The Last of Us is becoming a board game, letting you and several other players take charge of Ellie and Joel’s journey.
The game, The Last of Us: Escape the Dark has Naughty Dog’s backing and, while you can expect it to make its way into games shops eventually, it’s being launched via Kickstarter. It’s the work of board game developer Themeborne and boasts “.. a dark twist on the critically acclaimed video game series”.
How dark? We’ll have to wait to find out, though given that The Last of Us and its sequel are both pretty grim. We’re wondering just how much misery Themeborne can pile upon Ellie, Joel, Tess, Bill, Tommy and Marlene, all of whom are playable. The aim of the game is to keep the whole group alive, so going solo could end badly.
But what about that title, The Last of Us: Escape the Dark, which sounds uncomfortably like that doomed Spider-Man musical? Themeborne hasn’t just pulled the name out of a hat. Instead, it’s a reference to the company’s previous games, Escape the Dark Castle and Escape the Dark Sector.
So, it seems likely that Themeborne are taking those mechanics and applying it to The Last of Us. Based on Escape the Dark, we’d expect The Last of Us: Escape the Dark to have a runtime of between 30 minutes and an an a hour and a half.
“Each survivor begins the game with a unique ‘Hang-up’ and is on a journey of personal growth to overcome it, unlocking their full potential as a character if they can do so,” explains Themeborne’s The Last of Us page. So the good news is that the characters should be more than just interchangeable avatars.
You’ll be able to back The Last of Us: Escape the Dark when it launches on Kickstarter this November 8th, which will also let you get your hands on an exclusive collector’s edition.
