Digital Board Game Download [PATCHED]
Angelines Mulready
Two years ago, I signed a licensing deal with a company called The Knights of Unity for a full-AI digital version of Scythe. Yesterday, now in conjunction with Asmodee Digital and after several extensive rounds of beta testing, the game released on Steam Early Access.
I am interested in your opinion as a publisher. I own a physical copy of Scythe (which I like very much!) and I would like to play remotely with friends that also own physical copies. A clunky but cheap way could be to point video cameras at our boards and share that over Zoom and manually reconcile the state on each side. A neater, but more expensive and complicated way, could be to use computer vision to identify and locate pieces on the board and render the game state on the other end, possibly with Augmented Reality (e.g. Tilt Five or Meta Quest 3).
It feels to me that the grey area is around digital representations of component and arts from the game. One the one hand, if the AR system is to produce Holograms or digital representations of the components then it must have a digital representation of them somehow, so that might fall under copyright issues. On the other hand, if all participants are required to own a physical copy of the game and cannot play without owning them, they somewhat already paid for the work and it is not too different from showing the components on Zoom. It would also foster more sales because each end need to own the game!
I also gather from this post that the ratio of effort/investment vs returns seems much better for physical games than digital versions, so I will take that as a much needed warning in deciding whether or not to invest the time to make it work.
Great post Jamey! I know this is from pre-covid, but I imagine everything still rings true in this new day and age? Has your attitude towards the business of digital changed at all now that more tabletop gaming has started to occur online?
Taking a quick glance at your catalog of games, and the different digital platforms you offer them on, why have only some on Tabletopia (Euphoria), others only a standalone products (Charterstone), and others that cover both (Scythe, Wingspan)?
Additionally, have you ever considered offering digital copies of a game packaged with physical copies? Seems like that might diminish the revenue for the digital product, but it would be a win to the customer. Is there a business model where this makes sense?
From context, it sounds like all the digital deals you have are licensing deals. Do you see value in a model where you simply contract a company to deliver the digital version to you, and you publish it (retaining all revenue, etc.). That model might afford you the freedom to package digital copies more freely, but puts the weight of support, etc. on your shoulders.
We send all of our products to Tabletopia to implement on their platform, and our agreement with them is non-exclusive. So we then also try to find another developer for the full-AI version (to whom we license the digital rights).
We talked to Joe and found out all of your digital rights belong to other companies. We were a little confused about how Tabletopia and Tabletop Simulator have been able to license them. Is Asmodee Digital or Monster Couch working with those platforms to put out Scythe, Wingspan and other games? Also, do those agreements hold for future games you create or only existing games?
Hello Jamey. This is the article I needed. Thank you for writing it!
Considering the costs of making the games to gain revenue, are you saying developers would get a better return on investment from board games vs digital games?
Would that apply to educational games as well?
Sorry for the confusion. When I wrote digital games, I meant digital board games. To rephrase the question: From your experience, which would bring a better return, physical board game or digital board game? How about faster return? Which is easier to produce and make available to consumers?
Amina: Thanks for clarifying. By definition, a digital board game is a game that first existed as a tabletop game. Either way, you have to spend time designing the game and sourcing the art, graphic design, etc. In my experience, after those steps, the time it takes to manufacturer a tabletop game is much shorter than the time it takes for a programmer to make a digital version. You can sell a tabletop game for much more than a digital game.
Digital versions are perhaps the best form of marketing for board games. They allow try before buy. Virtually all my gaming friends prefer games in person, which means buys are likely when someone really likes a digital version.
How do you feel about fans creating a Free (as in speech or Libre) digital board game version of a tabletop game? This allows the community to take part in the development and provide useful things like translations, ADA accessibility compliance and other features that proprietary game software developers may not find profitable.
Thanks for your time! Consider the case of a board game that is adapted to digital, but the adaptation ends up being a worse experience of the game. The players who love the board game are frustrated with the software developer because the developer has left many bugs unfixed and does little to satisfy the requests of users giving constructive feedback. The developer/publisher has new board game projects and no longer considers supporting this game a priority.
Hah, so cool to read this post. I work for (the video games database) and we are having the contest with Asmodee Digital right now. I contacted them a few months ago initially and got pretty interested in digital tabletop games (as I have never had enough patience to choose, buy and play the real thing, apart from Jenga :-D ). So I tried several games published bythem and quite liked it! Scythe is next up on my list. Hope to see more of your games going digital in the future.
Software, especially novel things like games, relatively have very unclear lists of what needs to be built, so accurately scheduling that is impossible at the start of a project like porting Scythe to the digital realm without a framework somewhat constraining the possibilities.
I understand there are two camps in the tabletop world about digital app requirements for boardgames. Today I cannot imagine Mansions of Madness going back to a player being the DM. My opinion to designers would be to use companion apps where it will enhance the experience (more cards/music and ambience) and also the possibility that it can turn 2-x player games into 1-x player games. But the app should never take the focus away from the actual board.
If one just wanted a companion app to use in a player dialog with AI on a small number of cards, might it work for prototypes to: use an app like Recorder Plus to record the AI voice with pauses between active voice. Players speak during pauses. Then one could email copies of recording to prototype testers. Crude, but do you think it might work? That way, one could find out player reactions before deciding whether to invest time and money in a real digital companion app.
Have you considered sites like Boargamearena.com or Yucata.de or boiteajeux.net? I know I saw Euphoria on boardspace.net. I really like these sites for games with asynchronous play, as I can make a move thet check back later. I imagine games cost less to create on these platforms, but may have smaller audiences, and perhaps provide less revenue. Curious to hear your thoughts.
First, I don't consider tabletopia or tts to be truly digital, nor very good. If anything I find the interfaces clunky and wish that they were more automated. Putting pieces into 3D and allowing me to move them around just doesn't do it for me.
So... why is there no Steam for digital "board games"? Is it too expensive to do, or is the IP locked up in a bunch of places where a centralized platform would not be possible, or any other explanation I am not seeing?
The best modern board games are feats of almost impossibly-clever and efficient design. The entire experience has to literally fit into a box. And stand up to the scrutiny of dozens of plays, often at different player counts. There is an intentionality and a discipline in board game design I find less present in video games.
A quick aside - thanks to crowd funding and stretch goal bloat, a lot more of these overdesigned bad habits are sneaking into board games . Publishers are much more willing to include a half-baked weather mechanic, with its own components, if backers will pay another $15 to include it in the box.
The best modern board games often feel like a magic trick. Imagine playing a card game at your kitchen table, and you flip over a new card that references and remembers a specific decision you made earlier in the game. Gloomhaven does that. Imagine having entire sub-plots in a board game opened or closed to you based on what faction you side with. Gloomhaven does that too. Imagine a board game having secret, unlockable character classes. Yup - Gloomhaven once again stepped up to the plate.
So far in Paperwave I haven\u2019t exactly gone out on many limbs. Lego sets are great. Solo board games are... also great. I\u2019m proud of the content (and very thankful for your positive feedback) but\u2026 today I have what I think might be a spicier take:
I\u2019m a video game guy by day and a board game fan after hours. So you might think a digital version of an analog game is like mixing chocolate and peanut butter. But in fact combining the two often results in something feels like the worst of both possible mediums. Something more like\u2026 OK to be honest I don\u2019t have a fitting follow-up food analogy for something that is the opposite of chocolate and peanut butter. I\u2019ve never liked stuffed peppers... maybe that works...?
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