Mass Effect cooperative board game coming this year

Board game adaptations of popular video games seem to be all the rage these days, and it looks like there is another big one on the horizon - Mass Effect. Commander Shephard is coming back, although maybe not in the way you are expecting. Announced today, board game publisher - with credits including the Star Trek Adventures, Dune, and Fallout TTRPGs, Skyrim the Cooperative Game, and upcoming Fallout: Factions miniature wargame - will be reuniting the Normandy crew later this year in an all-new mission with Mass Effect the Board Game - Priority: Hagalaz, a game designed by Eric M. Lang and Calvin Wong Tze Loon.

Taking place during the events of Mass Effect 3, Hagalaz is a cooperative campaign game that will see up to four players venturing to the planet Hagalaz to clean up some Cerberus mess. The official synopsis states:

"On the remote world Hagalaz, a research cruiser from the terrorist organization Cerberus has crashed directly in the path of a deadly storm. With little time before the storm hits, Shepard must lead their squad through the cruiser to uncover its sinister secrets and keep them out of the hands of the enemy. However, the ship holds more dangers than just its former crew. Deep within the shattered cruiser stir creatures and enemies far worse than the Cerberus forces that guard them."

As any Mass Effect fan knows, Commander Shephard can't go about things alone and will bring some favorite compatriots for the ride. Currently, the known choices include Liara, Tali, Wrex, and Garrus - all of whom will have customizable abilities, equipment, and powers you can use. Each character, including a male and female version of Shephard, will have 32 mm scale miniatures to represent them on the board so painters, rejoice

Much like other campaign-style board games (such as the Divinity: Original Sin Board Game we recently previewed ) - and in very Mass Effect fashion - decisions you make will have ripling reprocusions down the line that will impact the story you experience. The extent to which these changes will change things in Priority: Hagalz is still a mystery, but we at least know they will be present.

There is still much about Mass Effect the Board Game - Priority: Hagalaz we don't know, but luckily, fans of the Normandy crew shouldn't be waiting too long as the game is due to launch later this year!