Subset Games Forum

As I've been (addictively) playing FTL over the past week, it's struck me that this is a game which would actually lend itself very well to tabletop play. I've been thinking up how it would be designed and played, and here are some ideas I've imagined so far:

1) Deck plans for ships would be laminated sheets, to allow for use of dry-erase markers. Additional systems (such as drone control, teleporter or cloak) that are not present in the additional design could be added by static clings (fire and hull breaches could also be done this way).

2) Sectors would be tiles that are marked out in a hex grid. The back of the tile would be color-coded to indicate whether it's a nebula, hostile, or civilian (green) sector). Tiles could be shuffled and chosen face-down or otherwise selected randomly.

3) Encounters and random events would be determined by drawing a card when entering each new system. The card would basically contain the text we are used to seeing when jumping into a new system.

4) Scrap, fuel, missiles and drone parts could be tracked with tokens, counters, or perhaps directly on the laminated ship layout.

This is the sort of game that could be played by a single player, head-to-head (one player takes on the role of the "game master" and controls the opposing ships, or perhaps, somehow, as a multiplayer game (haven't thought much on that yet).

Thoughts? Ideas? Recommendations? I really think that the designers of FTL could explore a new avenue for this game by bringing it off the screen and onto the tabletop. This seems like a Kickstarter-friendly notion.

think it would be better as playing and trading cards. because if I see this as a Board game it will be one of those huge table top games.

My main thought is: do people actually play board games by themselves?
I'd always been under the impression it was a group activity. (Aside from practicing chess against yourself)
Needs more consideration as to how this would work for multiple people - perhaps one crew member per player?

1) Deck plans for ships would be laminated sheets, to allow for use of dry-erase markers. Additional systems (such as drone control, teleporter or cloak) that are not present in the additional design could be added by static clings (fire and hull breaches could also be done this way).

Hazards like breach or fire should probably be considered "per room" rather than tiles, and the ship layout should have small numbers in each room to determine where enemy attacks and hazards hit ("Roll 1d20 for fire spread!")
With regard to weapons control... that'd be something worth figuring out. I'd expect the events for an FTL board-game would trend heavier towards being as all-inclusive as the crew as possible (exploring spider-infested derelicts, actively piloting the ship rather than sitting passively to provide a bonus, manned stations for cloaking, sensors, and so forth...)
I like the idea of lamination and static-clings, although as you'll see below, the system bit can be handled differently. Would avoid dry-erase though, after a while your ship sheet would stain - there are less "messy" alternatives.

2) Sectors would be tiles that are marked out in a hex grid. The back of the tile would be color-coded to indicate whether it's a nebula, hostile, or civilian (green) sector). Tiles could be shuffled and chosen face-down or otherwise selected randomly.

3) Encounters and random events would be determined by drawing a card when entering each new system. The card would basically contain the text we are used to seeing when jumping into a new system.

Rather than event tiles, perhaps a ship tile, or miniature piece, with a "jump limit" - the ship can move up to the limit of that jump and event cards are drawn based on which tile they land on. The first X tiles left of the board would be numbered for random entry node ("Roll X to determine sector arrival"), the exit beacon likewise determined by random roll and a marker piece.

4) Scrap, fuel, missiles and drone parts could be tracked with tokens, counters, or perhaps directly on the laminated ship layout.

