Favorite Universes To Game

So, what gaming (or licensed) universes, or lines, grab your attention? Which capture your imagination? Which ones will you automatically give a look at their games simply for having that universe's name on the box?

Oh, the universe has to have at least two games published for it. GW's Dark Future is one of my all time favorite settings, but only one title...booo!

I guess this is a list thread of sorts.

Blood Bowl - The minis game is my most played game (outside of card games), but I'm also down for BB:TM or the videogames. For a guy who spent almost 3 decades playing in the universe...I haven't even played all the teams! Though I have had a turn with most of them, I like to focus on one or two races, and I do so for a good while. In the 90's it was the Skaven and Undead. In the early 00s it was Lizardmen and the new undead flavor, Necromantic. Lately, I've tinkered with Dark Elves, but have fallen in love with the Orcs. I'm currently running orcs in BB and the bastard cyanide game, and keeping with the greenskins I'm mainly playing them in BB:TM. I'm not super excited about the look of the orcs in the upcoming GW re-release of BB, but I know I'll be buying the game.

Neuroshima Hex - This is a universe I really want to know more about. I'd love for the rpg to get an English release simply so I can read more about the setting. I dig the fluff for NH, and am eagerly looking forward to the 51st State/New Era edition...if it ever comes out. I'm considering getting The Convoy just to have more NH to game. However, with Convoy being two player only, I'm not sure how practical it'll get played. I mean, NH 3.0, and I assume New Era, also makes for a great 2-player game so to own the 2-player only Convoy seems redundant. Still, I want to know and game more in this setting so I figure it's only a matter of time.

TITAN - This may be a bit of a stretch. Some say the board game theme is paper thin and more of an abstract. I dunno, I dig it, but am glad the Valley Games had a little bit of TITAN fiction in it. I think it's the only thing actually written about the setting. Titan: The Arena/Colossal Arena use to be a horse racing game from what I understand, so there too...not much. However, the whole idea of packs of monsters stomping around 'Arena World' recruiting each other in a duel to the death, while others bet from the sides is one that I have fun with. There's not much of a 'universe' here, but should a third TITAN related game ever come out, I'd probably buy it, but I don't see this as a popular IP, so doubt TITAN: Legacy or the like will ever come to pass.

Galactic Co Prosperity Sphere - I think this is the name of the setting for Mantic's Warpath/Deadzone/Dreadball universe, but I'm not sure. Outside of Space Hulk, I was never a fan of 40K...just too damn dark for me. Also I never really took to the gothic aesthetic. Mantic's not-40k line is more my speed for sci-fi gaming. I'm a big fan of Dreadball, and would love to play Deadzone. I'm a little bummed about GW's Specialist Games announcement simply because it means I'll probably end up playing more Necromunda and not Deadzone. The terrain builder in our group went all in on the recent Deadzone KS...to use for Necromunda. :/

The Old World - RIP. This would still be my go to fantasy universe. Man O War, AHQ, WHQ, WFRP, Mordheim, etc. I still love this setting but I'm not sure what's going to be done with it now. Owning and really digging SH:DA I haven't jumped on WHQ:CG, but I might if it looks to be the last game set in The Old World.

Shadowrun - I don't own anything related to this universe because all the games so far (outside of the 16bit games) are garbage...as discussed here . Still, when a title is released for the line, I read up on it. Since this is a decades long heart-breaker for me, I've thought of looking for another cyberpunk line to get into, but it looks like the only other one is FFG's Android universe. Unfortunately, Android looks to be a bit more than I want in a board game and I'd already be way behind on the Netrunner cycles. I guess that leaves Infiltration, but I've heard mixed reviews on it. Plus, I'm not sure how deep this Android setting is besides the art on the cards. An RPG book would go a long way to solidifying the universe, IMO.

I don't get into licensed games so much. I suppose if I had to choose the 2000AD line would stand up as my favorite, but there's not much new coming out of there I'm aware of besides the Judge Dredd minis game from Mongoose. I don't love the setting enough to invest in another minis game though. However, I'd be up for games that were the size and scale of BB:TM or WHQ:CG.

I'm all about Star Wars.

