Divinity: Original Sin 2 is getting a board game spin-off

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(Image credit: Cool Mini or Not Inc., Fantasy Flight, Lillebud Games, Greater Than Games)

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Update: And that's it funded. It took around four hours to hit the $160,000 goal.

Original story: Divinity: Original Sin 2, which took the coveted top spot in the PC Gamer Top 100, is getting the board game treatment. Divinity Original Sin: The Board Game is a story-driven adventure for four players. While based on the RPG sequel, it promises plenty of new stuff, including skills, locations and characters.

Original Sin 2 itself leans heavily on D&D and tabletop roleplaying, so I'm surprised it's been adapted to a more structured board game than a tabletop RPG. It's a pleasant surprise, though, since Original Sin 2 already does such a great job capturing tabletop roleplaying and a physical version might be a bit redundant.

Players will choose from characters drawn from the videogame, along with a new lizard person and another walking corpse. After picking a path from the story book, which can depend on traits and skills like the all-time best skill in its videogame counterpart, Pet Pal, location cards can be plonked down on the board and visited by the party. They might contain treasure and crafting ingredients—we can't even escape it in board games now—or you might become the victim of an ambush.

The broad stuff doesn't sound particularly evocative of Original Sin 2, but combat, elements and skills seem a lot more familiar. Fights use an AP system again, which determines your actions and movements for the round. During combat, you'll use skills that damage or have elemental effects, after which they'll have a cooldown. So you'll still be able to soak monsters and then freeze them with some ice or stun them with some lightning.

Check out a playthrough by developer Lynnvander Studios below.

The board game is also attempting to replicate its inspiration's branching, choice-laden story. You'll be able to reach four different endings and take different routes through the story book and as you visit new locations. These also depend on the character you're using, as they each have tags, like scholar or outlaw, that will unlock new options.

It uses the Chronicle System, too, so what choices your party makes can also impact future expansions. Every copy of the game will come with a one-time code that lets you submit your choices to the developer. Those choices will then be used to determine what happens in the next expansion, based on what the most players did. This doesn't mean it's a Legacy board game that you throw away once you've played it once, however, and the branching story is designed to be played multiple times.

It's on Kickstarter now and will probably meet its goal by the end of the day. It's already been funded for more than half of its $160,000 goal, so it seems like a pretty safe bet that it won't take much longer.

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.