Playing Around – Be the Big Fat Panda

You know a property is a success when people want merchandise – shows based on movies, all manner of clothing, books and comics, little tchotchkes and, of course, games. The Kung Fu Panda franchise is no exception. Dragon Warrior Po and the Furious Five have been popular since the first movie was first released 10 years ago. Now, in addition to the sequels, tv show, books, merch and video games, a board game is in development

Simply called Kung Fu Panda: The Board Game, it’s a cooperative game for 2-4 players that takes only about a half hour to play. You can choose from the six main characters (Furious Five and Po), each of which has different health points and a special power. You’ll need the powers to fight against Ox Grunts, Wolf Slashers, Spearmen, the Wolf Boss and Tai Lung.

“The game uses the Furious Action Dice which show various faces: a Kick, a Punch, two Moves, a Chi and a Claw. Players frantically roll four dice to get different combos to move around the board, attack enemies, and complete exciting objectives. The game features a unique mechanic, if you roll Claws on the dice, you move around the Dial of Destiny triggering enemies to spawn and attack!”

The game is being developed by Modiphius Entertainment in the UK and the kickstarter campaign runs until July 15. You can get the full game for a pledge of £25 (approx. $33) and it comes with game tiles, 16 action dice, tokens and 30 plastic miniatures representing the good guys and their foes. More details, plus images and videos, are available on the Kickstarter page.