The cartoon show Rick and Morty seems to have grown in popularity well beyond what anyone may have expected. The property has managed to spawn plenty of spin-off material, including some VR games for the VR HMDs, and three upcoming board games based around the exploits of the intra-dimensional travelers.
ComicBook.com is reporting that Cryptozoic will be producing three board games ahead of the start of the fourth season of Rick and Morty.
The three games have ridiculously long names that seem to fit in line with the show's off-kilter, but sharp-edged, wit. The first game is an engine-building board game for between two and four players called Rick and Morty: The Ricks Must Be Crazy Multiverse Game, which is an obvious wink and nod to the classic comedy action flick from 1980, The Gods Must Be Crazy.
This particular board game is based on the episode "The Ricks Must Be Crazy" and there are multiple universes that will change the way the board game is affected, mostly due to the fact that the four universes each have their own unique attributes. The universes include the Rickverse, the Microverse, the Miniverse and the Teenyverse. The objective is to build up your devices and travel to each of the multiverses.
The second game is called Rick and Morty: The Pickle Rick Game, which is designed for just one or two players, and the objective is to take control of the ever-so-popular Pickle Rick and attempt to escape from the militarized compound. One player will take on the role of Pickle Rick attempting to escape while a second player will play as the Russians and the Jaguar in an attempt to stop him. The gameplay sounds a lot like Splinter Cell just in board game form. As Pickle Rick you'll have a variety of weapon cards to use in order to defeat the soldiers while you attempt to move across the tiles and get out of the compound.
The third game is Rick and Morty: The Rickshank RickDemption Deck-Building Game. I know, the names seem to just get more and more ridiculous, but it wouldn't be Rick and Morty if the names were normal. I can imagine the executives during the Adult Swim meeting chuckling uncontrollably while the market team is pitching the names.
Anyway, the third game is another multiplayer title for anywhere between two and four players. The deck-building game is based around Council cards, where the objective is to vote for new rules, enact effects and carry out "mysterious situations." I honestly don't really understand what that means or how it works, but the objective is for each player to cast votes and attempt to devalue the Galactic Federation currency. The description states that there's a card for Szechuan Sauce, which has apparently been quite popular with certain groups of people.
While some people might scoff at the idea of board games based on Rick and Morty, the tabletop gaming market is actually huge. It's the biggest gaming sector on Kickstarter, and it commands a strong audience in the marketplace. Since Adult Swim has already tried its hand at tapping the VR market, it's no surprise that Rick and Morty would make its way to the tabletop gaming arena to capture the organic bodies and cognitive consciousness of gamers in that arena, too.