In-game, it's easy to track these things because computers do (n+x) pretty well. For a board-game, the whole "economy" would need an overhaul - I'd estimate perhaps 50 "scrap" tokens max, or something in the form of Monopoly money. Instead of a cloak costing 120 scrap, it may be closer to 12 "scrap tokens" for a tabletop version. Would take some balancing and test-play to get right, I'm sure.
Power distribution is another matter. For that, I'd suggest System cards (weapons and drones being their own set of up to 4), in a small plastic holder, with Battleship-style depressions for power-level tokens or pegs (place up to eight beside most systems, 3 for teleporting / cloaking). Piloting / Doors / Sensors subsystem cards would have their own spaces as well, and for tabletop may have a variety of options ("Advanced Autopilot" providing a greater dodge bonus, "Nebula Sensors" being specially adapted for use in Nebula, "Fireproof Blast Doors" restricting fire-spread). If a ship starts without a system, this slot would remain empty and no power can be allocated until one is purchased. Three card slots would also be available for augments.
PL tokens would be green, with up to 8 yellow for an all-Zoltan crew.
Play is turn-based, with charge times for weapons, drone fire rates, cloaking/tp cooldowns, repair-times, etc all timed on a per-turn basis (Glaive takes 5 turns to charge for instance?).

Treating each player as a crew-member would have several impacts on the flow of the game as well. I recommend going down the "crew list" sidebar and giving each member their turn, per round - does your pilot choose to abandon his post to go fight the boarders in the next room, or stay put to avoid those incoming missiles?
May lead to a lot of "Damn it, Jim, I'm a doctor not an antipersonnel drone!"

The hardest part in this regard is race selection. Perhaps when stopping at a "store" beacon, players have the option to dismiss their own character to hire a different one - would cost scrap and likely be a group decision among the whole crew.
"No Fred, there's no mantis for sale - and anyway we can't afford it right now."

*Since I realize adding plastic parts would likely increase the cost of the game, I will add there's no reason these things can't all be cardboard punch-out tokens and scrap the plastic holder entirely. I do think that it would provide a cleaner and more enjoyable experience, but the difference is not significant.

FTL's mechanics do translate very well into tabletop and I can easily see how this would play out. It would take some alterations though, to account for group play.

R4V3-0N wrote:think it would be better as playing and trading cards. because if I see this as a Board game it will be one of those huge table top games.

I'm not suggesting it as a miniatures/fleet battle game - still a board game, it's just that the board itself is a little unconventional and the player aids are more comprehensive. Sort of a little like Catan.

Kieve wrote:My main thought is: do people actually play board games by themselves.

Not usually - but many recent board games have a single-player option, which increases marketability and more importantly, playability. It's a single-player game on the computer... the only difference is, you don't need power for this version.

But I like the ideas you've suggested.

Cool idea! Bumpy wumpy lump sump.

Kieve wrote:My main thought is: do people actually play board games by themselves?

Sometimes, yes. There are a handful of modern games that offer a solo play option (e.g. Agricola), and a few that are even specifically designed for solo play (such as Friday). Relatively uncommon, but not unheard of.

I believe the best approach would probably be a co-op title, where the players are working together against the game (many co-ops work solo as well). This directly makes me think of Space Cadets, a co-op game where every player has a role they must perform at the appropriate time. Each role is essentially a mini-game - the weapons officer has to flick discs to the correct spots for damage, the engineer has to lay out a set of cards to power systems for the other players, etc.

Space Cadets may scratch a bit of the itch you're looking for or at least give some ideas. You might aslo check out Red November, a co-op title which was one of FTL's inspirations (though personally I think it's a mediocre game). Probably the most important thing to look at when designed a board game based on an existing IP is abstraction - you need to simplify things so they work smoothly (and quickly) in physical form. Kieve touches on this concept a bit - you'd want things like costs simplified so they were very easy to process and manage without a lot of work.


If you ever end up getting a design to a reasonable and playable state I'd be happy to look it over and comment or playtest; I've done a decent amount of work playtesting and designing boardgames, and have a wealth of experience playing them.

You could do it dungeons and dragons stile, so everyone pretends to be a crew member and together you try to get things done... but then again I do hate dungeons and dragons.

In addition to Space Cadets, Space Alert is a different take on the spaceship plate-spinning crisis.

Though it is obviously not FTL-themed, Galaxy Trucker is a board game about extremely dangerous trips through space. You get to build the ship too which is my favourite part.

Here's a review by my favourite board game review geeks, the Shut Up and Sit down Team.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ryg4UHW57s0