Three months after revealing it had secured the license with Ubisoft, Nottingham, UK based wargame firm Mantic Games has (just about) unveiled Animus, its official Assassin’s Creed board game! Hard details are in short supply, but Mantic’s announcement on Wednesday promises “exciting asymmetric characters” that “[span] across many popular eras of the legendary franchise” – and its promotional images put Connor, Altair, Ezio, and Eivor front and center, making it all but certain that all four are playable.
In its press statement, Mantic revealed the game – titled Assassin’s Creed: Animus – would be crowdfunding via Gamefound “later this year”, though we get no hint of a more specific launch date or pricing.
However, Mantic CEO Ronnie Renton says in the statement we “can expect a deep respect for the franchise’s lore and history, exciting asymmetric characters, and tough gameplay choices between pursuing your own objectives while needing to maintain their edge over other players”.
And the announcement promises it’ll be an “ambitious and exciting new tabletop game starring fan-favourite eras and characters from across the legendary series”. With the promotional graphics on AC:Animus’ Gamefound pre-campaign page centering Connor Kenway (AC3), Altair Ibn-La’Ahad (AC1), Ezio Auditore (AC2, Brotherhood, Revelations) and Eivor Varinsdottir (Valhalla), it’s fair to conclude these are all among the “asymmetric characters” on offer.
The main promo image in Mantic’s announcement also reveals a few home truths about the new board game:
- It’s for two to four players.
- Play time is 40-90 minutes.
- It’s recommended for ages 12 and up.
Based on this – and Renton’s comments about maintaining an edge over other players – we can be sure it’s a competitive experience rather than a cooperative board game, and we can rule out anything overly complex – but beyond that, we’re still in the, er, shadows when it comes to gameplay details.
But we have faith – Mantic has conclusively proven its videogame adaptation chops with the excellent Halo Flashpoint wargame and the surprisingly complicated but ultimately hilarious Worms: The Board Game.
And – rather importantly, given the fact that President Trump’s tariff policies are threatening tabletop games businesses across the US – Mantic’s announcement claims the company has “scenario planning in place so that US fans will be able to back this project with confidence”. Exactly what these are, it says, “will follow closer to launch”.
How tabletop publishers manufacturing in China can continue to sell their games in the US is the biggest issue in the board games world right now. So much so that Stonemaier Games, maker of some of the best board games around, including Scythe and Wingspan, is actually suing the President over it.
It’ll be interesting to see what crowdfunding pledge model Mantic and Ubisoft follow in order to work around the unprecedentedly volatile market Trump’s tariff policies have created – but it’ll also be interesting to see just what type of game Assassin’s Creed: Animus shapes up to be.
For the latest news on the game as we learn it, keep Wargamer bookmarked – or you can make your life easier (and share your hopes about the game) by joining the board games discussion in our Discord community! There’s a live feed of our articles in there, alongside lively discussions across the tabletop world, competitions, and more.
Source: Wargamer
