I don’t watch a lot of movies. Every once in awhile though, a movie comes out that takes inspiration from my favorite pastime: board games. Back in 2012, they released a Battleship movie, and I’ve read rumors that movies based on Monopoly, Candyland, and even another version of Clue are in the works.

Clearly the people over at Hollywood are masters of adaptation. If they can make movies out of those games, their creativity must be boundless. I think this is a trend that should continue, and here are five games from my collection that I think could become great movies.

Agricola

Agricola is a piece of dark historical fiction exhibiting the struggles of a community of farmers in 17th century Europe. It’s a rags to riches story about a family that begins with nothing but a wood hut, but by the end of a lifetime of hard work, the family farm is successful enough to own two sheep and one carrot. Think Little House on the Prairie, but instead of the community coming together and using teamwork to overcome challenges, this community never shares anything. In fact, even if there’s only one seed available in the entire town, a farmer will keep the harvest all to himself. Also there’s much more starvation.

Camel Up

Camel Up is a documentary about the Egyptian underground camel racing circuit and the cruel punishment that these racing camels must endure. Camel owners train their camels to jump on top of the opposing camels in order to slow them down, so camels will sometimes have to hold the weight of literally four other camels and still be expected to race. No amount of money can justify this kind of animal abuse, we need to put an end to this terrible racket and save these poor camels.

Galaxy Trucker

Can you imagine the kind of suspense and adventure that Galaxy Trucker could bring to the big screen? Ths movie would have everything: giant and misshapen spaceships, meteor swarms coming in from all directions, space pirate attacks, and epic battles where entire sections of the ship fly off! At the end of the journey we show the last surviving member of the crew carrying one yellow cube into port. Worth it.

Jamaica

Pirates of the Caribbean was a mega-hit, and I think a Jamaica movie could be the start of the next great pirate franchise. Henry Morgan’s annual race around the island of Jamaica attracts pirate crews from all around the world who are seeking gold and glory. Interestingly, these pirates will eagerly shoot cannonballs at opposing ships, but they wouldn’t dare steal any more than one cargo hold of their treasures (there is an unspoken code, after all). Anyway, I think it would make for a fun family adventure flick (although it would be tough to find nine different caves that all miraculously look like skulls). I suppose that’s what CGI is for.

Mystery of the Abbey

If Hollywood can make a movie version of Clue, then they could certainly do the same for Mystery of the Abbey. Brother Adelmo has been found dead at the foot of one of the monastery cliffs, and all signs point to murder. A team of investigators is tasked with figuring out who the culprit is (after mass is over of course). Obviously the actors would have to say their lines entirely in plainsong to keep the theme strong. It would be a classic whodunit tale, except instead of figuring out who it is at the end, everyone is confused because every member of the abbey has been proven innocent! Plot twist!

Thanks for reading!