New Walking Dead and Invincible board games celebrate the comic series’ shared 20th anniversary
Mantic Games returns to the Walking Dead well and picks up adult-bent Superhero series Invincible for its trouble.
Two new upcoming board games from the makers of Walking Dead: All Out War will celebrate the 20th anniversary of both the original The Walking Dead comic series and Invincible’s initial comic book release.
Simply titled The Walking Dead: the Dice Game and Invincible: The Board Game, the pair of titles come from Mantic Games in collaboration with Skybound Entertainment, the multimedia publisher started by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman for the express purpose of handling the series' ballooning popularity during the mid-to-late 2000s and resurgence alongside the massive television dramatisation.
Both of the card-and-dice games combine elements of push-your-luck mechanics - perhaps not surprising for games built around rolling a double handful of dice - and a competitive bent as players race to collect the most reputation with in-universe factions and eventually clinch the win. Superhero-genre Invincible positions players as hopeful young heroes vying for positions within the Guardians of the Globe, while Frank Grimes is looking for capable defenders amongst the living population of his settlement to act as defenders.
A press release describes both titles as easy to learn once they hit the table and are obviously geared to appeal to fans of the source material through artwork and aesthetics pulled from their respective series. This isn’t a bad thing - crossover board game can act as effective bridges into the tabletop hobby, especially in a media environment that values brands and media identity so highly.
“We’re thrilled to be working with our friends at Skybound, once again on The Walking Dead and for the first time on Invincible,” said Mantic Games CEO Ronnie Renton in a press release. “They are designed to be great value, brilliant fun, and perfect for taking your favourite worlds and adventures on the go.”
Mantic Games last teamed up with Skybound on Walking Dead: All Out War, a miniatures game crowdfunding through Kickstarter back in 2016. Since then Skybound Tabletop has established itself by partnering with other studios such as Druid City Games on its Tidal Blades series and most recently Wonderland’s War from last year. Mantic itself only extended into broader board game design and production in mid-2022
Both games have been planned to release in late 2023 as part of the 20th anniversary celebration for The Walking Dead and Invincible’s original comic book print debuts. Pre-launch editions will be available to play at San Diego Comic-Con in late July and Gen Con in early August.