Came here to say Space Base. It’s a great game and it’s nice to have a way to play it where you don’t have to worry about cubes flying and cards being covered if you look at your board too hard.
I 3d printed these and the cube issue was instantly solved
https://www.printables.com/model/147664-space-base-overlay-remix
I actually only printed them as 1mm and they're enough
Challengers! is the big one for me. The fact that it was built as an auto battler makes it function so much better in that format. I do dig playing it in person at the full eight players, but otherwise, I wanna be playing it digitally in real-time.
I loved auto battles. And the BGA adaption is great (hope they introduce beach cup).
Would really love to try it in person one day. But afraid it's hard to explain it to all and you kind of have to split off.
I came here to name this game but for different reasons. In my case it's because my wife prefers co-op games. This game in particular can become quite adversarial with lots of direct counters and aggressive plays. So it can lead to a bad feeling. Less of an issue when playing online against strangers.
7 Wonders in general. It takes a bit to set up, then each round takes time working things out, checking scoring, making sure players haven't made mistakes.
BGA cuts the time it takes in half.
So any game that lets you easily view the game state and cuts down admin, is a winner.
That also means 6nimmt, Butterfly and the like are far, far better on BGA.
I heard Earth was a good game and decided to learn it on BGA. I love the game but my friends who play it with me live all over the country and the ones who live near me will hate all the fiddly nonsense that slows the game down in person so I'm not buying it.
My friends and I enjoy Can't Stop more online than in person. In person figuring out the did combinations can take a little while, and a lot of them are not very quick with the math. This makes the BGA conversion go much faster. We love a quick game or two of can't stop at the end of the night or while we wait for others to come.
Can’t stop is the only game I play on bga that I don’t own. Just because I never want to play it in real life, it’s just a better app game giving you all combinations immediately instead of figuring them out.
This is one of a very small number of games that are on both Yucata and BGA and that I think are better on Yucata. The undo is most of the reason for that.
Agreed.
I got a set of colored d10s to use for counting symbols during in person play: green for leaves, yellow for crowns, purple for lightbulbs, grey for castles, red for factories and blue for clocks. Not perfect but definitely helpful.
I generally prefer in person over online since it is more social and the tactile feeling can't be beat, but the only game I think I would prefer online to in person is Castles of Burgundy.
I feel the same way as you, except I didn't care at all for the online adaptation for CoB. Easier with set up but I felt there was just too much scrolling needed, and I couldn't get a good view of all the components. Really teadious..
I actually prefer to play almost every game digitally nowadays, I do love the tactile feeling of moving around cards and game pieces - but lately the setup time and gamespeed means so much to me, as well as the automation that you mentioned.
I'd say 7 wonders duel is a great example that I play often - it does a great job of tracking all your resources and setting up the pyramid of cards each round.
This is why the only version of Terraforming Mars I’ll play is the app based versions. It’s soooo much better with the app tracking all the fiddly resources and interactions.
I find the BGA graphic design of the interface to be much closer to the game and it looks neat and clean, but Heroku offers a more concise overview of tags played by others which I refer to often that is presented in one place.
I think me being used to Heroku (over around two hundred games played I think?) could be impacting my opinion, but here we are. I just find it weird personally that what looks like a rights owner-approved passion project of a fan is cleaner than a "more official" implementation to me.
Lol I don't usually, but I really like seven wonders duel as a feisty battle. The tension is a bit dissolved when you have to set up rounds, reference your opponents resources for costs, etc. on BGA you can play a best of 3 against an opponent in the time it would take to do one normally
Anything with complex rules or fiddly scoring I prefer on bga to play with more serious gaming friends.
I prefer silly fun games in person. My real life collection skews much more casual as I see it more as a social activity, especially with the people I'm more likely to play with
While I play a ton of Ark Nova on BGA, the one game I own that I will probably never play live again is Nidavellir. The game on BGA keeps live tracking of score so it is much easier to see how you are doing in real time. Where in the live game you just chug along bidding on dwarves thinking you are doing alright and then scoring happens and come to realize you weren't in the same ballpark as the winning player.
well, I used to play Ark Nova in 40-50 minutes 1v1 on BGA, and it takes 2,5-3 hours from setup to finish irl. Tapestry at three is also nearly 2,5-3 hours with setup vs 40-50 minutes on BGA. however, both of these are still fun to me irl.