Star Wars, Star Trek, and WH40k about sums it up for me. Firefly, too, though there's really only the one game I care about there.

The New Era is way better than Convoy, and yes, it works well 2 player. There's a new deluxe edition of 51st State coming out, combines elements of the base game, New Era, and some other stuff. I'm guessing they're taking a bit of what they learned from Imperial Settlers and going back to fix things up. It's a great game, great system, but as it stands now, it requires a glossary to decipher what the cards are trying to tell you and the barrier to entry is dense.

I am a GW board game whore. I prefer the Old World setting to the 40K setting. That is the only board game universe that I am a sucker for.

I really like the Warmachine/Horde miniatures universe and perhaps that comes down more to the minis than the fluff.

On the RPG side, I like the Old World setting of WFRP 2ed (surprise) and the Savage Worlds Ripper universe. I would replace the WFRP system for Savage Worlds, but keep the fluff in a hot minute.

I know I'm all about the scape these Days but seriously "DUNE" is the shit. So envious of DaBidDaBidbeeDibBaDibs ongoing reports of his gaming sessions with Dune, a game I would love to play (first requiring 5 other people enough into games to put in the time to play and learn how to play it properly, i.e. never going to happen). I guess the licence must be expensive because I'm amazed at how few Dune tie ins there are. The only other World that came to mind in terms of being interested in the actual World (I like NHex as a game and a concept but not really interested in the backstory for its own sake), is "Khul", the old World from the old Fighting Fantasy Sorcery books (no, not a fan of the ipad conversions). If I ever delve into the World of Heroscape customs I'd like to Think some kind of Khul conversion would be in order, though with the spells its more ripe for AotP and I'm not up for that

I tend to like universes that were made exclusively for the game. So I actually like gaming in FFG's Terrinoth or their Android setting. I know they're derivative drivel to some degree but I don't care because they are what they need to be for gaming. Sooooo

Fireball Island: There isn't much of a 'Universe' to this. Just one island and a boat that leads to... ? But I love that world and if there is a grail game for me it would be an updated version of Fireball Island. My brother and I have a two player variant we play that, despite not really being in the rules, might be my favourite game of all time.

D&D: I grew up on this shit. In Manitouwadge (yeah, that's a real town) where the closest city was Thunder Bay at a six hour drive most gaming material wasn't available and D&D was pretty much all we had for many, many years. I still love it and it's mostly/partly nostalgia but it doesn't matter. Put me into a traditional weird ass D&D universe to game and I am definitely happy.

The Old World: Similar to D&D there is a decent amount of Nostalgia in this one. But I think it is an honesty well designed gaming world.

Anything original: So Cave Evil, Wiz-War, Earth Reborn... any game that is a one off setting for a game is always preferable to the alternative.

Survive and Risk: Godstorm: They both have an Atlantis type theme. I like the Atlantis myth and I really like how in Godstorm when it sinks you go fight in the land of the dead. Anything with a metaphysical conceit like that always gets me. Games that can take place in heaven or hell, I'm into that.

Kemet: Egyptian Mythology is pretty cool and similar to Atlantis in that it's an earth born mythology. I like those. I'd like a game based in Babylonian Mythology or Hindu or Norse... That's part of the appeal to D&D for me, that it takes from all these cultures around the globe.

Star Wars: I'm not the biggest fan of the movies, I like them well enough but I'm not a huge fan. For some strange reason though I love it as a game setting. This happens to me occasionally. I prefer Star Trek (the shows, not the movies) but I don't want to game there. I prefer Firefly but similarly I don't want to game there. Hell, I even prefer Farscape. Same thing though, no desire to game there. I know it's slightly hypocritical but humans aren't perfect logic machines. That said, I have no desire to re-tell the stories from the movies. One of my favourite things about Imperial Assault is that they chose characters that aren't in any other fiction. Your story is your own.

Seeing those Yeti's for Heroscape got me pretty pumped. I've always wanted a game that takes place here on earth but gives us a little bit of magic or myth to play with. Something with a Sasquatch, Yeti, Loch Ness etc... would be awesome. Just last night I had this weird dream where I was playing a really cool game where a bunch of people are trying to find Sasquatch and whoever finds him first wins. In one version we were all trying to find him and in another one of the players controlled Sasquatch... kind of like in FoD.

