Digital Board Games are underappreciated

[Edmond Dantes]

What was that "cheatin' bitch" from the movie The Thing? Was that a real computer?

[Gameguy]

What was that "cheatin' bitch" from the movie The Thing? Was that a real computer?

Yes and no, that "model" was made up for the movie so it doesn't exist. But it's actually a real Apple II in disguise playing Sargon or Sargon II.

https://thething.fandom.com/wiki/Chess_Wizard
http://starringthecomputer.com/feature.html?f=129
https://scifi.stackexchange.com/ques...actually-cheat

[calthaer]

What board games are we talking about? Just the classic games from old systems (since this is the classic board)? I mean...I suppose this is true.

Old consoles didn't have a whole lot of horsepower to them, and - to be honest - board games pre-2000 kind of stink, with a few classics like Chess possible exceptions. Once Settlers of Catan came on the scene, everything changed.

New digital board games are pretty good, even if they are distributed digitally. I have a whole bunch of them on Steam and am looking to buy more, to be honest. Playing in Tabletop Simulator (not a real "digital board game", but) has been one of my main jams during the pandemic.

[Nz17]

A good Go game? In my opinion, that's Internet Game Pack for SEGA Dreamcast. It can even be played online today against other players and it includes like 4 or 5 other games to boot!

Digital board game memories? The Clubhouse Games series for Nintendo platforms including the original for DS (and the same game collection broken into three downloadable, smaller collections for DSi and 3DS) are excellent. They even support DS Single Card play meaning that you can play the game with just one copy of it plus multiple DS / DSi / 3DS consoles as everyone else just downloads a "light copy" of the game using the Download Play function of the DS line. I believe there is also a newer one for Nintendo Switch. Can't go wrong with that Clubhouse Games series!

[Edmond Dantes]

Old consoles didn't have a whole lot of horsepower to them, and - to be honest - board games pre-2000 kind of stink, with a few classics like Chess possible exceptions. Once Settlers of Catan came on the scene, everything changed.

Wait, really? Cuz I kinda kept thinking board games used to be the thing before video games took over, though the more complicated stuff tended to only have nerd appeal. I was unaware there had been any kind of resurgence.

I've never played Settlers of Catan myself, just looking at it makes me think it'll have the same issue Risk does where non-electronic versions would just have too many high numbers (not that I can't do the math in Risk, its just how do you fit 100+ reinforcements in one territory?) That issue also keeps me from playing anything by Avalon Hill, which I've heard is likely to be even more complicated. For that same reason I'll probably never play the pen-and-paper version of Battletech (there is a fan-made digital version, I think called MegaMek, which is supposedly very accurate and also allows solo play, without you having to manually track all the variables necessary in the real game).

... I'm not sure if Battletech is off-topic or not, since its technically just a rulebook game and doesn't really have a board (you have to create one yourself).

@Nz17 - Thanks, now I need to get Internet Game Pack.

[calthaer]

Wait, really? Cuz I kinda kept thinking board games used to be the thing before video games took over, though the more complicated stuff tended to only have nerd appeal. I was unaware there had been any kind of resurgence.

Oh yes - BIG time. While I get that you might look at Catan and think that it has a "Risk-like" play, it's not - not at all. Big differences: it is over in < 2 hours, everyone stays in the game until the end, it's generally competitive up until the end, there isn't as much of a "start position" bias and the gameboard tends to have advantage evenly distributed. It is worth checking out - it is not that complicated and it is very fun, even for people who don't like to do math. There is a light social aspect of trading with other players, too, which even extroverts can enjoy.

Catan's rise to prominence throughout the late 1990s in Europe, and in the early 2000s here in the U.S., has spawned a big interest in new board games. There are hundreds being released every year, and there is definitely a heavy foam of cream that rises to the top - the best ones each year are really, really good and fun. It's gotten big enough and creative enough that there are evolving defined sub-genres ("deck-builders", "press-your-luck") the same way that there are video games ("platformer", "shmup", etc.). Some of the games are definitely too complicated, but others are hugely fun. My personal favorite is the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, kind of a light RPG-like game where each character has a deck of cards (weapons, spells, etc.) and you trawl through decks filled with challenges to get treasure, defeat monsters, etc.

So...don't think there's a range where you have Chutes & Ladders on one hand and Avalon Hill's super-calculation-intensive wargames on the other. There is a wide range out there, my friend. I would start with Catan - it is a classic for a good reason, and you and your friends will be hooked for sure.