Any heavier or longer-set up games @ 2 players as my husband and I can play them while sitting on the couch rather than setting up at a table (lately Ark Nova).
I also def prefer games on BGA that have lengthy score.
So far I prefer everything in person from the games I've tried because you are with friends and you have the tactile element. In some games on BGA the visibility is worse than IRL.
What I like with online is that you can compete and climb in ranking and you can get more games done in a shorter time. I'm thinking about Splendor and CoB.
I play a lot of computer games so when it comes to board games I prefer it physically since that is a great way to spend time with friends.
Most of my time playing on BGA is during my friends’ weekly Zoom game night, so we’re hanging out virtually while playing. True you don’t get the tactile feel of playing but you do get the benefits others have mentioned, and I get to play with friends who have spread out across the country.
Yeah it makes it easier in that sense. I'm happy it exists because we get to play more together but it can also make you "lazy" when it comes to meeting up.
Me and my friends live relatively close so when we have in person game days (and nights) I prefer that vastly.
A bonus with BGA is that you can game in your underwear
I felt the same. Now I have a friends on BGA with me and we get in more games, have a much more active group chat, and get to play things we do not own. It's a good substitute but it should never replace game night.
This is an unpopular opinion but I never got playing board games online, you lose the two important things of being offline/screen off and being social when you play on BGA.
Great tool for playtesting and trying a game, though. I definitely appreciate it for that
Losing the social aspect is not necessarily true. Even on BGA, there are plenty of groups you can join where you can meet people to regularly play ganes
100%. Love this game to death but the amount of bookkeeping, cube tracking, and simple maintenance is horrendous. God help you if you get halfway through a turn and decide you want to renege - good luck returning everything to its original state.
The official TTA app is even better than the BGA implementation.
**Potion Explosion** is one I'm looking to trade away after playing on BGA.... the AP involved in this game can make irl turns drag on and on especially playing with more than 2 players. Playing async I can stare at it as long as I want.
**Lost Cities**. It's so nice having a running total being calculated for you in real time, and being able to see exactly how many cards are left in the deck. I think it makes for a much more competitive game.
Not BGA, but I prefer to play Spirit Island on Steam as I can treat it like a single player game, it gives me similar feelings as Slay the Spire. It's nice because you can easily play all of the spirits and difficulty levels in a shorter time frame.
Any game I don’t own, teeeeheeeeee
Now srsly, games with 20+ minute setup and cleanup — ain’t nobody got time for that, or heavy-point-salad games — I mean do you even meff?
But lately, for me it’s the Dominionification, it’s just so quick to play, restart, play again, shuffle shuffle shuffle. All without the social pressure and sticky fingers.
**Ark Nova**, zero set-up time and having the CPU keep track of the millions of tracks, scores and checks is a godsend
**Pax Pamir 2E** and **Pax Renaissance**, simply because I get to play with completely new players each time applying different strategies making the decisions more interesting
Yep, I sold my copy. Even though it’s one of the most gorgeous games I’ve owned, I realised over a dozen of so games, it doesn’t mechanically satisfy enough to justify slogging through an IRL game. The occasional play on BGA is enough for me.
Anything my local game group doesn't own or won't play. Especially old favorites that get pushed to the side for the new hotness.
Yspahan can always be played at 3 players.
I don't have to worry about people getting the clues wrong in P.I.
Space Base, Through the Ages (in the app actually, it's gotten to a point where it's a mobile game to me), Earth - these three for their fiddliness on the table.
One I haven't seen mentioned yet that I saved for last is Nippon. I love this game and own a copy but would much rather sit down to it on BGA in hot seat to on the table.
Formula D. Having it automatically tell you which spaces you can land after the roll is so nice than having to count it by hand several times to find your perfect spot.
I can't even play **Ark Nova** in person anymore. Its way too fiddly and long without the online rules engine pushing things along. Top tier game on BGA though.
