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Board games can connect people in ways video games cannot. There is a level of rapid interaction, brought about by being at a shared table, which cannot be mimi

Board games can connect people in ways video games cannot. There is a level of rapid interaction, brought about by being at a shared table, which cannot be mimicked digitally. If you like Settles of Catan, and you are looking for something more advanced, I'd highly suggest Eclipse, Twilight Imperium, and Puerto Rico. These are challenging games that require careful resource management, political negotiations, and long term strategic thinking. In many ways these games mirror the challenges of building a company.

tannerc 12y ago
Agreed, and I think a lot of it has to do with the physical presence of the board, pieces, cards, etc. as well. Something video games can't offer players is that tangible appeal, where you have to feel the weight of a card or game piece lifted from the table or board and then slamming it back down. The innate psychology of being able to feel even the tiniest of texture and weight of an object is something we may never get from digital technology. Which gives board games and paper books at least one rare advantage.
- webmaven 12y ago
  A few years ago some students built a D&D prototype for the MS Surface Table computer that looked pretty awesome: http://vimeo.com/surfacescapes http://vimeo.com/surfacescapes The use of actual figurines with fiducial markers to control the UI was particularly interesting.
  - tannerc 12y ago
    This is excellent, thanks for sharing. Do you know of any similar developments for smaller tablets?
    - webmaven 12y ago
      Unfortunately, no, I don't.
anigbrowl 12y ago
a shared table, which cannot be mimicked digitally Not to dispute your point (I like tactility too), but I am very interested to see where the next wave of 'coffee tble computers' go, eg Panasonic's 4k toughpad (http://www.panasonic.com/business/toughpad/us/windows-4k-tablet-specs.asp http://www.panasonic.com/business/toughpad/us/windows-4k-tab...) when they reach commodity rather than vanity pricing (they're $5-6k now, aimed at medical/media professionals).
- pessimizer 12y ago
  I think board games on table touchscreens would already be common if there were an open platform/framework to program them on, and they took advantage of additional phones/tablets over IP. The manufacturing cost on big touchscreens is already pretty low.
  - VLM 12y ago
    The term you need to google for is "vassal engine" Note the engine might be open but there's all kinds of schemes WRT the data files ranging from "we don't care" to DMCA takedowns to the max. Also some people are simply tactile and really want meeples and feelies in their games, so an ipad is going to be a very rough sell to them simply because they very explicitly don't want a screen experience. Also the resolution of a tablet is incredibly low. Maybe some kind of google glass thing can be implemented, walking around in a backyard? I've occasionally considered this problem and I feel cramped at a mere 5-ft round table and 5 feet at 300 dpi is something like eighteen thousand pixels, assuming you can "invest" in a 5 foot round screen and the best COTS available now is only about a tenth of that resolution at that size...
    - anigbrowl 12y ago
      Most interesting, thanks! I don't expect board games on touch screens to take over and your points about allowing games to spread out is well made. But it will be interesting to see how they continue to evolve in parallel.
    - scrumper 12y ago
sentenza 12y ago
As a frequent player of Twilight Imperium I want to add a caveat to your comment: _DO_ play Twilight Imperium, but please be aware that you need a place to set it up where it can remain for a week or so in order to finish the game in multiple sittings. Many players prematurely give up on this game when they notice that it takes about 8-12 hours to play through. If you are prepared to play a game of TI in 2-3 sittings, you'll notice that it is rich, deep, non-repetitive and highly addictive.

tannerc 12y ago

Agreed, and I think a lot of it has to do with the physical presence of the board, pieces, cards, etc. as well. Something video games can't offer players is that tangible appeal, where you have to feel the weight of a card or game piece lifted from the table or board and then slamming it back down. The innate psychology of being able to feel even the tiniest of texture and weight of an object is something we may never get from digital technology. Which gives board games and paper books at least one rare advantage.

webmaven 12y ago
A few years ago some students built a D&D prototype for the MS Surface Table computer that looked pretty awesome: http://vimeo.com/surfacescapes http://vimeo.com/surfacescapes The use of actual figurines with fiducial markers to control the UI was particularly interesting.
- tannerc 12y ago
  This is excellent, thanks for sharing. Do you know of any similar developments for smaller tablets?
  - webmaven 12y ago
    Unfortunately, no, I don't.

anigbrowl 12y ago

a shared table, which cannot be mimicked digitally Not to dispute your point (I like tactility too), but I am very interested to see where the next wave of 'coffee tble computers' go, eg Panasonic's 4k toughpad (http://www.panasonic.com/business/toughpad/us/windows-4k-tablet-specs.asp http://www.panasonic.com/business/toughpad/us/windows-4k-tab...) when they reach commodity rather than vanity pricing (they're $5-6k now, aimed at medical/media professionals).

pessimizer 12y ago
I think board games on table touchscreens would already be common if there were an open platform/framework to program them on, and they took advantage of additional phones/tablets over IP. The manufacturing cost on big touchscreens is already pretty low.
- VLM 12y ago
  The term you need to google for is "vassal engine" Note the engine might be open but there's all kinds of schemes WRT the data files ranging from "we don't care" to DMCA takedowns to the max. Also some people are simply tactile and really want meeples and feelies in their games, so an ipad is going to be a very rough sell to them simply because they very explicitly don't want a screen experience. Also the resolution of a tablet is incredibly low. Maybe some kind of google glass thing can be implemented, walking around in a backyard? I've occasionally considered this problem and I feel cramped at a mere 5-ft round table and 5 feet at 300 dpi is something like eighteen thousand pixels, assuming you can "invest" in a 5 foot round screen and the best COTS available now is only about a tenth of that resolution at that size...
  - anigbrowl 12y ago
    Most interesting, thanks! I don't expect board games on touch screens to take over and your points about allowing games to spread out is well made. But it will be interesting to see how they continue to evolve in parallel.
  - scrumper 12y ago

sentenza 12y ago

As a frequent player of Twilight Imperium I want to add a caveat to your comment: _DO_ play Twilight Imperium, but please be aware that you need a place to set it up where it can remain for a week or so in order to finish the game in multiple sittings. Many players prematurely give up on this game when they notice that it takes about 8-12 hours to play through. If you are prepared to play a game of TI in 2-3 sittings, you'll notice that it is rich, deep, non-repetitive and highly addictive.