Digital board games
March 11, 2009 9:22 am GamesI’ve been a longtime board game fan, and I’ll even go out and admit that I think board games are far superior to video games. Coming from a video game enthusiast like myself, I know that may come as a bit of a shock to you, but it’s the truth.
At the same time, it’s not like we’re forced to decide between the two. For almost as long as we’ve had video games, we’ve had digital versions of board games. Chess is the most popular one, of course, closely followed by card games and other classic board games like Monopoly. Aside from the more well-known games, we’re starting to see quite a few video game adaptations of popular European board games. These types of games are generally more complex than their American counterparts, and feature much more strategy, teamwork, and resource management. And ironically, they often have expansion packs, just like some video games!
The Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is home to many such adaptations, such as Catan, Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, and the upcoming Dungeon Twister (which will eventually make its way to other platforms, likely PlayStation Network and WiiWare). Using the Xbox Live network, this makes it easy for players to engage in some virtual board game fun.
The problem with these video board games is that they’re just not the same as playing the real deal on a tabletop. Not even close. Sure, you can talk with your fellow players over a headset, but it’s no substitute for actually being there, facing down your opponents. Pushing buttons on a controller is a poor replacement for the tactile sensations of picking up and moving game pieces, cards, and dice. And what if you want to change the game’s rules, or the story, et cetera? You can’t do that within the confines of a rigidly-coded video game, no matter how “open-ended” it may claim to be.
It disgusts me to think that plenty of video game stalwarts actually prefer the digital versions of such rich board games to the real thing. Put down the controller, pick up a few dice, and play some real games. You can even play the oft-maligned Dungeons & Dragons, if you wish; it may be a target of ridicule, but at least it’s a social activity. That’s many steps up from video games. (Sorry, playing online doesn’t count, and even having friends over with extra controllers is pushing it.)
March 11th, 2009 at 12:01 PM
Hmm.. now that I think of it, aside from when we play chess at your place or Borders, I haven’t played many board games at all in a long long time.
But that gives me a crazy idea! One of these times when I head over to your place I should bring over my Pokémon Monopoly! I even picked it up years ago before there was a Monopoly for everything under the sun.
March 11th, 2009 at 5:45 PM
well said. What could be better than a few friends, a bottle of wine and a great board game? Perfect.
March 29th, 2009 at 1:44 AM
I think you’re choosing to ignore some of the reasons that people may choose to play the digital equivalents of traditional board games, factors which make getting together impractical, principally geographical distance. It may surprise you to know that post-college, most people have to find jobs which can lead to them being separated by large physical distances. Playing games online, Skyping, etc. are some of the few ways that they can continue to maintain their friendships/relationships.
Different strokes for different folks. There *are* reasons that these versions exist. Some of us don’t have the luxury of being able to get a large group together, and play the old games, assuming that we even have them anymore. I, myself, prefer to travel light, and since I’m currently living several thousand miles away from the States from where I herald, there was no way in hell that I was taking a bunch of pewter figurines, cardboard layouts, molded plastic, and dice with me.
I’m not saying that the digital board games are superior to the traditional board games, just as e-books can never truly capture the feel, heft, and texture of an old musty tome. However, given the choice between a digital equivalent, and *nothing*, I’ll take the digital equivalent.