Mass Effect as a Board Game?

For starters, I think that Mass Effect would really suck as a board game because it is so dependent on watching conversations and the story. Most boardgames don't really have stories. So I would probably cut back on this aspect and turn the game into a boring galaxy exploration thing, like Space Quest. Ironically, this is the least interesting part of Mass Effect but it is best suited to the board game style. What does that tell you about board games?

Naturally all close combat and interactive conversations would have to be removed because the only way to fight on a piece of cardboard is through turn-based strategy. Perhaps there would be space combat based on the RISK format. Characters could compete for star systems through fortification and attacking. Certain aspects of the video game could be brought in such as species and politics. Players could choose whether they want to play as a human, an asari, a salarian, or a turian and each faction would have different bonuses. Alliances could be formed as well, but the carefully-crafted history would be entirely meaningless because the only players in these politics would hold no grudges like the real turians and humans do against each other. It would just be friends versus friends and probably lack in tension.

The key to this game would be to copy off of RISK because that form, while slow, works well for a strategy game. There would be three types of units (based on the three classes of ship from the video game): fighters (weakest unit), cruisers, and dreadnoughts (strongest unit). Each unit would be worth more attack/defense points and combat would be carried out through rolling dice.

If a story were to be incorporated, it would be set in the midst of turmoil after the events of Mass Effect 1. Each species tries desperately to take hold of the galaxy and eradicate the other species. Economic elements could be added as well. Perhaps each planet or solar system could be enriched with a certain metals and that provide bonuses to your units or even allow players to add extra units to the board.

But really, this game would be a failure, like the Halo board game because it takes the universe of Mass Effect and uses it to make a buck while cutting out what is fun in the game. It would be nothing like the dramatic and evocative story that the video game is, but instead a cash in on a popular franchise and a rip-off of RISK. I don't believe the simultaneously cinematic and fast-paced Mass Effect could be successfully turned into a board game. It wouldn't be worth the effort.