This one is for the die-hard Paper Mario-heads within our audience. Decades after its original release, an iQue-published Paper Mario board game, released exclusively in China, has just been translated into English and recreated in the Steam game Tabletop Simulator, giving more people the chance to experience it for the very first time.

iQue Míngxīng Qí (or iQue Superstar Board Game as it is translated on the Super Mario Wiki) is a little-known piece of Paper Mario history that we're guessing most Paper Mario fans have probably never heard of (we certainly hadn't).

That, however, hasn't stopped one dedicated fan, in this case, the YouTuber Paper King, from trying to make it more accessible to a wider audience, going to the lengths of building a digital recreation.

In a video published on his channel yesterday, Paper King shared more about the history and the rules for the game, telling his viewers that the board game "seems to have been made to introduce people to the world of Paper Mario" and "functions a lot like the mainline Mario Party games but with some minor differences" (which he elaborates on elsewhere in the video).

As he explained, the board game featured a story setup similar to the original Paper Mario, with Bowser stealing a wish-granting Star Rod, and had three playable characters to pick from: Mario, Peach, and Bowser. Paper King, however, has expanded this roster to 27 in his recreation, adding other characters from Paper Mario and its sequels, such as Goombella, Koops, Vivian, and more, to hopefully let you select your favourites.

The original objective of the game, as he explains, was to be the first person to make their way around the board to a star station and purchase a star (a ruleset that is available in Paper King's recreation), but Paper King has also introduced an additional "Mario Party" mode in addition to this, with this bonus mode changing the ruleset to have the winner be whoever has the most stars overall (similar to traditional Mario Party games).

What's interesting to note is this isn't the first time Paper King has used Tabletop Simulator to resurrect and preserve an old piece of Paper Mario media in this way, having previously used the game's workshop on Steam to bring back Paper Mario Ponjan Club 22, another obscure board game (this time from the Japanese toy company Takara).

According to the Paper King, the project wouldn't have been possible without the fan account Chinese Nintendo, who provided him with the scans of the games, and the Super Mario Wiki, which had already translated the various cards used when playing the game.