At first blush, it seems weird that digital versions of board and card games exist, but by the end of this post, I hope to convince you that they’re a valuable addition to the gaming ecosystem.
One of my favourite games is Talisman—I have both 2nd and 4th editions with all the expansions, but sadly, I never play them these days. For a start, laying everything out takes up too much space (but still somewhat short of Mega Civilization, with its 1×2m board!), and a full game could take four hours or more; I can never find enough people willing to commit the time. However, a video game company called Nomad have a digital replica of the 4th and 5th editions. (The former is going out of support, but you can still find it on Steam, Gog and elsewhere.)
The only space required for the digital game is a PC or phone/tablet screen; finding online players is easier than getting everyone in the same place for the physical game; and the game can be paused and returned to later. Nomad have also created a few digital-only expansions (such as additional characters and Ancient Beasts), which are nice additions.
Pros…
I’ve already mentioned a few advantages of digital versions of board games around convenience; further benefits include:
· Typically, the digital variant has engaging animations as well as sound effect and background music (though not everyone appreciates those).
· Many include ‘AI players,’ which can be useful when you can’t find enough people.
· They’re invariably cheaper than the real thing!
· They take care of fastidiously applying all the rules (e.g., not allowing you to take some action because it’s not valid at that point, something which might be overlooked on the table), and handle all the bookkeeping (such as the production phase in Terraforming Mars or remembering which action cards have already been executed during the current generation). Digital games can be quicker, partly because of the automated bookkeeping, but also because you don’t have to sort and lay everything out before you can start (and pack it away after).
· Interactive tutorials—I find it’s usually easier to grasp game concepts this way than via instruction leaflets and videos.
· Remote play—many games offer the ability to connect with friends elsewhere and play either in real time or asynchronously.
…and Cons
There are also disadvantages:
· Local play (where everyone is sharing the same screen, as opposed to being logged in on different devices) can be clunky. Because you don’t want each player to see the others’ state, you tend to have to take your turn, press a ‘next player’ button and turn your eyes from the screen—which also means you might not have a clue what’s happening until control returns to you, and even then, it might be difficult to tell. (I’d really like to see someone implement a game mechanism where one screen—a TV, for example—is designated as the global view of the game, while one or more other devices are what players interact with.)
· Bugs, ranging from incorrect interpretation of game rules to crashes when some particular action is taken. Depending on the software company, crashing problems are usually dealt with fairly quickly (if they affect large numbers of players), but lesser ones might be ignored for years. Bugs are especially frustrating when they cause remote games to break.
· Programming ‘AI’ players is a tricky, so these fake players tend not to be very good (and, of course, there may be bugs too), e.g., in Talisman, some AI characters in the 4th edition would regularly acquire a ‘talisman’ (essential in the game, as you might guess from the name) and then immediately sell it for a gold piece.
· I mentioned Nomad’s digital only expansions—it’s more common, however, that physical game expansions haven’t made it into the digital world. For example, digital Terraforming Mars has far fewer expansions than the physical one. And as for fan expansions—they’re just not a thing in the digital world. (I know people have made ‘mods’ for popular video games, but I’m not aware of any for digital board games—maybe I’ve just not been looking in the right places.)
· Similar to the above, digital games tend to have limited customisation—Nomad has implemented several house rules in Talisman, as well as a detailed card selector in the latest version of the game, but generally, there’s a lot more flexibility when you can agree conventions around a table.
· Tangibility. I mentioned nice little features of digital games like animations and audio, but I feel these don’t make up for the pleasure of moving playing pieces and dealing with physical cards.
· For me, the biggest problem with digital versions of board games is visibility. With a physical game, you can quickly and easily see the whole board as well as whatever you’re allowed to of opponents’ state. You can also see their expressions and judge what they might be thinking! With digital games, while you usually can get to see all this information (well, apart from facial expressions), it’s more difficult to find everything; e.g., with Terraforming Mars, it’s several mouse clicks to see all the tags you have and what actions and cards can be played, and yet more clicks to check out your opponents (see below). In fact, I’d go so far as to say that some digital interpretations are impenetrable without at least some familiarity with the physical board game.
Is one better than the other?
I prefer the physical version of Terraforming Mars, mainly because of the lack of expansions in the digital game. The video game is very well made and I thoroughly recommend it; it’s just a bit limited.
Games that don’t work for me at all in the digital world include Ticket to Ride, Splendor and Monopoly. Something these have in common is that the game mechanism is fairly simple—that’s not to say the games themselves are simple and lack strategy, just that what you do per turn is quite basic. For me, the enjoyment of these games is the interactions with players around the table.
On the other hand, I’d say digital wins outright for 4th edition Talisman, because it’s such a faff setting up the physical game. My decision is undoubtedly influenced by my familiarity with the game over man years, since here too, the actions on a turn are simple (as with the games I don’t like), and this is the only game where I prefer digital.
An example of a game where I like both equally is Wingspan—the subtle animations and bird sounds in the digital game act as a counter against the limited board visibility. I think this style of game works well in the digital world because most of the time, you’re looking only at your own board and can ignore what the other players are doing.
For games I’m new to, the digital versions are excellent learning devices, except for the difficulty in seeing the ‘whole picture.’ I’m going through this with Ark Nova at the moment: learning from just the instruction guide and occasional YouTube video is just too mind-bending, but the excellent digital app is much better at showing me how things interact. The downside of the app is that some things happen so quickly that it takes me a while to work out what the heck just happened on bits of the play area that aren’t visible. On the other hand, the appeal of the physical game is lacking on a PC screen.
If I was forced to live with only one of the physical and digital versions of Ark Nova, I’d have given up by now, but I find that the pair work well together to help me to enjoy the game.
Other software
I’ve been talking about full digital game implementations, but you must have spotted sites like Tabletopia or BoardGameArena (see below for a screen grab of Terraforming Mars on the latter), where you can play a range of games in your browser. They’re not as polished as a full implementation, but are generally fairly competent. Some games have basic tutorials on these sites, which I find quite useful when trying to decide if I want to buy the physical game or not.
It’s not always a choice between digital and physical games; for example, the Unlock! Series of escape-room inspired games require an app as part of the tabletop game.
Next, various support apps also exist: Forest Shuffle Smart Counter is a great app which will tot up scores when you point your phone’s camera at the cards.
Stonemaier Scores doesn’t use a camera, but it also speeds up scoring for all their games. (Having mentioned Stonemaier Games, there’s a very cute app called Wingsong which plays a clip of the relevant birdsong when you point the camera at a Wingspan card.) Some folk object to ‘interference’ like this, saying that scoring is part of the game experience. Well, sure, if you like that, but I find it a chore so I’m more than happy for someone else to do the sums.
Finally, there are helper apps, such as a resource counter for Terraforming Mars, which automates the production phase, though I have to confess I find seeing the piles of copper, silver and gold blocks quite appealing.
Wrap Up
Some people don’t like digital devices encroaching upon the world of board gaming, and there is definitely merit in getting away from screens and interacting with people across a table. However, there are advantages with digital gaming too, so…
I do see digital game implementations as additional ways to enjoy the games I already like, and not really as complete alternatives.
