Level 99 | Dead By Daylight | Board Game | Ages 17+ | 3-5 Players | 45 Minutes Playing Time

Product Information

As far as doing an expansion, of course, nothing is set yet. We need to complete this project first. But through this all we've developed a really good working relationship with [Dead by Daylight developer] Behaviour. And with the success of the game, it would be a pretty obvious move to continue to create content.” Developer Behaviour Interactive has partnered with Level 99 Games, acclaimed publisher of video game-inspired board and card games, to create a board game based on the hit multiplayer horror. Accessibility is a key aspect of the game," said lead designer D. Brad Talton Jr. "Dead by Daylight embodies a lot of detailed concepts but presents these very simply and intuitively. We worked hard to capture that aspect in the tabletop game as well, so that players of all skill levels can find something to enjoy." Survivors must roll dice to restart generators, replacing the timing-based minigame in the video game. On a failed roll of 1 (replaced by a skull), the six-sided dice grant the killer blood points, which are used to perform more powerful abilities and perform extra actions. Four generators must be successfully restarted to allow the survivors to escape and win. The hit asymmetric survival horror game comes to tabletop! Take on the role of a ruthless killer or a resourceful survivor as you navigate the sinister trials.

The Killers and Survivors are drawn from the original cast of the game and include the complete roster, up until the All-Kill DLC (March 2021). They're all represented through detailed miniatures, with the collector's edition also including miniature hooks and generators. A digital rendering of the game. We made the game, and we pitched it. And Behaviour [Interactive, the developer of Dead by Daylight] was really interested. And so we started going through that partnership and doing the design. It took us a good part of last year to do the design.Therefore, having three or four players is the perfect player count. At three, players get two survivors each, allowing them to still play while one is hooked. And at four, the unassigned survivor can be controlled by a sacrificed player. From the many hours of watching my friend stream Dead By Daylight, it appears the board game nails the same vibe. From the overpowered killer with supernatural powers to the survivors using hit-and-run tactics on generators and sacrificial poles. Did you run into any particular hurdles in translating Dead by Daylight from digital to physical in terms of keeping the overall feel of either specific killers and survivors, or the wider balance of how they might work in terms of a board game? Dead by Daylight Board Game - Gameplay Dead by Daylight: The Board Game will feature gameplay similar to that of the original game. (Image: Level 99 Games LLC) In the base game, you get seven survivors, six killers, and two maps to play with. While the survivors aren’t that interesting to interchange, each new killer changes the game significantly. Having six in the box from the get-go is a serious amount of variability.

As fans of the original video game, we worked hard to capture the tension between the Survivors and the Killer on every turn,” says D. Brad Talton Jr, the designer behind the game. “The moment when you commit to your move and then have to hold your breath while the Killer makes their play—to me that’s the essence of Dead by Daylight.” Meanwhile, whenever someone is sacrificed in a five-player game, their turn is missed while they’re on the hook. Then when they return, they’re wounded and still an easy target to be re-sacrificed and sidelined from the game again. Managing secret information is really tough. And this is a very fast-paced game, where you expect to reveal and to hide, many, many times. What we discovered through many tests is that these moments of revealing your position and hiding your position were the key moments of the game. And we wanted to be doing that every single turn. We didn't want to have two or three turns where the killer just gropes around in the dark looking for you, or where you just search blindly for a generator in a labyrinth you don't understand. We had originally planned a few more [maps],” Talton revealed. “But ultimately we felt like it was better to do a smaller number of maps that players can be familiar with. Because the killers and the survivors you choose are where most of the variety in the game comes from.” There's a tough balance between the game that you want to create, the accessibility of that game and then, on the other corner of that triangle, the value proposition that you're making. When we see a movie, or a book, or a video game, we'll pay top dollar for an excellent design. We still haven't reached that level of maturity in the board game industry. We see a game and the bits have to justify the full price of admission; the design is an afterthought. Which is kind of a shame, because we have a lot of games these days with nice bits and gameplay that hasn't been fully thought through.For any other publisher, this wouldn’t be worth a mention. Coming from Level 99 Games though, it’s a surprise. As most of their board games are bright, colourful, and full of details. However, there’s so much empty space on the board. Additionally, the different locations look like screenshots from Dead By Daylight. As such, it doesn’t feel like a cohesive map. Or like you’re travelling from one location to the next. One second you’re inside the Main Garage, the next you’re in the Barn.