I’ve been meaning to write about boardgames for a while now, so this article is well overdue. But if being stuck indoors for weeks on end is good for anything, it’s boardgames. The only problem is finding a way to play with other people when you’re supposed to be isolating yourself. Fortunately, you have several options.
Although I have played digital versions of boardgames, I haven’t really played them remotely against other people. That changed a few weeks ago, when I joined some friends online for their regular boardgames night. Ever since, I’ve joined them on Discord every Friday as they introduced me to different options for playing boardgames online. As a result, I’ve played several games I had never tried before, and learnt a little about some of the services that let you play boardgames with friends, regardless of where they are. Overall, it’s been a fun learning experience, so I thought I’d share some of it with you. Let’s dive in!
Now, I’m not talking about playing games against complete strangers, although there are plenty of options if you’re happy to go that route. (More on that later.) I’m primarily talking about playing games with people you know. You’ll need to figure out what is best for your group depending on what your group has access to, or plays games on usually. Before we look into your options for finding, choosing, buying, or trying out games, you need to decide how your group is going to communicate.
In my opinion, the best part of playing boardgames with friends is hanging out and catching up. So if you like the social aspect of playing boardgames as much as I do, the first thing you should discuss as a group is how everyone prefers to chat to each other. Again, there are plenty of options, depending on whether you prefer text chat, audio only, or audio and video. It doesn’t have to be expensive – you could use any of the instant messaging apps you’re used to. (If you want recommendations, let me know in the comments.) Keep in mind that everyone doesn’t have the same access to the internet, and not everyone loves technology. Whichever option you choose, be prepared to spend a lot of time during the first session just sorting out technical difficulties. (Again, if you run into any problems you can’t solve by doing a quick web search, leave a comment to let us know.)
The most important consideration is where everyone is, physically, and which devices or platforms they have access to. You have more options if everyone is in the same place, but technically the players could be anywhere in the world. A lot depends on everyone’s living arrangements, including whether they have somewhere they can sit and play a boardgame for several hours, and whether they need to be talking or listening to other players. Also, they may share their living space with other people who aren’t as keen to participate or watch them play boardgames or hang out with friends online.
We’ll cover specific options if you’d like to play boardgames with people you live with, but at least one person in every location needs access to a service you can use. As a group you’ll need to choose a service that lets everyone play together. Except for web-based services and services, most require you all to play on the same type of device – for example, either on X-Box or Playstation consoles; Apple, Android, or Windows devices.
Some considerations to keep in mind when choosing a web-based board game site
I love boardgames. Seriously, I can’t get enough of them. I love the experience of playing them with friends, even if I end up losing more often than not. I enjoy learning new types of games, too, even if I end up gravitating to old favourites. Learning how to get my boardgaming fix without meeting with friends in person, or playing with physical copies of the games, has been a great experience, although it comes with its own challenges.
So let’s talk boardgames!
A quick note: I wasn’t going to add links to any specific games just yet, since I’d like to discuss the web-based services in a longer post. But since this is our second blogpost about boardgames, I thought it would be weird not to have at least one link to an actual boardgame. Just keep in mind that there are cheaper options if you don’t want to spend money on any games right now.
One easy way to play games with friends is the most traditional – basically, everyone at the same table or in the same room. Of course, in that case you may prefer to play a physical boardgame. That said, nothing stops you from playing most digital boardgames with people you live with. Most digital versions of boardgames have a “pass-and-play” or “hotseat” mode – basically, an option that lets several people play on the same device. If all the players take turns using the same computer, laptop, or mobile device, the type of device doesn’t really matter, so long as no one cheats. (That’s a joke. No one ever cheats at boardgames.) If you’re playing with a chat app that lets you share screens, like Skype or Discord, you can also use it to play pretty much any boardgame with a pass-and-play mode. You know, at a push. If you have Steam, I would heartily recommend cooperative games like Elder Sign: Omens, Mysterium: A Psychic Clue Game, or Pandemic – all of which are between R50 to R80.
Note that these games are all ‘standalone’ adaptations of specific boardgames, sold separately and with detailed instructions on how to play each. Although they are geared towards teaching new players how to enjoy the games, it can get expensive to pay separately for every game you want. That’s why we’ll cover web-based or browser-based services next week.
On the opposite end of things, another simple way to play is by play any one of the tabletop adaptations that let you play against other people across the world. Now, last time we said these articles wouldn’t focus on playing with or against strangers, but it gives you a lot more options if you’re happy to do that. Moreover, several card games are free to play (F2P), including Hearthstone; The Elder Scrolls: Legends; GWENT: The Witcher Card Game; and Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links. There’s also Catan Universe, which is an online version of Catan. I’ve linked you to the main web stores for each of those games, which lets you download the appropriate version of the game for your device.
In fact, most of the platforms we’ll discuss in these posts allow you to play games in either of those modes – pass-and-play or online (against anyone who is currently logged in). Both of those modes are generally easy enough to use – at least, from a technical perspective, since the usual technical difficulties don’t apply. So they are probably going to be easiest to do if you want to avoid any issues. You should figure out how much you want to spend and consider your options. Whatever you choose, I’d recommend trying it out to see whether your group enjoys it before you spend too much money.
Another easy way to play is by using one of the various web-based, or browser-based services. These are services that let you play boardgames using a web browser. The biggest benefit is that each service can run on any device including PC, Apple/Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. Also, everyone can use any device they like, so long as their device has a web browser. It’s great if your group has a range of different devices that usually don’t let you play together. Most of them allow you to play a large number of games, so they can be much cheaper in the long term than buying dedicated adaptations of specific games.
So far, we’ve looked at various considerations you should take into account when planning a digital boardgame session. Which other issues have you run into? If there is anything specific you’d like help with, drop a comment below! In the meantime, if you’d like to find some people to play boardgames with online, you can join our Discord server and let us know what you’d like to play. Let us know in the comments if you have any specific questions about what we’ve discussed so far. Likewise, drop us a line if you end up trying any of these options, or if you run into any specific problems. Happy gaming!
Part 2 looks at the pros and cons of the most popular web-based boardgame services in more detail. You can also check out the Distance Gaming Guide, a super handy guide to playing boardgames over long distances.