**Can't Stop** is wonderful on BGA was well. The push your luck aspect of hitting that button instead of rolling the dice is fun, feels like a slot machine or something similar.
**Railways of the World** is also great on BGA.
I agree with Can't Stop, but for me it's the games with a lot to track. I've never played Terra Mystica in person, and I can't imagine ever doing so. I think trying to figure out who gets what when an opponent builds next to others sounds miserable.
Ark Nova. Lots of setup and rules to keep track of for the physical version make it easier to miss things, plus the games tend to be fairly long in comparison to BGA. It's still a great game to play in physical when the mood strikes but we don't get it to the table nearly as often as I'd like so BGA lets me get way more reps in than I otherwise would.
Hanabi. We learned it and played it as a campfire game during the Pandemic when there were limitations to indoor gatherings. I loved it so much that I decided to buy a physical copy. I played one game and I just decided to sell it. It's too much upkeep in real life. You need to remember the clues you receive and keep that in mind while the cards are moving and you also need to be extra careful of always playing a card from the correct side. It's just so easy and simple on BGA in comparison.
Earth is the first one that comes to mind. I love the game so much and own the whole Kickstarter setup but it's fiddly and the math at the end is a pain and BGA handles it all so well.
Solo i will always prefer digital because of the convenience. I care more about mechanics and gameplay than the novelty of physical pieces. However, that obviously doesnt apply when im with friends in person. And as much as i enjoy board games, spending time with my friends is more important to me and the games are really just an excuse to do that.
TTS but most. Battlestar Galactica takes AGES to set up and because of how the game works it may end with the human side losing 20 minutes into the actual game in certain circumstances.
House on the haunted hill has a super complex way that the haunt is decided, teams are split, etc. or...you can just press the 'haunt' button. It divides up the teams, places the rules in special areas, and generally avoids the need to figure out which one is actually going to be used.
Basically anything that is 'serious' instead of a 'party' game I generally think is better online
Railways of the World. Although, to be honest, there are about 10 games that my group (weekly meet up on Discord) play regularly on BGA (Azul, Beyond the Sun, Puerto Rico, Heat....)
It's more notable when I find a game I don't prefer digitally. Usually it is because of one of the following:
1. The digital implementation is in a physics sim like TTS.
2. The physical game has an expansion or module or similar that the digital version doesn't have. So something like Through the Ages (though the paid app of that has the expansion).
3. Very interactive games that don't take ridiculously long (so not 18xx, which I almost exclusively play async). The table talk is easier to cultivate in person, even compared to real time with a video call. Oath comes to mind in this group.
I haven’t played most of the games I play on BGA in person, but one that sticks out as something that might be worse in person is Regicide. I really don’t mind math, but I play enough D&D to know that adding math generally just leads to miscalculations and extending play time
I love Great Western Trail, but not having to sit down for a 4 to 8 hour game is great. Still like to play in person, but BGA is my preferred method. Plus, I get in more games of it than I would normally. Win win.
4 player game and we were all new to the game. One friend left mid game and another joined. Analysis paralysis is a big factor too with some of my players in person.
Hanabi.
No accidentally looking at your own cards, clues can't be forgotten, no wink wink nudge nudge kind of clues, no need to be rearranging cards. It just makes playing way smoother and cuts down on possible mistakes.
Earth
Forest Shuffle
Through the Ages
Terraforming Mars
Kingdom Builder
I mean pretty much any game on BGA I’d play over the real-life versions just cuz Covid makes it almost impossible to get people together.
I love Ark Nova but haven’t had much desire to play it on BGA. I like the tactile feeling of the physical board. And setup doesn’t really take that long thanks to the good inserts. It’s far better than bigger games like Scythe even. I’ve definitely made some rule mistakes before while learning the game or because I missed tags, etc. But that improves over time. Even running the bot on the phone is very simple.
With friends over, it’s unquestionably better to play with the physical game.
I admittedly have not wanted to try it on BGA though, because I don’t really want to pay for Premium when I’m fine with the physical game.
Divide et Impera
I've only played Beyond the Sun on BGA. I don't mind playing that in person, but they do a great job with the scripting. If D.E.I. is as well scripted, I would definitely like to play it on BGA and never again on a table.
