.

Playing the game is easy, fun, and tactical. Firstly, there are always four characters in the game, regardless of how many people are around your table. Four players take one each, two players take two each, three can take turns with the extra character – it doesn’t really matter. It means there’s no extra balancing needed, no additional rules exceptions saying things like ‘with x players add y + 2 tokens into the draw bag’, or nonsense like that. Again, beginner-friendly. It also means it’s actually a very satisfying solo experience. Sure, you control four characters, but if you’ve ever played an X-Com game, it’s not exactly beyond your ability.

The game is run by a bunch of dice. The first player rolls 12 of them, chooses three with matching symbols to carry out actions on their character’s sheet, and then passes the remaining dice to the left. Rinse and repeat. The last player only gets three dice to roll, but in the next round, they get first dibs on a fresh dozen dice – nice! Action is skirmish-style with line of sight for aiming, each aggressive action having a damage number and your targets having a defense value. Equal or exceed the defense and they die. Easy. Kills grant you XP which you can spend to unlock new actions and abilities on your character sheet, with some needing the one directly above unlocked first, so you still get that tech tree feel for customising your character.

For the most part the missions are fun and exciting. You’re constantly fighting and kinda role-playing your characters. Wrex likes to get up close and personal, using built rage to unleash more damage, while Garrus can do more damage from range. If you know the characters you know what to expect. You’re constantly attacking enemies, hacking turrets and doors, collecting loot, moving around to reach objectives, and reacting to the constant stream of replacement enemies that spawn in. It’s really good to see that the choice between Renegade and Paragon is present. The way you choose to approach a mission determines its outcome and gives different benefits down the line. Paragon victories give additional dice to the action dice pool, while Renegade success give you tokens which let you change a die to any result you like.

Throw it out the airlock.

Getting the licence to make a Mass Effect board game was always going to be part holy grail, part poisoned chalice for Modiphius. The reason we love video games is because they give us the opportunity to play things beyond the scope of traditional means. You couldn’t hope to replicate the scale, intricacy and emotion of a series like Mass Effect with a board game. When designers try, they’re invariably met with “This should have just been a video game”. The difficulty is in not throwing the baby out with the bathwater, which Eric and Calvin have managed, but not without concessions.

The biggest issue most fans might have is the fact that there’s only one story covered in the box. Granted, there are multiple paths through the story and plenty to explore, but it’ll always start with one of three missions and end with one of three. The missions can also feel quite samey in some respects. Objective tokens that you collect are abstract and have context based on the mission, but are often a case of ‘get to a hex and use a mission action to collect the token’. The waves of enemies become incessant, which is great for a run-and-gun, but some of the illusion is broken when one just appears behind you because a card told you it had to be there, not because it made sense tactically or in the context of the mission.

These two points alone might be enough to make you have second thoughts, and I would certainly understand if someone played the game and said “You know what, it’s just not for me”. The missions themselves can feel a little constricted too, with the space to move not being as big as you’re used to in the video games. But that’s where you have to remember, this isn’t a video game. These missions are pastiches of Mass Effect’s levels. They’re the essence of Mass Effect’s soap operas, not a facsimile recreated in cardboard. You’re not going to be getting Shephard to bump uglies with space guys and gals in the game, but there’s nothing to stop you smooshing your minis together and adding a little extra meta spice to proceedings.

Set your expectations ahead of time, and make sure the other players know what the haps are too.

Final thoughts

So Mass Effect: The Board Game isn’t a 1:1 recreation of any of the video games. It’s also not a sprawling TTRPG full of its relationships and intergalactic power struggles. What is it then? It’s a snapshot. It’s a moment in time. It’s a series of action sequences which you can relive like it’s Groundhog Day, approaching it differently each time. Take a different four of the five available characters on your voyage each time. Go Paragon or go Renegade, choose your path through the three missions, and decide whether you want to take on any of the optional loyalty missions for your characters.

I think it’s fair to say that Mass Effect: The Board Game isn’t a particularly difficult game. Sure, I had characters knocked down during my plays, but I never suffered a full squad wipe, nor did I feel like it was likely to happen. It makes you feel powerful, like you’re wading through waves of Cerberus and Reaper minions, but that you’re always likely to emerge victorious, and I like it. I like the idea of unlocking cool abilities and seeing how they combine with my teammates’, and knowing that I’ll probably get a chance to try it.

If you’re looking for a sprawling space opera skirmish campaign, I’m keen to point you towards Rogue Angels, a game which I previewed a while back which felt like Mass Effect in all but name to me. As a package though, Mass Effect: The Board Game is the beer-and-pretzels implementation of a cherished franchise which was doomed to never please everyone, but came out dripping with Mass Effect nostalgia and good feelings.

If you and your friends like nothing more than scrapping around in the Mass Effect Universe a few times a month, wiping the cards clean, then starting again while you catch up and knock back a few beverages, I think you’ll love it. On a personal note I am over the moon to have a campaign game that I can play and complete! I actively reject most campaign games here at Punchboard because I simply don’t have the time to invest in them, so I really hope other designers sit up and take note.

40 quid for a decent skirmish game with a really good rulebook, optional miniatures, and a beloved franchise handled with so much care is an absolute bargain. Bravo to all involved.

Review copy kindly provided by Modiphius Entertainment. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

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