I woke up yearning to play a game set in B.C. Canada with Sasquatches.

I like pre-gunpowder stuff, and golden-age science fiction.

I'm down with 40k. I'm also down with the Underdark.

Call of Cthulhu - Or whatever the setting of Arkham Horror, Eldritch Horror, etc is. I like the time period, I like the investigating supernatural stuff angle, and I like that they try to account for characters mental states in addition to physical hit points.

Forgotten Realms - Read too many of the novels when I was younger to not enjoy the occasional romp here. Lords of Waterdeep is a staple game for us and I also liked the Drizzt DDAS game. Middle Earth is cool too, but with that I either want to play War of the Ring or not bother. I associate specific characters with their parts in the main story too much to want to do anything else with them.

Jules Verne - Not many games based on his work, but again I'm a fan of the time period and actually 19th century adventures in general applies here.

good question, I would be quick to say ALIENS but there have been two games (at least) set in that universe and I haven't acquired either one so maybe that doesn't excite me as much as you'd think. Same with RESIDENT EVIL in some ways.

If the game really makes you feel part of that universe like WAR OF THE RING does, then almost anything works if the game is done right. If it feels like DOMINION, then who cares since you don't feel connected at all.

JonJacob wrote: Seeing those Yeti's for Heroscape got me pretty pumped. I've always wanted a game that takes place here on earth but gives us a little bit of magic or myth to play with. Something with a Sasquatch, Yeti, Loch Ness etc... would be awesome. Just last night I had this weird dream where I was playing a really cool game where a bunch of people are trying to find Sasquatch and whoever finds him first wins. In one version we were all trying to find him and in another one of the players controlled Sasquatch... kind of like in FoD.

I woke up yearning to play a game set in B.C. Canada with Sasquatches.

Set up a cool map with some snowy peaks (paint some single hexes if you dont have it, or use your imagination with something else), take some face down glyphs and put them around the map in cool places that you can battle over
one of you plays the yetis and puts order markers on the glyphs, allowing them to move around the map while the other player sends out his army to stand on and flip the hexes, when they find the yetis, bring out your yetis (or proxies) and get it on!

I am a big fan of Rokugan (Legend of the Five Rings) and the World of Darkness (White Wolf). These settings are so good that I tend to overlook the deficiencies of the games set in those worlds.

JonJacob wrote: Seeing those Yeti's for Heroscape got me pretty pumped. I've always wanted a game that takes place here on earth but gives us a little bit of magic or myth to play with. Something with a Sasquatch, Yeti, Loch Ness etc... would be awesome.

Well, looks like you're in luck...

lala wrote: I know I'm all about the scape these Days but seriously "DUNE" is the shit. So envious of DaBidDaBidbeeDibBaDibs ongoing reports of his gaming sessions with Dune, a game I would love to play (first requiring 5 other people enough into games to put in the time to play and learn how to play it properly, i.e. never going to happen). I guess the licence must be expensive because I'm amazed at how few Dune tie ins there are. The only other World that came to mind in terms of being interested in the actual World (I like NHex as a game and a concept but not really interested in the backstory for its own sake), is "Khul", the old World from the old Fighting Fantasy Sorcery books (no, not a fan of the ipad conversions). If I ever delve into the World of Heroscape customs I'd like to Think some kind of Khul conversion would be in order, though with the spells its more ripe for AotP and I'm not up for that

Read this as "Krull", and I gotta tell ya I would fucking love a KRULL universe game.

I like post-apoc, ROAD WARRIOR type stuff. That's always a romp.

I like the MAGE KNIGHT universe, with its ambiguous heroes. Most of these MtG-style fantasy lands are so fucking samey. This one is too, but at least I am not obviously a good guy. The only good guys are the peasants getting their asses kicked by everyone else in the game.

Something set in a pre-established universe (especially an existing book/movie/tv show) is almost always an automatic turn-off for me.

I liked the world of Magic back when we only got scraps of a storyline. Piecing together what happened in "Antiquities" was kind of fun. I feel a similar way about the Neuroshima stuff. The fact that I can't find out the whole, "real" story, makes it much better for me.