Tabletop Simulator

[Springheel 4593]

I know there are some board-game fans here.  I wanted to recommend a game that I've been playing for the last few months...Tabletop Simulator.  It is essentially a sandbox platform that allows you to play almost any boardgame you want in a virtual space.  It's been a godsend during quarantine.  Over the last couple months I've played the Conan boardgame, Scythe, Dead of Winter, the Game of Thrones strategy game, tried the new Massive Darkness 2 that's currently on kickstarter, and played several games of X-Wing, all using Tabletop Simulator. 

Not only is it a great way to get to play boardgames with people who don't live with you, it's also a great way to try games that you don't actually own.  There are hundreds of games available in virtual form, most of them for free.

For anyone with basic modding know-how, it's also extremely easy to create and release your own boardgames.

Anyway, if you're a boardgame fan it's definitely worth a look.  It's about $20 on Steam and it regularly goes on sale.

 

 

[Destined 581]

I can also recommend this. The controls are sometimes a bit clunky, but you can get used to it (if you are used to DR, it gets hard to switch between scrolling with MBM rather than LBM; but you can get used to it). I have played Gloomhaven with a couple of friends IRL, but due to distance we played a lot of games with Tabletop Simulator as well, which has the benifit of scripts that really make your life easier in some regards. Recently I have played Middara (which I backed on Kickstarter) in solo mode and there are still some games I would like to try. If anyone is interested in trying out new games, I would be glad to try it with anyone here. In general, I am more interested in co-op games, but I would also be open to some competitive games.

[Carnage 63]

I was going to take a look at this one, thanks for reminding me. I'm a big fan of Carcassonne (I can recommend https://jcloisterzone.com/en/ for that one as well), Machiavelli and the likes. What about the most popular boardgames, are they free as well or do they come with an extra price tag and if so, are these prices acceptable?

[Destined 581]

There are a couple of official DLCs (e.g. Scythe, Zombicide, and some others) that actually cost some money, but all other games are community made and have not further cost. Most boardgame designers seem to have no problem with people recreating their game on TTS. Some even use it as a platform to test their games. E.g. I have supported the boardgame Middara on Kickstarter and they released the first chapter of the game on TTS (for free) and used the feedback they got there to improve their game, while it was still in production. If you are interested in specific games, just take a look at the Steam Workshop page of TTS or ask here, then I can look if they are available for you.