First, some background. The Board Game was brought to TRS as a horrible, negative trope (which it is). The current plan is to move the description to Darth Wiki, and put a new, neutral description in its place, about board games based on other works. (It may or may not be renamed as well.) However, we noted that there really seem to be two categories of games here: original games based on a work, and "themed" versions of well-known games like Monopoly & Risk. They seemed different enough to justify a new trope. So, here we are.

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Rolling Updates

When a franchise becomes popular, companies often like to cash in with The Merch. One option, if your franchise is big enough, is to team up with the companies that make board games, to make a special themed version of an existing game--typically a well-known game, like Monopoly or Clue(do) or Risk. It's a guaranteed sale to the hard-core collectors of the show's merch and of the game, and it's also a likely sale to fans of the show who happen to like the game. Everybody wins.

The most commonly themed stock board games are: Chess, Monopoly, Clue (aka Cluedo), Risk, and Stratego.

In most cases, the theme is only skin-deep. The pieces may look like the show's characters (in Chess, this is usually the only change), the squares on the board may be renamed, and the cards may have new artwork, but all have basically the same value and serve the same purpose as in the original game. In a few cases, new rules may be added to the game to reflect the theme, making a somewhat new game. This is particularly common with versions of Risk, which usually also have all-new maps. If you add an example of a game that has new rules, please feel free to mention that fact.

Subtrope of The Merch. When they make a whole new board-game instead of recycling an old one, that's The Board Game. When they make a Video Game instead, that's Licensed Game. When they make tarot cards, it's Themed Tarot Deck.

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[[foldercontrol]]

Examples

[[folder:Chess]]

• Star Trek: with a Kirk vs. Khan theme.
• The Simpsons
• South Park
• The Muppets

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Monopoly]]

• Star Wars, of course.
• Doctor Who, with Matt Smith's face on it.
• Batman and Robin
• The Simpsons
• Futurama
• Spider-Man
• Star Trek The Original Series
• Star Trek The Next Generation
• X-Men
• Spongebob Squarepants

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Clue(do)]]

• The Simpsons
• Dungeons And Dragons: yes, a board game based on a board game. It was released shortly after Hasbro, the makers of Clue, bought the makers of D&D.
• Scooby Doo
• Twenty Four
• The Office (based on the US version)
• Seinfeld

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Risk]]

• Star Wars: Original Trilogy: each faction has different goals.
• Star Wars: Clone Wars: each side has special powers.
• The Lord Of The Rings: features special missions for the players which greatly change the feel of the game.
• Transformers
• Metal Gear Solid: includes the Nuclear Option.
• Halo

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Stratego]]

• Star Wars (again).
• The Lord Of The Rings
• Pirates Of The Caribbean
• Transformers

[[/folder]]

[[folder:other]]

• Star Trek: The Game (based on the original series) is basically a version of Trivial Pursuit with Trek trivia questions to answer, and a star map to move your pieces across.
• There is a version of Battleship themed after the movie Battleship which is itself based on the original Battleship board game.

[[/folder]]

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