Monster Hunter: The Board Game Buying Guide and Expansions

The Monster Hunter series has become a sensation, earning both critical and financial accolades across numerous primary games and side projects. What makes it thrive is an engaging gameplay cycle: you fight massive, fearsome monsters to secure loot which enables you to upgrade your equipment to pursue even larger, more formidable creatures. This loop can be effortlessly adapted for tabletop play, and that’s precisely what Monster Hunter World: The Board Game accomplishes. Similar to its digital counterpart, it offers different versions, so here’s some guidance to help you navigate this video game-inspired board game.

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If you prefer skipping introductions, feel free to browse the articles’ contents directly below. But if you want a detailed overview of the items and their respective boxes, continue reading for the details.

Core Boxes

As a passionate enthusiast, I’d like to share my excitement about this unique gaming experience! Each box represents a self-contained game, boasting four distinctive hunters and monsters for the thrilling chase. Yet, the real magic lies in their interconnectivity – you can blend them together, merging characters and their quarry from various collections!

While each set predominantly features components exclusive to its unique characters and beasts, there’s a touch of crossover here and there. Each box also comes with bonus cards that only come into play when combining with another specific set. It’s like having multiple games in one, offering endless possibilities for strategic gameplay!

To begin your journey, it’s advisable to stick with a single primary set. If you find yourself enjoying the game, you can then consider incorporating some of the smaller expansion packs, which are listed below. In case you grow particularly fond of the series, having a second primary set could be beneficial.

In essence, all the main collections share the same high-quality rules, an addictive gameplay loop, and exceptional production values, including imposing monster miniatures that dwarf the hunters for a thrilling visual experience. However, each set has its unique style and atmosphere, so it’s advisable to choose the one that resonates most aesthetically or reminds you of cherished memories from the video game franchise.

Monster Hunter World: The Board Game – Ancient Forest

This game is set in a dense, ancient forest, as hinted by its title. The game’s boards are vibrant with shades of green and brown, and the creatures within resemble dinosaurs and tropical animals. You’ll encounter the long-lizard like Great Jagras, the furred and scaled Tobi-Kadachi, the terrifying Anjanath, a tyrannosaur, and the colossal dragon Rathalos. The hunters in this game are armed with traditional weapons such as the Great Sword, Sword and Shield, Dual Blades, or a Bow, ready to face these formidable foes.

Monster Hunter World: The Board Game – Wildspire Waste

Wildspire Waste is less directly named but the monsters and layout make it clear that it’s a rough, wild terrain with a blend of rocky cliffs, desert, and swamp areas. The creatures included are the heavily armored Barroth, the monstrous swamp-dwellers Jyurados, the bird-like Pukei-Pukei, and the underground beast Diablos, which resembles its demonic namesake to some degree. In this set, the hunters are a bit unusual, using weapons such as Charge Blade, Switch Axe, Heavy Bowgun, and Insect Glaive.

Retail Expansions

Similar to many Kickstarter games, numerous expansions were offered for pre-order simultaneously. Although most of these expansions can still be purchased in stores, Nergigante is difficult to locate and Teostra is exclusive to the publisher, Steamforged Games. At this time, both can be obtained directly from their official website.

In this new update, you’ll find three extraordinary creatures known as Nergigante, Kushala Daora, and Teostra. These are not ordinary monsters; they belong to the category of Elder Dragons, a unique species for you to conquer in the game. These additional quests will enhance your base game experience with an increased difficulty level, a whopping five-star challenge that surpasses all base game monsters. Moreover, the miniature version of these dragons is significantly larger compared to their core box counterparts, offering an even more daunting challenge for you to conquer and extending your gaming campaign.

Instead of stretching your base game with an ultimate boss battle over a longer campaign by purchasing expansions, it’s important to consider that these add-ons can be quite costly and may not always offer universal features. For instance, the expansion “Daora” introduces unique crafting weapons tailored for hunters from the Ancient Forest and the Wildspire Wastes separately. Therefore, if you aim to enhance your game with extra content, acquiring a second core set could be a wise initial choice.

