Square Enix and Arclight have collaborated to develop a new board game titled Final Fantasy VII: Ascend the Shinra Tower. This game is a reimagining of Arclight’s existing game, Cat and the Tower, which features a black cat named Toto attempting to ascend a perilous tower to reach the stars and its mother. In the original game, other feline companions can either aid or hinder Toto’s progress, making it a game of balance. Players of the Final Fantasy VII version can expect Barret to have even more grievances than climbing the original game’s 60 floors.
The official announcement from Square Enix states, “Ascend the wobbly Shinra Tower and face the crisis threatening the planet!” Players will construct the tower by combining floor and wall panels, guided by drawn cards. The varying heights of the walls create an unstable structure, requiring players to strategically place wooden character figures, such as Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith, to counteract the tower’s imbalance. The objective is for Cloud to reach the eighth level without the structure collapsing, facing enemies like the Turks and Sephiroth along the way. Each game session is designed to last between 15 and 30 minutes.
The game features a total of 24 wooden character blocks, with artwork provided by Fumio Minagawa and Sachi Hiruta. Tetsuya Nomura, the original character designer and a significant contributor to the story, supervised the production. Nomura is recognized for his directorial work on the film FFVII: Advent Children and the Final Fantasy VII Remake, and he also served as creative director for FFVII: Rebirth, a role he will reprise for the upcoming sequel.
Final Fantasy VII: Ascend the Shinra Tower is scheduled for release in Japan on November 6, 2026, and is currently available for pre-order on the Square Enix store for 4400 yen (approximately $28 USD). The rulebook will include instructions in Japanese, English, French, and German.