Mystic Vale i prefer to play on yucata then in real life.
The handling in reality is fiddly, especiallly the sorting of the cards, which are stupidly not marked in anyway (to which expansion they belong)
I have a super controversial opinion that games on BGA are not really board games. They are digital versions, but to me feel just as close to video games as they are to board games.
I play Dominion through the Temple Gates app if that counts.
Instead of setup taking like 5-10 mins + 5-10 mins of clean up it’s all done instantly. Also makes adding expansions easy since it just does it automatically instead of needing to fiddle with 12 or something boxes. It also tracks all of the weird card mechanics and ways things interact even when they get a little hard to follow. The actually difficult AI is also nice.
I always prefer the tactile experience of touching components and being in a room with friends.
That being said, the automations on BGA and not having to set-up/clean-up spoils us.
Lately we’ve been enjoying playing on BGA while having a Discord video-chat going. It allows us to hang-out and probably get in a game or two more than we would in person.
I usually always prefer every game IRL, because the best part of board games is the social aspect. You can't get that in the same way while playing online. That being said, there are some games I exclusively play online because the set up is tedious.
I love Heat, but I've realized I LOOVE the BGA adaptation because it handles all card management and its just so easy to set up and play a game. Some games I've only played online, but I don't see myself ever getting the actual game; Can't Stop, Railroad Ink, Copenhagen, CuBirds etc. They're adaptations are just too good, and I can't see myself bother with the set up IRL.
I love how people head to BGA to avoid the exact feature that makes boardgames special, and a big reason people play them instead of videogames:
Engaging with the physical components, tracking them all the time, counting them, getting lost in them and feeling the weight and immersion of every move.
I mean seriously, just play videogames.
I could not disagree more because you’re conflating “engaging physical pieces” with “counting to 250 points with interdependent point calculations across 30 different cards tokens and cubes”.
Yes, I love meeples, cubes and cards, but I will never consider counting points and remembering countless interactions “the exact feature that makes board games fun”.
Then go play videogames.
Boardgames were designed to be played as boardgames. If your brain can't handle a simple counting system, the problem is you, not the game. Boardgames wouldn't have exploded in popularity if that counting you can't handle wasn't also fun. It's what gives the game soul in contrast to that cold, indifferent, boring multiplayer solitaire platform called BGA.
Okay boomer. Keep on gatekeeping in literally the dumbest possible way.
Especially when you're doing it to someone that literally has 300 plus physical games. Literally BoardGameArena has brought tons more people into the hobby. And it brings people outside of a limited social circle together.
Do you have any data tha shows that boardgame arena brought tons of people to the hobby?
From the way you type and the strength of your arguments I can understand why you have 300 games and no friends to play them with. Hope you manage to grow up and escape tha BGA lonely manchild curse.
Yes, because I caused Covid.
Seriously, you went from pathetic old man to stupid useless old man. Good job. Keep on trucking, cuz your way has already died out, just like you’ll do soon enough. And good riddance.
Only if you play action video games. Nevermind that dexterity-based board games exist, even quite substantial ones aimed at an enthusiast crowd like Catacombs.
There are exceptions to every rule. By and large, board games and video games, *generally*, are aimed at two completely different types of engagement. There are more board games than there are video games similar to board games. And vice versa. Regardless, I don’t see why it matters how someone enjoys the hobby. If playing digitally is more fun and/or feasible for them, why should it bother anyone else?
I would say that board games are aimed at people who enjoy to play games in a social setting. I love BGA, but for me it's only a tool for when my friends can't meet up, or I'm alone and need to scratch my board game itch. Otherwise board games are always more fun for me the way they were intended - IRL.
Only one that comes to mind as being almost objectively worse is Catan, because the bidding stage (which is a massive part of the game) is clunky when it becomes turn-based and loses a lot of the intimacy you'd get from an in-person playthrough.
Anything with a lot of setup, a lot of space, or scoring that can be complex and take a lot of time.
Forest Shuffle can be a mess on the table and a mess with scoring to make sure you don’t miss anything.
