With the flurry of movies and TV shows being adapted from videogames, don't forget there's another kind of game out there, one that takes place not on a computer or console… but on a board.
I know! It sounds weird, but you heard me right: they're called board games, and Hollywood is anything but bored when it comes to adapting these games to the silver screen!
OK, I'll stop talking like that because it's gross. Here's the skinny: Netflix is adapting strategy board game Catan (which I still think of as Settlers of Catan) into "a slate of scripted and unscripted projects," according to the streaming network.
Mindhunter Season 3? Nah. Multiple shows based on a board game about sheep trading? Hell yes.
"They’ll be the first-ever screen adaptations of the global phenomenon," Netflix said, "in which settlers navigate vast landscapes, forge shifting alliances, and compete for scarce resources as robbers roam the island."
Vast landscapes? Shifting alliances? That's pretty dramatic talk for a game where people primarily trade wheat for wool and carefully lay out roads on a hex grid, isn't it? I'm not bashing the game, by the way: I dig it. Catan came out in 1995 in Germany and quickly became one of the best-selling games of all time, spawning expansions, sequels, spin-offs, and even a novel. Maybe it makes sense, then, that TV and movies are up next.
The announced projects may include "series, features, animation, and games," though Netflix didn't get any more specific than that. As for an "unscripted" project, could that mean a show like Critical Role, where people play the game in front of cameras? Or could it be a documentary, game show, or reality show? No idea.
Historically, there really haven't been many board games that made the leap to the screen. In fact, Clue is the only game I can think of that was made into a sorta decent movie, and the concept of giving it three different endings was a cool gimmick at the time.
Beyond that, what else is there? I never saw Battleship, starring Liam Neeson and Rhianna, because I assumed it would be terrible (and, as far as I know, it was). I never saw the Ouija movie, either, though a quick check shows it was a stinker, and I'm not sure a Ouija board even counts as a game.
As far as adaptations into shows, there have been a few game shows like Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, and even Scrabble, but it's hard to picture Catan pulling off a game show vibe when it's mostly, like I said, about trading resources and plopping down road segments. Great fun to play, yes. Great fun to watch?
Unless you sprawl into party games like Werewolves Within (which made quite a good movie) or TTRPGs like Dungeons & Dragons (same), there's not a whole lot else that's made the jump from board game to the screen. Maybe that signifies an untapped market, but it could just mean that adapting board games isn't fertile ground to begin with. As you might guess, no release dates for any of these Catan projects have yet been announced.
