If video games can't make themselves into great movies, at least they can fall back on becoming board games. It seems that hobby gaming publishers just can't resist the urge to draw from the digital domain, as we've already been treated these past few years to tabletop versions of "Resident Evil," "Gears of War," and "Uncharted." Let's not even get into the legion of non-licensed titles that draw heavy inspiration from video game aesthetics and play styles. Next spring, "Crysis" and "Bioshock: Infinite" are hoping to up the ante with their own cardboard implementations.

"Crysis Analogue Edition: The Board Game" from Queen Games will be hitting store shelves in March, and according to the publisher, they are looking to capture "the empowerment of tapping into the Nanosuit’s skill set as [players] bid to play their cards right and gain the upper hand on opponents." While bidding mechanics aren't what immediately jumped to mind when the game's announcement claimed gamers would experience the "authentic feel of Crysis combat in board game form," details are still quite slim on this release, and I'm not one to bet against the reputation of Queen Games to put out a quality title.

Pictured in the lower left, an exclusive miniature for the Bioshock board game will be included in deluxe editions of the video game.

Around that same time, Plaid Hat Games is expecting to release "Bioshock Infinite: The Siege of Columiba," their first licensed board game. The game will come packed with 52 miniatures from 11 unique sculpts, and early descriptions put a heavy focus on player interaction. PHG founder Colby Dauch told Polygon that "'The Siege of Columbia' has players combating one another, stealing objectives from one another, assassinating leaders, destroying strongholds, bidding against each other for control of unfolding events and more."

Again with the bidding! Dauch is quick to instill confidence in his design, though, stating "no one involved was interested in recreating the video game experience in a board game. The video game is already going to do an amazing job of presenting that story and that experience. We are interested in creating another experience for fans of that universe."