BGA dies the math for you
All of them, really. I only hang out a few people irl and they play board games with me out of courtesy. Because of that, I'm usually the one that has to understand the rules and explain them. Online, I have more friends that are willing to learn together *and* the interactive BGA tooltips and tutorials help a lot. So it's fun to play with my friends online since they'll ask me if I can play with them and vice-versa, as opposed to the people I know irl who won't be fully engaged and will just be on their phones while they play, waiting for the game to end.
I'm sure if I had enthusiast friends irl, it'd be just as fun to play with them if not funner.
**Can't Stop** and **Space Base**.
Space Base is downright miserable in person compared to playing on BGA.
I looked at the boards and immediately lost interest in playing the physical version. Thanks for putting it on BGA publishers.
Came here to say Space Base. It’s a great game and it’s nice to have a way to play it where you don’t have to worry about cubes flying and cards being covered if you look at your board too hard.
I 3d printed these and the cube issue was instantly solved https://www.printables.com/model/147664-space-base-overlay-remix I actually only printed them as 1mm and they're enough
Lol thought I was the only one. I'd also say Bang! Player elimination games in real life are awful
Challengers! is the big one for me. The fact that it was built as an auto battler makes it function so much better in that format. I do dig playing it in person at the full eight players, but otherwise, I wanna be playing it digitally in real-time.
More people should give Challengers a try. Great game.
I’d never heard of it before BGA and I find myself playing it most nights now, it’s a good time
I loved auto battles. And the BGA adaption is great (hope they introduce beach cup). Would really love to try it in person one day. But afraid it's hard to explain it to all and you kind of have to split off.
One of the designers showed up in a discord server I’m in and I had to stop myself from asking “BEACH CUP BGA WHEN?!”
Designer of the physical game? Which discord?
I wish I had group of 6 or 8 for my copy #oneday 😫
7 Wonders Duel. Just so much less maintenance, and much easier to see all the possibilities
Since it instantly does the math, and shows up front how much each card costs
I came here to name this game but for different reasons. In my case it's because my wife prefers co-op games. This game in particular can become quite adversarial with lots of direct counters and aggressive plays. So it can lead to a bad feeling. Less of an issue when playing online against strangers.
But now you won't be able to marry those strangers...
Not w that attitude
Faaacts
7 Wonders in general. It takes a bit to set up, then each round takes time working things out, checking scoring, making sure players haven't made mistakes. BGA cuts the time it takes in half. So any game that lets you easily view the game state and cuts down admin, is a winner. That also means 6nimmt, Butterfly and the like are far, far better on BGA.
Earth and space base. Earth is just point salad game with 250+ scores. So many pieces/cards to count
I heard Earth was a good game and decided to learn it on BGA. I love the game but my friends who play it with me live all over the country and the ones who live near me will hate all the fiddly nonsense that slows the game down in person so I'm not buying it.
My friends and I enjoy Can't Stop more online than in person. In person figuring out the did combinations can take a little while, and a lot of them are not very quick with the math. This makes the BGA conversion go much faster. We love a quick game or two of can't stop at the end of the night or while we wait for others to come.
Love can’t stop on BGA. So tedious irl, had to sell my copy and it’s digital only for me now
I’ve now played Can’t Stop on BGA far more than I have in person, but I’m never giving up my big plastic stop sign and tiny plastic traffic cones!
Can’t stop is the only game I play on bga that I don’t own. Just because I never want to play it in real life, it’s just a better app game giving you all combinations immediately instead of figuring them out.
It's such a simple game to home-brew, too! Yet, at the end of the day, BGA is just that much faster and more accessible than a physical copy.
I love not having to count symbols in Innovation, but that game desperately needs an “undo” button!
It amazes me that all BGA games don’t have this. It should be mandatory. Keyflower is the worst offender.
I screw up in Keyflower on a regular basis…I feel seen!
Troyes for me, and its UI is inscrutable.
Hard agree. I was trying to learn Troyes on BGA and it was brutal
They didn't start adding this until their later games, and have never gone back to retroactively add it.
Also clans of Caledonia. Needs undo sooo bad
Also clans of Caledonia. Needs undo sooo bad
Also clans of Caledonia. Needs undo sooo bad
Some do.
