Monster Hunter World Iceborne: The Board Game is coming in May

After the highly successful Kickstarter campaign for the Monster Hunter World: The Board Game, Steamforged Games promises new mechanics and features unique to the Iceborne setting:

The Iceborne board game is a follow-up to Steamforged's wildly successful Monster Hunter: World board game, which raised £3.4 million and gained over 20,000 backers on Kickstarter in 2021. Both board games are officially licensed adaptations inspired by Capcom's hit action RPG video game, Monster Hunter: World, which sold over 15 million copies worldwide, and its sizable smash-hit expansion, Monster Hunter World: Iceborne.

Although some media outlets have marketed it as a sequel, Monster Hunter World Iceborne: The Board Game is more of a follow-up. Players will not need to have the first Monster Hunter World: The Board Game in order to play Iceborne. But while it will feature mechanics that are similar to the first Monster Hunter World board game, Monster Hunter World Iceborne: The Board Game will have new ways to play.

The gameplay elements that will be retained include the 14 hunter classes, upgrading hunters and equipment, and arena quest mechanics. This allows players who own the first game to continue playing with their hunter progression from Monster Hunter World: The Board Game to Iceborne.

One of the new features revealed for Monster Hunter World Iceborne: The Board Game include the setting, which will be in a frozen tundra, instead of the more tropical and lush forests of the first game. Another new feature is Monster Turf Wars, which is based on the video game events where another monster enters the area and battles both the players and the original one being hunted, making for tougher monster fights.

Monster Hunter World Iceborne: The Board Game will also feature new monsters and elder dragons, new weapons and armor, and Iceborne themed sculpts for the miniatures. One particular new piece will be familiar to players of the Iceborne DLC: The Clutch Claw.

Regardless of which of the 14 hunters you play with, you will always have the Clutch Claw in your base deck at the start of the game. And just like the video game version in Monster Hunter Iceborne, the Clutch Claw will allow players to travel faster, reposition, or just grab unto the target monster to get in close combat.

According to Mat Hart, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer at Steamforged Games:

We're beyond excited to continue our journey through the Monster Hunter: World universe. There are many big fans of Monster Hunter on the team, and it's been a pleasure seeing how positively the first board game has been received as an authentic and faithful adaptation. Now, we're dedicated to bringing Iceborne to life on the tabletop in a way that does equal justice to the unique experience of hunting monsters through the frozen wastes. Get your Clutch Claws ready!

Other than Capcom's Monster Hunter World games, Steamforged Games Ltd. has had a successful series of tabletop board games and RPGs adapted from popular video game IPs. These include Dark Souls, Horizon Zero Dawn, Gears of War, Devil May Cry, Pac-Man, Resident Evil, RuneScape, Elden Ring, and Sea of Thieves. Steamforged Games also has a line of roleplaying supplements compatible with Dungeons & Dragons 5E.

Published by Steamforged Games and licensed from Capcom, Monster Hunter World Iceborne: The Board Game will begin its Kickstarter campaign on May 18, 2023.