Here's A Look At The Bomberman Board Game We'll Never Get To Play

Originally planned for a 2020 release

by Henry Stockdale Mon 22nd Mar 2021

With Super Bomberman R reaching two million sales worldwide and Konami's announcement that Super Bomberman R Online is coming to Switch later this year, we're pleased to see this iconic character back in the news. Sadly, it's not all for good reasons.

Back in 2019, IDW Games obtained the licence for a Bomberman board game, which was planned for a 2020 release and never materialised. Designed by Sean McDonald at Tower Games, he's just confirmed this has been quietly cancelled, showcasing a rough prototype through Twitter.

Planned as a turn-based experience, Bomberman would've offered a modular board, allowing players to design their own arenas with features like teleporters. Players would drop bombs with colour-coded items, and tokens would give players permanent upgrades, like increased speed or additional bombs.

It's a genuine shame this never saw an official release, as – on paper, at least – the idea sounds incredibly fun. Worse still, this isn't the only cancelled IDW Games collaboration with Konami, as Metal Gear's planned adaptation saw a similar fate.

Still, if you're a fan of old-school Konami, at least Blacklist's Contra: The Board Game currently remains on track.

Would you have bought this Bomberman Board Game? Any other series you'd like to see adapted? Let us know below.

[source kotaku.com]

Henry began writing for Nintendo Life and Push Square in 2010, later returning as a freelance contributor. He's currently the Reviews Editor for UploadVR but you'll still find him doing the odd article for Push Square. He particularly loves Dungeons & Dragons, Formula 1, RPGs, and platformers.

1
Bobb
Mon 22nd Mar 2021

This is sad and all but can we talk about how the thumbnail made me sadder we will never get another Bomberman like Bomberman 64?

2
Tourtus
Mon 22nd Mar 2021

First I've heard of it, shame it was cancelled. Too bad I never have anyone to play board games with because everyone I know dislikes them...

3
BloodNinja
Mon 22nd Mar 2021

When I played Warhammer, if one of us didn’t have or couldn’t afford figures, we would use tokens (such as coins) to represent the piece in our army.

That being said, if someone really wanted to play a Bomberman board game, you could just invent your own and use tokens from other games or just coins or something not as elegant, but it’s something.

RESOURCEFUL NINJA APPROVED

4
MrGlubGlub
Mon 22nd Mar 2021

*Tower Guard Games

5
YoshiFR2
Mon 22nd Mar 2021

Love the thumbnail picture.... Bomberman 64 is still Bomberman at its best.... and the multiplayer.... oh my god... the multiplayer!!!

6
Paraka
Mon 22nd Mar 2021

You know, this is a neat "what could been" moment. However, Konami can port Bomberman 64 is ease our woes.

7
Mr-Fuggles777
Mon 22nd Mar 2021

This would have been amazing and I'm surprised that no one has thought to bring it to kickstarer - unless there was issues with the licence.

8
duffmmann
Mon 22nd Mar 2021

@Bobb Bomberman 64 The Second Attack is one of my favorite N64 games for sure. First was great too, but Second Attack was my jam. I like Bomberman Hero a lot too, but that one was even more different from a traditional Bomberman experience than either of the 2 64 games. Still, the music of Bomberman Hero is next level, that one by far has the best music of the N64 Bomberman games.

9
Bobb
Mon 22nd Mar 2021

@duffmmann That's a fair point. I can't pick a 'best' soundtrack among the three games, though.
The Second Attack was great and improved on a lot from 64. Still, there is something about 64 being rougher around the edges that made it weirder that ressonates with me.