As the popularity of board games increases so does the number of digital adaptations. I have found there are some mixed views on these, however overall the opinions seem quite favourable. Personally, I find them invaluable when travelling and allow me to play some of my favourite board games without having to pack large boxes. With this in mind, I thought I’d take a look at a few of my favourites. Please note, these are digital versions of games I am looking at and not companion apps.
1. Carcassonne
This is a very nice translation of the game, with fairly good (although at time predictable) AI and a few expansions. However, it appears that, sadly, development of this game has ceased or at the very least been put on hold. This is a shame as it would be nice to see a few more expansions added.
This said, despite the lack of continued development, this game is worth purchasing and works very well as a single player vs. AI game or in the ‘pass and play’ mode.
2. Ticket To Ride
As mentioned in a previous post, this is one of my favourite games; and this digital release does not let it down in any way. The game development is certainly active, with additional maps being released on a regular basis. With Solo play, Online and Pass & Play all available, you can play almost anywhere. The AI players are pretty consistent too, giving enough of a challenge that the Solo play is enjoyable.
The UI is intuitive with you carriage cards and tickets in a clear and easily visible location; and all other players laid out across the top, allowing you to keep track of how many tickets and carriages that have at a glance.
This doesn’t mean the game is faultless. The placing of routes can be a little cumbersome for some of the shorter ones, with your hand getting in the way as you drag the cards to the route location,; however this is a minor thing and overall doesn’t spoil the enjoyment of the game.
3. Lanterns: The Harvest Festival
This is a recent addition to my physical collection, as well as the digital version. Whether playing the physical or digital version, this is a beautifully designed game with a wonderfully simple gameplay. The game is a simple tile placement game set in Imperial China; where each player is competing for honour, by placing lanterns in the lake to receive bonuses and make dedications (in the way of sets) to gain honour. The player with the most honour wins.
The game has a simple UI that guides you through each stage of your turn, ensuring that you do not miss any action of your turn; if they are available to you.
You have the option of Single Player or Multiplayer modes; however, the online multiplayer is not great as you can wait quite a while for an available game (especially with 4 players). Speaking of which, it is worth noting that the game is best played with 4 players, due to the mechanics of the game and awarding of Lantern cards; although it is not unplayable with less.
As an added bonus, this also includes the expansion “The Emporer’s Gifts” and no extra cost.
4. Tokaido
Tokaido is a game about some travellers along the Tokaido Road in Japan, each traveller has a different ability which will influence the tactics you use. The artwork in this game is minimalistic and simply stunning and is probably my favourite part of playing it;, and this has been carried over very well to the digital release.
As with all the other games mentions so far, it too has both Single Player and Multiplayer modes; however, although the single player mode does allow you to familiarise yourself with the game, the AI is not great with each character simply moving to the first available space. From personal experience, this is generally not how another player would behave, as they would try to take full advantage of their characters abilities.
On the plus side, the online multiplayer is nicely done with what appears to be a good lobby system, making it easy to find multiplayer games.
5. The Manhattan Project
This is a deadly race to create bigger and better bombs faster than your opponents, placing workers on multiple projects in order to build the bombs in the most efficient way. This is a game I have very much enjoy playing and was excited to see a digital release of it.
The release is very much a direct translation of the game and very much has the feel of playing the physical game; however, even on a tablet, this can mean a lot of zooming and scrolling around to see the other player’s buildings boards in order to get an idea of when they will retrieve their workers and what is available using espionage.
The built-in AI, despite having two levels, is really quite simple and you will invariably have no problem in defeating the AI players. A further downside is that the multiplayer doesn’t have a lobby. Your only options are to either create a game and share the game’s code/name, or to join a game by entering a code/name that has been given to you by the host. This said, once you are in a multiplayer game it becomes much more challenging that the simple AI and makes for a much more enjoyable experience.
This is just a few of the digital release on Android; I know there are also many games on iOS; however, I do not have any iOS devices and therefore could not tell you if they are a good translation or not.
Please let me know, in the comments, your favourite digital release and whether or not you think they are a good thing or not.
Boards and Beers 