Would You Like To Play A Game?

I love board games. 

Since we all got locked in our own homes, a number of resources to play board games online together have grown rapidly in popularity. When they originally launched, in The Before Times, I think much of the board game community gave these digital board game platforms a bit of a snarky side-eye. The whole point of tabletop gaming was the tabletop, sitting with friends, sharing a space. Whether at home or a convention, the point was to get away from the computer screen that was dominating the rest of our lives. But with that not really an option, the idea of meeting through a digital application and chatting over Zoom or Discord while playing swiftly grew in popularity.

Of course, some board games have had a digital version for years. I love being able to play Burgle Bros, Ticket To Ride or Carcassonne on my iPad, churning through single player games against the AI at my leisure. 

But this is different. Digital platforms like Tabletop Simulator or Tabletopia and their ilk are basically physics engines with little intelligence beyond maybe snapping appropriate elements to appropriate spots. You need to learn the rules of the game you’re playing, as if you were playing it on a table, but you also need to learn the “rules” of the platform, such as the button combinations for actions, or how to hide you hand of cards. They might automate the setup, but if you want to grab all the cards and flip them over and dump all the pieces into the wrong bag and award yourself a million points, the application isn’t going to stop you. There are a few platforms where games can be programmed with all the rules, but they tend to have a much smaller catalogue, as it takes a lot more to develop games for them. 

I know many of my friends use them a lot, and love playing on them. Or at least, accept playing on them enough to join weekly game nights. Game designers have leveraged them for advance playtesting, or giving reviewers access to their game without needing to ship promotional copies across the world. Crowdfunded games, that might not even have physical copies yet, can get a digital version written up and distributed ahead of the campaign to drum up interest and let prospective backers try before they buy, so to speak. 

This is all great. It’s allowed board games to spread even further, given more people easy access to the hobby, or to sharing the hobby they’ve already loved for years with friends and family across the world. It’s kept people in contact with their groups when they couldn’t get together, or allowed gamers to find entirely new groups, playing with other fans of their favourite game in other continents. 

And I dislike it. Quite a bit. 

I wouldn’t say “I hate it” even though that would be a more dramatic and punchy way to continue this post. I’ve played one game recently on a stream with two friends and it was great. Honestly, it was a whole lot of fun, and it was so nice to be able to game and chat with people not in my immediate family. 

It’s just not why I game. 

I don’t play to win. That’s not to say I don’t try to win. If you’re not at least trying to beat the game or your opponents, then you’re wasting everyone else’s time. It’s just that winning isn’t my reason for being there. I love to sit at a table, chat face to face, feel the cards, tokens and plastics bits and bobs, get excited at a critical roll of the dice, or gasp together at the wrong event triggering at the right time. I love to look my friend in the eye as I take their territory, and then stare them down as they take mine. 

Online gaming can replicate almost every aspect of a board game needed for it to function as the rule book demands, but it can’t match the experience of a shared space with great friends. 

I miss my friends. I miss board games. But, if all goes according to plan, it won’t be for much longer.