Monster Hunter World The Board Game: Hunter’s Arsenal Expansion

As a gamer, I’m always thrilled by the arrival of fresh gaming gear, and this box doesn’t disappoint! Six new hunters, each uniquely named after their unique weapons, are up for grabs. From the extended reach of the Light Bowgun, the Long Sword that lives up to its name, the powerful Gunlance, the crushing Hammer, the spear-like Lance, to the intriguing Hunting Horn – it’s not your typical musical instrument.

This collection offers an exciting blend of tradition and oddity, providing a much-needed breath of fresh air in the gaming world. If you’re looking for more than just one monster to conquer, this box delivers the most value. Not only do you get six diverse toys to tinker with, but also six distinct upgrade paths to explore.

However, to fully unleash the potential of all six hunters, you’ll need both core sets in your gaming arsenal. It’s a challenge worth accepting, wouldn’t you agree?

Monster Hunter World: The Board Game – Nergigante Expansion

If you’re looking for an exceptional dragon to enrich your campaign, this could be your top choice as it offers the ability to create unique weapons for all existing characters, ranging from the core sets and Hunter’s Arsenal. Moreover, this peculiar creature is a towering spiky colossus, who retaliates by growing vicious spikes when attacked by hunters, impaling them wherever he’s damaged.

Monster Hunter World The Board Game: Kushala Daora Expansion

Kushala Daora is a dragon characterized by powerful winds. This wind dragon has an enormous miniature version, boasting a span of nearly a foot for its wings. Fighting this colossal creature is already challenging, but the battle becomes even more difficult due to the strong gusts and tornadoes that you must navigate just to approach your target.

Monster Hunter World: The Board Game – Teostra Expansion

Among all dragons, Teostra could be the one most recognized, being the iconic fiery creature that many are acquainted with, inspiring both admiration and apprehension, often in equal proportions. Consequently, as one might anticipate, it dishes out considerable damage from its blasts and fireballs to anyone who ventures into its lair.

Exclusive Expansion

Initially, this item was exclusive during the Kickstarter campaign for the game. If you’re interested in purchasing it now, be prepared to pay a higher price on the secondary market. Fortunately, there’s another opportunity to get one due to the latest Kickstarter campaign for the Iceborne boxes, which I’ll explain further below.

Monster Hunter World – Kulu-Ya-Ku Expansion

This peculiar being is capable of grasping objects with its nimble paws, like stones to hurl at daring hunters. In a technical sense, this not only provides it with a ranged attack but also its capacity to wield tools keeps you guessing, requiring strategic placement for the highest damage output in successive rounds. Its appearance resembles that of an ornithomimosaur – a dinosaur that mimics an ostrich – making it seem perfectly suited for the Ancient Forest. However, this creature can be utilized with either the primary game box.

Upcoming Content

Monster Hunter World Iceborne: The Board Game

After the initial release proved successful, Steamforged Games launched another Kickstarter for an updated version of Monster Hunter World called Iceborne. Although it retains the fundamental mechanics, it introduces new ideas that make it only partially compatible with the original game: you can transfer monsters and hunters between them in arena matches, but you cannot move a campaign from one setting to another.

As a gamer diving back into this world, I’ve found that the Iceborne content takes a familiar yet slightly twisted path compared to the initial campaign. Instead of multiple core boxes like before, there’s just one main location called Hoarfrost Reach, home to four monsters and four hunters. Just as before, you can expect Elder Dragons and a Hunter’s Arsenal expansion. However, instead of another core box, we get three monster expansions: Absolute Power, Seething Anger, and Overpowering Hunger, each featuring four brand-new monstrous foes to conquer. And sprinkled throughout the campaign are additional goodies that unlock as you progress.

Although the campaign is now over, the game hasn’t been dispatched yet. You can still purchase items from the selection on Gamfound.

If you prefer horror-themed board games, explore our Arkham Horror purchasing advice. On the other hand, if deck-building games are your preference, our Dominion guide might be more appealing to you.

2025-05-11 00:25