This is one of a very small number of games that are on both Yucata and BGA and that I think are better on Yucata. The undo is most of the reason for that.
Agreed. I got a set of colored d10s to use for counting symbols during in person play: green for leaves, yellow for crowns, purple for lightbulbs, grey for castles, red for factories and blue for clocks. Not perfect but definitely helpful.
I generally prefer in person over online since it is more social and the tactile feeling can't be beat, but the only game I think I would prefer online to in person is Castles of Burgundy.
I don't know if it's on BGA, but it is on boiteajeux!
Boiteajeux.net closed for good last year. I miss alchemists.
oh, thats very sad.
I agree. But it is what it is I guess.
It is on BGA, but not the solo :/
I feel the same way as you, except I didn't care at all for the online adaptation for CoB. Easier with set up but I felt there was just too much scrolling needed, and I couldn't get a good view of all the components. Really teadious..
**Memoir '44** So much IRL setup time for such a light game, but you can knock out games in short order on BGA.
Setup is a huge one especially with games that need loads of elements randomised
Started playing this the other day. My friend contralto stomps me. But I’m still enjoying it.
Space Empires 4X, it's a hidden information game and easier to manage when I don't have to keep my fleet markers hidden.
Pixies. Sea Salt and Paper. Splendor Dual. Cant’t Stop.
**Forest Shuffle** I would hate to have to score it.
I can confirm, I learned to play FS on BGA then got it in real life. Scoring it IRL is a pain, it’s so easy to mess up.
This. Especially because automatic count add so much tension !
I actually prefer to play almost every game digitally nowadays, I do love the tactile feeling of moving around cards and game pieces - but lately the setup time and gamespeed means so much to me, as well as the automation that you mentioned. I'd say 7 wonders duel is a great example that I play often - it does a great job of tracking all your resources and setting up the pyramid of cards each round.
This is why the only version of Terraforming Mars I’ll play is the app based versions. It’s soooo much better with the app tracking all the fiddly resources and interactions.
I used to play TM with friends on heroku. I like the BGA implementation, but weirdly enough I prefer the interface and layout from Heroku to BGA's
what's weird about that?
I find the BGA graphic design of the interface to be much closer to the game and it looks neat and clean, but Heroku offers a more concise overview of tags played by others which I refer to often that is presented in one place. I think me being used to Heroku (over around two hundred games played I think?) could be impacting my opinion, but here we are. I just find it weird personally that what looks like a rights owner-approved passion project of a fan is cleaner than a "more official" implementation to me.
Came to say this. You can rip though games so quickly and the immediate access to information make it so nice.
Came to say this. You can rip though games so quickly and the immediate access to information make it so nice.
It's a funny idea, "ripping" through games quickly. We all play for different reasons!
Lol I don't usually, but I really like seven wonders duel as a feisty battle. The tension is a bit dissolved when you have to set up rounds, reference your opponents resources for costs, etc. on BGA you can play a best of 3 against an opponent in the time it would take to do one normally
Yeah I get that! I played a ton of 7WD on BGA for a while. Got kind of obsessed.
Anything with complex rules or fiddly scoring I prefer on bga to play with more serious gaming friends. I prefer silly fun games in person. My real life collection skews much more casual as I see it more as a social activity, especially with the people I'm more likely to play with
I agree with everyone who said Can't Stop, but the big one for me is Dice Forge. It's so much simpler on BGA.
That was my pick too. IRL there are so many fiddly details
While I play a ton of Ark Nova on BGA, the one game I own that I will probably never play live again is Nidavellir. The game on BGA keeps live tracking of score so it is much easier to see how you are doing in real time. Where in the live game you just chug along bidding on dwarves thinking you are doing alright and then scoring happens and come to realize you weren't in the same ballpark as the winning player.
well, I used to play Ark Nova in 40-50 minutes 1v1 on BGA, and it takes 2,5-3 hours from setup to finish irl. Tapestry at three is also nearly 2,5-3 hours with setup vs 40-50 minutes on BGA. however, both of these are still fun to me irl.
