Not long ago, the Corona Virus Pandemic reached a point in the United States that has required many to stay at home. Proper practices of social distancing for public health reasons has meant that gaming groups like the ones I'm involved in can't meet in person. The gaming group I host each week has started using an online virtual gaming platform to meet online and play some of our favorite games as well as learn new ones. The Main Players There are two main players in this new virtual tabletop gaming world: Tabletop Simulator and Tabletopia. Both are available online from their a web app and/or on Steam for PCs. Both have a 3D simulated gaming environment and interface for players to virtually experience a game together ... and both provide tools and the ability to create your own online virtual board game for use in prototyping, play testing and publishing. The two platforms have different financial models. Tabletop Simulator uses a purchase model while Tabletopia is a subscription model, though both have ways to play for free. I have only had the chance to use Tabletopia. After looking at both options, it made the most sense for me and my friends. My thoughts and comments will center on my experiences with the Tabletopia online virtual gaming platform. The promotional video below gives an idea of what the Tabletopia platform can do. This video was published in 2016 and there have been many updates and games added since. Thoughts About Tabletopia In general, I'm very pleased with using this platform to play tabletop games with friends online. It truly has that sense of playing a board game with friends. It's not simply an online video game. Trust me, nearly nothing is automated. Users/players must pick up their pieces, select cards, keep score, move items, etc... just as you would in a tabletop setting. The game doesn't do it for you. One of the things that got me more interested in Tabletopia is the recent release of the IOS version for the iPad. Though the games are more limited, the functionality is much the same. As long as the game is originated and hosted from an iPad, even PC users can join in. The same is NOT true of the other direction. When PC users utilizing the browser-based app or Steam host games, iPad users cannot join. There is some kind of resolution and screen dimension issue that causes issues. There is supposed to be an Android version coming out soon and as with most apps, I expect they'll make many improvements and fix issues over time. I played Architects of the West Kingdom using my iPad while friends Nikki and Jeff played from PCs. It worked fairly well. A couple minor glitches, however we got in a full game and had fun doing so. The last two weeks our weekly gaming group has gone completely online using Tabletopia for the gaming platform and Discord for voice chat. Currently, Tabletopia does not offer in-game voice chat, though their site and videos state they are working toward adding it. Discord has worked well for us once we all downloaded the app and got over the initial learning-curve hurdles. The first week was a small group with just three of us. This past week we had too many players for one game so we split into two virtual tables and played two different games. I set up my Discord server with two voice chat channels which allowed all of us to start in a conversation together and determine whom was playing what, then split off into two voice channels so that each game table was in a separate voice chat. While playing, individuals could pop into the other voice channel to check in on the other game or ask rule questions etc... It worked quite well. After one of the games ended, a couple players jumped into our game as observers and were able to chat with us as we finished. Using this virtual platform has actually made it more convenient for some who live further away or who normally wouldn't be able to make it to a game night. There are benefits beyond being forced to separate due to the COVID-19 social distancing mandates. This opens up doors to playing with friends and family members in other cities, states, and countries. The following is a more in-depth video explaining different benefits and features of the Tabletopia platform. I found this helpful in understanding what it looks like and a bit about how it works. Final Thoughts
My friends and I have enjoyed getting a chance to play board games even while in voluntary captivity. We may not be able to physically come over to each others' homes and play board games, however with Tabletopia we have the next best thing. I think this pandemic has opened many of our eyes to new opportunities and news ways to interact with others. I will continue to use Tabletopia even after the health crisis has subsided. If you'd like to check out the Tabletopia website click here. To learn more about Discord click here. Have you played board games using an online/virtual option? Leave your comments below. If you haven't, I encourage you to check out the options mentioned above. Keep watching for more updates on what games my group is playing on Tabletopia and ... Game on!
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