PUBG: Final Circle brings battle royale to the tabletop

PUBG: Battlegrounds is moving its last-survivor formula from the screen to the tabletop. PUBG: Final Circle is a competitive card game about gathering equipment, choosing when to fight and surviving a series of increasingly dangerous encounters.

The project follows a wider trend of video-game franchises becoming tabletop games, with adaptations including Resident Evil, Bloodborne, Stardew Valley and Superhot. It is also the first major battle royale property to be adapted into a tabletop game, with its design focused on recreating the pressure of a shrinking fight for survival.

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How PUBG: Final Circle works

Each player receives a character with a distinctive ability, while a new battleground is revealed at the start of every round. Players draw cards to build a supply of weapons and other equipment, then use those resources against their opponents.

Combat uses a trick-taking system familiar from traditional card games such as Hearts and Spades. Players generally need to follow the colour of the first card played in an encounter, creating a choice between playing safely and attempting a more damaging attack.

Higher-numbered cards are more likely to win an encounter but inflict less damage. Harder-hitting cards can change the course of a fight, although they are riskier to play. Special cards can counter an opponent, while matching numbers from earlier plays can trigger an Ambush.

The winner of an encounter chooses the next target. Players who survive can rely on scavenged equipment and their character abilities to protect themselves, but every elimination makes managing remaining cards, gear and abilities more important.

The objective is to remain the final survivor after several rounds of combat. The winner takes the game’s equivalent of a chicken dinner.

When will the card game launch?

The announcement does not provide a launch date for the PUBG: Final Circle Kickstarter campaign. Interested players can visit the Kickstarter pre-launch page and sign up for an alert when crowdfunding begins.

The card game’s competitive format may appeal to players who enjoy tactical decision-making at the table. For a different kind of interactive gaming setup, RETROCADE also covers arcade machines, compact bartop arcades and arcade machine buying advice.