Monday, 11 September 2023, Cambridge, UK. Steamforged Games, the leading UK studio for tabletop video game adaptations, has officially announced the upcoming pre-order of its roleplaying and board game adaptations of RuneScape, both under the banner of RuneScape Kingdoms.
Created in collaboration with Jagex — the leader in developing deep, community-driven games and home of RuneScape — RuneScape Kingdoms is a range inspired by the record-breaking RuneScape video game universe.The long-anticipated RuneScape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game was first announced back in January 2022. The core book contains everything a prospective ‘noob’ needs to get started in Gielinor, and will finally be available to pre-order in late September, alongside the board game. In addition, there will be a luxury Collector's Edition of the roleplaying game available only from Steamforged as a direct exclusive. Those interested can sign up for more information here.
The board game, RuneScape Kingdoms: Shadow of Elvarg, was first introduced via a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter in 2022, where fans were encouraged to participate in the journey from concept to tabletop. Now, the finished board game will be to pre-order in late September, and will include exclusive expansions from the Kickstarter available only from Steamforged. Those interested can sign up for more information at here.
Both games are set in RuneScape’s fantasy kingdom of Gielinor, and will delight RuneScape and Old School RuneScape’s player communities with fresh-but-faithful adaptations of classic quests and characters.
The roleplaying game uses a bespoke system created specifically for RuneScape Kingdoms. Designed to be both accessible and elegant, with a three d6 dice mechanic, this system captures the unique magic of the RuneScape source material, and gives game masters of all levels the tools to deliver a rich experience to their players.
Alongside the streamlined rules, game masters will enjoy a detailed guide to the world of Gielinor bursting with material for running an authentic RuneScape campaign, including everything from character creation, to magic and prayer systems, to crafting and equipment, and a bestiary teeming with iconic monsters and bosses.
In the board game, 1-5 players will explore the sometimes epic, often irreverent world of Gielinor in cooperative campaigns heavily inspired by iconic quests from the video game. Together, they will quest, skill, meet memorable characters, craft awesome gear — get distracted by side quests — and become the kind of ‘Scaper they’d like to be. Along the way, they’ll face formidable bosses, earn capes, and experience everything from baking game-changing cakes to saving Gielinor from fiery ruin.
Mat Hart, Co-founder and Creative Director at Steamforged Games, said: “The RuneScape Kingdoms project has been particularly exciting for our team, as we’ve worked extremely closely with Jagex. It’s been a real passion project for us to bring this very special world to the tabletop in two different and equally immersive ways. We can’t wait to share the results with gaming fans all over the world, from board gamers, to roleplaying gamers, to video gamers who might never have tried a tabletop game before.”
ENDS
About Steamforged Games
Founded in 2014 in the corner of a hobby gaming store in Manchester, UK, Steamforged Games has gone on to create tabletop adaptations of some of the biggest video games around. In 2019, Steamforged received a £5million investment to continue growing the business from private equity firm, Foresight Group, on the strength of an “excellent track record in creating, developing, and launching games” and a “strong product pipeline”.
The company’s history of adaptations began with the wildly successful DARK SOULS™ board game. Steamforged took the game to Kickstarter back in 2016, where it raised a record-breaking £3.7million followed by significant success at retail. Now, Steamforged’s DARK SOULS™ tabletop range has a combined retail value of almost $40 million with more than half a million units sold.
Since 2016, Steamforged’s catalogue has grown to include popular board game versions of triple-A video games such as Monster Hunter: World and Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, Resident Evil™ 1, 2, and 3, Horizon Zero Dawn™, and more, all well-received as authentic experiences true to the brand DNA. Steamforged has also seen significant success with original IP such as Bardsung, Epic Encounters, and Animal Adventures, and has successfully fulfilled more than eleven tabletop game crowdfunding campaigns.
Now the UK’s leading developer and publisher of licensed tabletop games with over twenty tabletop ranges, Steamforged is led by a love of the craft, a collective pride in what they create, and a mission to deliver compelling tabletop experiences that capture the emotions and inspire the imaginations of players around the world.
About Jagex
A leader in creating deep and engaging live games on PC and mobile, Jagex’s flagship MMORPG, RuneScape, has welcomed almost 350 million player accounts to its world and is a $1billion lifetime revenue franchise. Today the RuneScape franchise exists beyond running games in live operations; our titles are living games that connect and inspire millions of players, with content and experiences both inside and outside of inexhaustible game worlds. Both RuneScape and Old School RuneScape, on PC and mobile, offer ever-evolving, highly active worlds and our community-focussed development ethos empowers players to have a real say in how each game is shaped. Now we’re expanding and extending our portfolio with fresh franchise titles and new IP to bring life to the living games of the future. Jagex employs more than 450 people at its Cambridge headquarters. Career information can be found at www.jagex.com