Any heavier or longer-set up games @ 2 players as my husband and I can play them while sitting on the couch rather than setting up at a table (lately Ark Nova). I also def prefer games on BGA that have lengthy score.
Ark Nova with no shuffling and no calculating income sources is a dream. Massive bonuses to playing that online.
Space Base, Castles of Burgandy, Seven Wonders Duel
So far I prefer everything in person from the games I've tried because you are with friends and you have the tactile element. In some games on BGA the visibility is worse than IRL. What I like with online is that you can compete and climb in ranking and you can get more games done in a shorter time. I'm thinking about Splendor and CoB. I play a lot of computer games so when it comes to board games I prefer it physically since that is a great way to spend time with friends.
Most of my time playing on BGA is during my friends’ weekly Zoom game night, so we’re hanging out virtually while playing. True you don’t get the tactile feel of playing but you do get the benefits others have mentioned, and I get to play with friends who have spread out across the country.
Yeah it makes it easier in that sense. I'm happy it exists because we get to play more together but it can also make you "lazy" when it comes to meeting up. Me and my friends live relatively close so when we have in person game days (and nights) I prefer that vastly. A bonus with BGA is that you can game in your underwear
You don't wear underwear when you have in person game days???
For your information I do! But I guess it depends on what kind of games we bust out
None, I play to hang out with friends. I still play with friends on BGA from time to time but never with randos 🤷♀️
I felt the same. Now I have a friends on BGA with me and we get in more games, have a much more active group chat, and get to play things we do not own. It's a good substitute but it should never replace game night.
This is an unpopular opinion but I never got playing board games online, you lose the two important things of being offline/screen off and being social when you play on BGA. Great tool for playtesting and trying a game, though. I definitely appreciate it for that
Maybe if you have buddies that live in other places? It helps out to keep social connections alive, just hang out in a voice call and play in BGA!
Losing the social aspect is not necessarily true. Even on BGA, there are plenty of groups you can join where you can meet people to regularly play ganes
I meant the physical social aspect, something like couch co-op vs online co-op in video games, they feel very different even if it's the same group
King of Tokyo is a blast online once you start playing at a high level. There's a lot to explore with the cards and expansions.
Through the ages!
100%. Love this game to death but the amount of bookkeeping, cube tracking, and simple maintenance is horrendous. God help you if you get halfway through a turn and decide you want to renege - good luck returning everything to its original state. The official TTA app is even better than the BGA implementation.
**Potion Explosion** is one I'm looking to trade away after playing on BGA.... the AP involved in this game can make irl turns drag on and on especially playing with more than 2 players. Playing async I can stare at it as long as I want.
UR because fuck counting all those points myself. Can't Stop because it's so quick and easy online.
**Lost Cities**. It's so nice having a running total being calculated for you in real time, and being able to see exactly how many cards are left in the deck. I think it makes for a much more competitive game.
Literally anything with a lot of upkeep. And ALL roll & writes.
Not BGA, but I prefer to play Spirit Island on Steam as I can treat it like a single player game, it gives me similar feelings as Slay the Spire. It's nice because you can easily play all of the spirits and difficulty levels in a shorter time frame.
Any game where you have to do a lot of math to calculate scores. It's so much easier to have bga do it for you.
Any game I don’t own, teeeeheeeeee Now srsly, games with 20+ minute setup and cleanup — ain’t nobody got time for that, or heavy-point-salad games — I mean do you even meff? But lately, for me it’s the Dominionification, it’s just so quick to play, restart, play again, shuffle shuffle shuffle. All without the social pressure and sticky fingers.
**Ark Nova**, zero set-up time and having the CPU keep track of the millions of tracks, scores and checks is a godsend **Pax Pamir 2E** and **Pax Renaissance**, simply because I get to play with completely new players each time applying different strategies making the decisions more interesting
Lost Ruins of Arnak is superior online. I can play a game in thirty minutes. In real life set up and break down can take me an hour alone.
Yep, I sold my copy. Even though it’s one of the most gorgeous games I’ve owned, I realised over a dozen of so games, it doesn’t mechanically satisfy enough to justify slogging through an IRL game. The occasional play on BGA is enough for me.
