Army of Darkness Invades the Tabletop as Dynamite Entertainment Announces New Board Game

Ash Williams is officially coming for your tabletop. After more than two decades of turning Army of Darkness into a sprawling comic-book multiverse, Dynamite Entertainment is teaming up with Lynnvander Studios on a cooperative board game based on Sam Raimi's cult sequel. Preorders are running through BackerKit now, with shipping currently slated for February 2026. Yes, 2026. Plan your chainsaw maintenance accordingly.

Quick refresher

Army of Darkness is the third Evil Dead movie (following The Evil Dead and Evil Dead II), directed by Sam Raimi and written by Raimi and his brother Ivan. Bruce Campbell returns as Ash, who gets catapulted into medieval chaos and somehow makes it worse, funnier, and bloodier.

"Ash is transported back to medieval days, where he is captured by the dreaded Lord Arthur. Aided by the deadly chainsaw that has become his only friend, Ash is sent on a perilous mission to recover the Book of the Dead, a powerful tome that gives its owner the power to summon an army of ghouls."

What the board game actually is

This is a cooperative tower defense game for 1 to 4 players, or 5 if you pick up the expansion. The premise: Ash and company are holding Lord Arthur's castle against waves of Deadites. Each round kicks off with a real-time planning phase where everyone programs their actions on cards under a timer. Then you resolve those plans in turn order, sprinting around the castle, firing artillery, using rooms, and trying not to get overrun. Hold out long enough and Evil Ash enters the fight. Take him down before the undead swipe the Necronomicon, and you win. Let it get stolen, and, well... you know how that goes.

What you get in the box

• Playtime: about 60 minutes
• Player count: 1-4 (5 with the expansion)
• Components: 95 cards, 47 tokens, 6 custom dice
• Characters: 4 playable character boards in the base game (a 5th board comes with the expansion)
• Figures: 40 character standees in the base, or 44 miniatures if you go in on the expansion

The deep-cut context

Dynamite has been milking Ash's boomstick charm in comics for over 20 years, and the crossovers have been wild in the best possible way. He has tangled with Archie, the Marvel Zombies, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Re-Animator's Herbert West, Darkman, Xena: Warrior Princess, Danger Girl, Vampirella, the Hack/Slash crew, KISS, and even Elvis Presley as portrayed by Bruce Campbell in Bubba Ho-Tep. So yes, the board game moving him into castle-defense mode is very on brand.

How to get it

You can secure a copy through BackerKit right now. The current plan is to start shipping in February 2026. There is also a lengthy playthrough video out there if you want to see the real-time programming and castle chaos in action before you commit.