Board game publisher Arcane Wonders announced the English release of Video Game Champion, a family board game about video games, releasing this November.
Video Game Champion takes us back to the halcyon 90s of renting 16-bit video game cartridges from Blockbuster on the weekend. Each round players will finish homework, complete chores, pour over gaming magazines, and beg their parents for the ultimate prize: renting, playing, and beating new games.
This was definitely my life for most of the 90s.
The video game tiles feature fun references to classic franchises, such as Mario Kart, Castlevania, Ninja Gaiden, Streets of Rage, and NBA Jam.
Video Game Champion was originally published in Brazil last year from Calamity Games, under the name O Bom Do Videogame. It’s designed for 2-5 players, with a recommend age of 14+, which seems a little high (BoardGameGeek’s entry puts it at closer to 10-12).
“Releasing Video Game Champion feels very personal to me, since I grew up playing video games just like these,” said Robert Geistlinger, President, Arcane Wonders. “There was something special about gaming in those days. Technology was moving so rapidly, and it was an event to go to a video game rental store to pick up the latest release. We’re passionate about that time period in gaming and we’re excited to bring Video Game Champion and other great games from across the world to English-speaking players everywhere.”
Video Game Champion will release as part of the Dice Tower Essentials line, board games selected by famous board game reviewer and YouTube content creator, Tom Vasel. You can watch the Dice Tower’s positive review of the 2023 release here.
