Online Board Gaming Program
Overview
This document is a how-to on having an online gaming program. Two resources will be featured & explained: boardgamearena.com and tabletopia.com. This is an especially effective way for people to connect and while still social distancing.
Overview
Both websites allow their users to play various boards games with other users completely online. The games range from casual favorites to hardcore experiences. Some games are locked behind a premium pay wall, but if one player participating in the game has a premium account, then a non-premium user can play with them.
This means that if you were hosting a program, you’d only need one person to have a premium account to play any of the premium games on either site. You need an account to play games (free or premium accounts available). On either site you can play with complete strangers online, by yourself (for solo games), and/or with your friends.
Board Game Arena
There are differences between the two websites. What makes Board Game Arena unique is that the games featured are built to be played online, meaning that the rules, instructions, and gameplay are aided by a computer AI. You can’t do anything outside of the rules of the game because the AI won’t allow you too. This makes playing a game with beginners much easier because it’s a guided/on-rails experience.
Because of this feature, the game selection on this site is a bit more selective in comparison to Tabletopia. If you want to purchase a premium account, the cost is $2.18 a month for a year subscription ($26.16), and $4.36 for a straight monthly subscription. There are some other useful features that come from having a premium account, including integrated voice/video chat and creating game tournaments.
Users are also able to create public and private groups, to whom they can invite any players they wish to join. This could be useful in communicating to BCPL patrons during a program. One other useful thing about this site is that all the games have tutorials to teach you how to play.
Quick Hits
Built in online- gameplay
Monthly subscription cost
$26.16 a year
$4.36 a month
Premium account includes
Access to premium games
Integrated voice/video chat
Creating game tournaments
You can create public and private groups
Tabletopia
This site has a wider selection of games than Board Game Arena (over 900 to choose from). You can set up different “virtual tables” that you can invite other users to play games with you at; you can stop playing games at these tables and come back to them whenever you’d like to finish. There aren’t any built in tutorials for games, but a readable rules pdf is included in each session for you to read.
The gameplay hasn’t been fully ported for online use, so if you don’t understand the rules of the game, it is possible to play a game incorrectly. When you’re at a virtual table, there are some useful things you can do like setting specific camera angles (useful for seeing different parts of the game) and setting hotkeys. What makes Tabletopia truly unique is that you can also build games using its workshop! I’ll elaborate on that in a future document.
There are three account options: Bronze (Free), Silver, and Gold. With Bronze you can play up to two games simultaneously; Silver allows you to play 6 games simultaneously and play premium games (but you can’t invite non-premium players to play premium games with you). The Gold account gives you all the features: 10 games simultaneously, access to premium games, and the ability to invite non-premium users to play premium games with you. A Silver membership costs $4.99/month and Gold membership costs $9.99/month.
Quick Hits
You can customize your virtual table
Monthly subscription cost
Bronze
Free
Can play 2 games simultaneously
Silver
$4.99/month
Can play 6 games simultaneously
Access to premium games
Gold
$9.99/month
Can play 10 games simultaneously
Access to premium games
Can invite guests to play premium games.
You can create games in workshop mode
Recommendations & Resources
Recommended games on Board Game Arena (Will update with further recommendations)
Kingdomino
Sushi Go!
For Sale
Tabletopia (Will update with further recommendations)
Spyfall
Wingspan
Santorini
Other Resources for Online Board Gaming
Yucata.de
Boitejeux.net