Rare Chinese Paper Mario Board Game Recreated in English for Tabletop Simulator

The rare 2000s China-exclusive iQue Superstar Board Game based on Paper Mario is translated into English and recreated in Tabletop Simulator with 27 playable characters.

An obscure official piece of Paper Mario history has become playable outside China more than two decades after its original appearance. The iQue-published board game iQue Míngxīng Qí, generally translated as iQue Superstar Board Game, has been recreated in English inside Tabletop Simulator by Paper Mario enthusiast Paper King. The physical game was originally produced exclusively for the Chinese market and is sufficiently obscure that many longtime Paper Mario players may never have encountered it. Its concept resembles Mario Party, with characters moving around a board and attempting to obtain stars, while its story and presentation draw heavily from the original Nintendo 64 Paper Mario. The original game offered Mario, Princess Peach and Bowser as playable characters. Paper King's recreation significantly expands that selection to 27 characters drawn from Paper Mario and later entries, including familiar partners such as Goombella, Koops and Vivian. Players can use rules based on the original board game or an additional Mario Party-style mode where victory is determined by the total number of stars collected. Scans supplied by the Chinese Nintendo fan community and previously translated card information helped make the recreation possible, turning an unusually inaccessible Nintendo curiosity into something preservation enthusiasts can finally explore.