Stranger Things Game Announced by CMON
CMON is publishing a board game based on the Netflix smash hit Stranger Things. Earlier this week, CMON Games announced that it would release Stranger Things: The Upside Down in 2023. The game is designed by Rob Daviau, the designer behind Pandemic: Legacy, Cthulhu: Death May Die, and Return to Dark Tower. Stranger Things: The Upside Down is a cooperative game in which players try to save Hawkins from the Upside Down. During the video announcement of the game (made during Dice Tower's Summer Spectacular), Daviau noted that the Duffer Brothers had played the new game. Expect more details about Stranger Things: The Upside Down to be released next year.
Stranger Things: The Upside Down is the second big announcement made by CMON over the past few weeks. The board game publisher also announced a new Dune game that pits the Fremen against the Harkonnen occupiers of Arrakis. Dune: War for Arrakis is notable in that it designed by Francesco Nepitello and Marco Maggi, two of the designers of the smash hit War for the Ring. Nepitello noted that Dune: War for Arrakis will use some of the same mechanics as War for the Ring and will also feature a monster Sandworm.
Several other Stranger Things board games have either come out or are due to come out this year, riding on the series' increased visibility due to the release of the show's fourth season. A Stranger Things version of Monopoly released earlier this year drew some criticism for spoiling key elements of the season, while a party game by Asmodee will pit players against each other to find out who is being controlled by the Mind Flayer.
Stranger Things: The Upside Down will be released in 2023.