So far it’s looking like a good year to be a fan of Demon Slayer. Between the release of the new arc in film and TV format, and the release of a new game, we’re eating well. When it comes to a new Demon Slayer game, I think most people would have expected something like an arena brawler, a JPRG or even a hack ‘n’ slash style of game. I can almost guarantee that no one expected a Mario Party style board game. I do not know who asked for such a thing, but it was a bold concept nonetheless. Between Dragon Ball, Naruto and One Piece alone, we are already saturated with brawlers and action tie-ins as is, so I commend the out-of-place idea.
Where’s the mushroom powerup when you need it.
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- Sweep the Board! is, as previously stated, a Mario Party style board game where you roll at the start of each turn to travel around the board and try to defeat demons. Basically, instead of collecting stars, you’re collecting slayer (aka, experience) points to be the best demon slayer in the match. If there is any game I would relate Sweep the Board to, it would be specifically Super Mario Party. Now hear me out, because I know a lot of people were not big fans of that one, myself included. The main similarities are the fact you can gain an ally, like Nezuko, that gives you an extra dice roll each turn. Each board also runs on a day and night cycle, through the day you’re investigating if there’s a demon around, and at night you’re fighting demons.
Get ready for quick time events!
That brings us to the mini games. There are two types of mini games in Sweep the Board. Training mini games that are just fun random little things that are meant to be part of your demon slayer training. The other are the demon fights, which are full on interactive mini games where you fight whichever demon is the main bad guy of the board you choose. Each board is a location of focus throughout Demon Slayer, like the Mugen Train, or the Swordsmith Village, and the demon(s) associated with each area. You can use the joycon and choose to swing it around like a sword, or if you’re not up for that you can just use the buttons. Whichever works better for you, but it can be a good way to tire your kid out, or yourself out if you really get into it.
This thing is horrifying to look at.
Another big similarity with Super Mario Party is the fact each character has their own special dice that can be used. Most of them have sides that have larger movements than just your typical 1-6, and sides that give you money as well, but you won’t move if you land on that. It can be worth it if you’re right ahead of a shop and know you want to buy an item. There are some particularly useful items, like one that takes you to your destination, whether that’s during the day investigating the demon, or during the night and actually fighting the demon.
Your end goal is to have the most slayer points, the equivalent of stars, but you’ll get a lot more than you’ll ever get stars in a Mario Party game. Just like Mario Party, though, it’s not over until it’s over, there are bonus points to be given out at the end of the game! These are simply who did the most work in finding/fighting demons, who moved the most spaces, basic stuff that is just simply play the game basically.
This mini game feels oddly familiar.
While the mini games are quite fun, there are some negatives to Sweep the Board. The first one is that, every time there’s any sort of celebration animation, the frame rate absolutely plummets. Honestly, if you thought that Pokemon Scarlet/Violet had some sketchy sections, these happen almost constantly in Sweep the Board and it slows the game down immensely.
Which brings me to my other issue: the game is just really slow. The first match I played was a 10-turn game with three bots. It took nearly an hour and a half to get through said ten turns, and it’s not as if that means there were 10 mini games played like there would be in Mario Party, because they don’t come up at the end of every turn, they only come up if you land on the right spaces. That said, minus the rough frame rate with some basic celebration animations, the boards do look good and give a good idea of areas from the anime fans will recognize, and the characters look decent enough, with most having variations of outfit that you can win from a raffle that you can spend money earned from playing the board to play.
Every one is a winner!
The one thing I really wanted to do before writing this was play an online match and see how it compares playing with four human players vs playing with bots. The issue was, I can’t find anyone playing this. The best I could manage was playing with two humans and two bots, but it really didn’t speed it up much at all. It’s a shame not being able to find anyone at all to play with because it takes a whole section of the game away that I wish I could talk about, but it’s just impossible to do so.
All in all, if you like Demon Slayer and you like Mario Party, there’s a really good chance you’ll have fun with this game, as niche as this condition can be. At least for a little bit. Much like Mario Party though, it may just be saved for parties when you have people around to play with because it’s not exactly the most thrilling thing to play alone, and as mentioned already, you won’t be able to find people online to play with unless you’re really, really lucky.
Graphics: 5.5 The boards and characters look good, and the different outfits are nice. Unfortunately, the celebrations kill the frame rate, and they don’t even look that good. They could have just not been included and it would have made for a better experience. | Gameplay: 7.0 Mini games actually feel quite good to play, but it’s a shame that everything just feels incredibly slow, even more than your average party / board game. |
Sound: 8.0 While the music is pretty relaxing and standard for the most part, it’s nice to have the original voices in both English and Japanese for all the characters. | Fun Factor: 5.0 If you have people to play with it makesSweep the Board infinitely more fun than if you play alone. Unfortunately with no one to play online with, you’re restricted to how many friends can you invite over at a time and how many want to play a Demon Slayer board game. |
Final Verdict: 6.0 | |
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- Sweep the Board is available now on Nintendo Switch.
Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.
A copy of Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- Sweep the Board was provided by the publisher.
