Board games have always offered a mix of togetherness, interactivity, and competition among friends and family. These factors have kept board games alive amidst the rise and constant improvement of video games. They’ve even entwined themselves in the video game industry and Dead by Daylight is getting its own shot off the screen and on the table. We’re here with a list of awesome things you should know about this upcoming adaptation.

10. Gameplay & Goals

The board game adopts the same asymmetrical mechanics as its video game counterpart.

When an adaptation of any source material gets created, the first thing fans question is its dedication to the original. Have no fear. The board game retains Dead by Daylight’s iconic asymmetrical play style with one player assuming the role of the Killer and between two and four other players becoming Survivors. 

The goals of both roles remain the same as well. The Killer wins if they manage to capture and sacrifice as many Survivors as possible while Survivors repair generators to power the map’s exit gates and escape. Simple? Not quite. Just like the video game, players in both roles have various factors to consider into their strategies such as items, perks, props and powers. Throw in multiple maps to choose from and the board game offers much of the same re-playability as the now six year old video game.

9. Multiple Maps

Two board maps show graphics from the original game's maps: MacMillan Estate and Autohaven Wreckers.

One of the best parts about Dead by Daylight is the rotating map mechanic because it forces players to adjust their strategies depending on the generation of objects such as generators, exit gates, sacrificial hooks, and more. The board game emulates this by having a double sided game board featuring visuals from two well-loved maps in the video game: MacMillan Estate and Autohaven Wreckers. 

The various types of movement spaces are spread out differently on each map. This is similar to the various building structures in the video game which allowed Survivors to vault windows and give them a general advantage in mobility in order to escape chases with the Killer. It’s yet another example of the board game staying true to the original game while still adjusting for table-top limitations.

8. Items and Props

Item Cards and Prop tokens show graphics straight out of the video game.

The base version of the board games comes with 16 Item Cards and 44 Prop tokens all of which feature visuals and mechanics straight from the video game. Prop tokens play an integral role as they get shuffled and placed throughout the board’s “rooms” face-down. Both the Killer and the Survivors have the choice to interact with the props once they enter a room. These interactions are vital to completing the game as survivors need to interact successfully with generators and exit gates to escape while Killers have to interact with sacrificial Props to make sacrifices. 

Items are cards with various effects intended to help Survivors keep the Killer at bay and progress through the map. Dead by Daylight fans will recognize and appreciate the memorable items like the flashlights, the maps, the toolboxes, and the keys. Each item’s effect mimics the video game version’s effect to a certain degree.

7. Unique Powers and Perks

Perks and powers everyone loves to hate are back in the board game.

A staple mechanic in the Dead by Daylight video game, Killer powers and role-specific perks play an important part in the board game as well. Killers have access to a unique power they can choose to use each round instead of moving about the board and some Killers even have passive powers that stay active throughout the game. Killers and Survivors have three specific perks they can use at the cost of bloodpoint tokens along with 24 perk cards for each role. The cards denote the cost of the perk, the conditions of the perk, and whether or not it is limited to a specific Killer or Survivor. 

Perks are a hotly debated topic in the video game as they can easily make or break matches against specific Killers regardless of their respective powers. Whether perks will impact the board game as deeply is yet to be seen.

6. Tons of Customizable Builds

Customizable characters give the board game tons of replayability.

Re-playability is a must-have asset to any game and board games are no exception. The Dead By Daylight board game once again manages to take a part of the video game’s excellent variations from match to match and make it work on the table-top. As mentioned above, there are 24 perks for Survivors and 24 perks for Killers. Certain perks are dependent on a particular Survivor or Killer. 

Long-time Dead by Daylight veterans will recognize and appreciate every single one of them. The sheer number of perks and effects the game has to offer promises a huge amount of character build possibilities.

5. Original Dead by Daylight Roster Included

All of your old favorites, right out of the box!

Dead by Daylight has released tons of new chapters with new survivors and killers since it first came out, but old-school players will love the inclusion of the entire original roster in the board game. Favorite survivors like Meg Thomas, Nea Karlson, and Dwight Fairfield are included along with their respective in-game perks. Killer mains will get to play staple characters like the Trapper, the Hillbilly, and the Wraith with their powers easily recognizable even in board game format.

4. Miniature Figurines

Let's be honest, we all need a miniature Feng-Min in our lives.

What’s a table-top game without figurines? Boring. The Dead by Daylight board game comes with detailed mini figurines of each playable character to move along the map. The figures come unpainted and ready for any customization their owners can imagine. 

Unlike plenty of other board game adaptations of video games, these figurines stay true to the video game in their designs right down to the accessories and clothing they wear. Such a small inclusion but with a brilliant nod to the source material is sure to make any Dead by Daylight fan happy.

3. How exactly do you win?

Lightbulb tokens indicate a generator's progression to completion. 

Sacrifice tokens show how many more Survivors need to be hooked in order for the Killer to win.

We’ve talked about the objection for each role in general, but how exactly does one side win? Survivors plan their actions at the start of each turn which can include moving from space to space depending on their movement cards, interacting with props such as generators to gain progression on them, or use their perks. Killers also plan their actions at the start of their turn, but they typically get two turns per round. This echoes the slight speed difference in the video game in which the killers are usually at least slightly faster than survivors. 

Survivors ultimately aim to gain enough progression, which based on a roll of the skill check dice, to complete 4 generators and power the exit gates. Once powered, Survivors then need to interact with and gain progression on an exit gate to successfully escape. Unlike the video game, Survivors simply need to open an exit gate to win the game. No end-game exit gate bad manners in the board game. 

Killers move around the board on their two turns in order to catch up to Survivors, wound them, pick them up, and sacrifice them. Sacrificing a Survivor adds progression to the Killer’s win progression meter. Once it’s full, the game is over and the Killer wins.

2. Humble Beginnings

An awesome team that has managed to Kickstart lots of projects has made this board game a reality.

This board game started off as a kickstarter project, like many others, but they likely didn’t expect the massive amounts of support to come pouring in from dedicated fans and the developers of the video game, itself. Level 99 Games originally set the funding goal at $250,000 to produce the board game, but that goal was blown out of the water. As of September 2022, well over one million and 50 thousand dollars has been pledged to the release of Dead by Daylight: The Board Game. 

It’s now slated to be released sometime in October 2022. Level 99 Games also offered two versions of the game for pre-order: the base version and a collector’s edition.

1. Collector's Edition

  The original is all you need, but the Collector's edition is what you want.

Special editions of any type of game are usually highly coveted thanks to their additional content and appealing exclusive visuals or collectibles. Dead by Daylight: The Board Game offers a Collector’s Edition that vastly expands on the base game’s character roster, map collection, cards, dice, and even the figurines. 

The base version comes with a total of 7 Survivor miniature figurines and board cards, 6 Killer miniature figurines and board cards, 4 wound indicator rings, two maps, 89 cards, and all of the available tokens.

The Collector’s Edition includes 17 Surivor miniature figurines and board cards, 16 Killer miniature figurines and board cards, 4 maps, 8 generator miniature figurines and progression pegs, 5 sacrificial hook miniature figurines, 5 dice, and 133 cards. It’s the Collector’s Edition no Dead by Daylight fan wants to miss out on with well over double the content of the base version. 

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