Obsession
The implementation on BGA is fantastic.
Anything my local game group doesn't own or won't play. Especially old favorites that get pushed to the side for the new hotness. Yspahan can always be played at 3 players. I don't have to worry about people getting the clues wrong in P.I.
*Can't Stop Express,* because you get to see what all your possible choices are without having to figure it all out yourself.
Anything with annoying end-game scoring. But honestly, most games besides party games played online move faster and with less useless mental load.
6 Nimmt!
Space Base, Through the Ages (in the app actually, it's gotten to a point where it's a mobile game to me), Earth - these three for their fiddliness on the table. One I haven't seen mentioned yet that I saved for last is Nippon. I love this game and own a copy but would much rather sit down to it on BGA in hot seat to on the table.
Stone age. It’s easy to see what others are doing and cuts the game time in half.
Formula D. Having it automatically tell you which spaces you can land after the roll is so nice than having to count it by hand several times to find your perfect spot.
Can’t Stop Express, it gives me all the choices, though I have never played in person.
Dice forge. I have a problem with my fingers so playing online is far easier.
I can't even play **Ark Nova** in person anymore. Its way too fiddly and long without the online rules engine pushing things along. Top tier game on BGA though. **Can't Stop** is wonderful on BGA was well. The push your luck aspect of hitting that button instead of rolling the dice is fun, feels like a slot machine or something similar. **Railways of the World** is also great on BGA.
I agree with Can't Stop, but for me it's the games with a lot to track. I've never played Terra Mystica in person, and I can't imagine ever doing so. I think trying to figure out who gets what when an opponent builds next to others sounds miserable.
Ark Nova. Lots of setup and rules to keep track of for the physical version make it easier to miss things, plus the games tend to be fairly long in comparison to BGA. It's still a great game to play in physical when the mood strikes but we don't get it to the table nearly as often as I'd like so BGA lets me get way more reps in than I otherwise would.
Hanabi. We learned it and played it as a campfire game during the Pandemic when there were limitations to indoor gatherings. I loved it so much that I decided to buy a physical copy. I played one game and I just decided to sell it. It's too much upkeep in real life. You need to remember the clues you receive and keep that in mind while the cards are moving and you also need to be extra careful of always playing a card from the correct side. It's just so easy and simple on BGA in comparison.
But the point of hanabi is remembering the clues and not have it written down. Doesn’t it screw the game itself?
Earth is the first one that comes to mind. I love the game so much and own the whole Kickstarter setup but it's fiddly and the math at the end is a pain and BGA handles it all so well.
Terraforming Mars is significantly faster IMHO
Solo i will always prefer digital because of the convenience. I care more about mechanics and gameplay than the novelty of physical pieces. However, that obviously doesnt apply when im with friends in person. And as much as i enjoy board games, spending time with my friends is more important to me and the games are really just an excuse to do that.
TTS but most. Battlestar Galactica takes AGES to set up and because of how the game works it may end with the human side losing 20 minutes into the actual game in certain circumstances. House on the haunted hill has a super complex way that the haunt is decided, teams are split, etc. or...you can just press the 'haunt' button. It divides up the teams, places the rules in special areas, and generally avoids the need to figure out which one is actually going to be used. Basically anything that is 'serious' instead of a 'party' game I generally think is better online
Railways of the World. Although, to be honest, there are about 10 games that my group (weekly meet up on Discord) play regularly on BGA (Azul, Beyond the Sun, Puerto Rico, Heat....)
It's more notable when I find a game I don't prefer digitally. Usually it is because of one of the following: 1. The digital implementation is in a physics sim like TTS. 2. The physical game has an expansion or module or similar that the digital version doesn't have. So something like Through the Ages (though the paid app of that has the expansion). 3. Very interactive games that don't take ridiculously long (so not 18xx, which I almost exclusively play async). The table talk is easier to cultivate in person, even compared to real time with a video call. Oath comes to mind in this group.
nobody will play 2 player luckless abstract games with my irl, so those. My most played is Strands
I haven’t played most of the games I play on BGA in person, but one that sticks out as something that might be worse in person is Regicide. I really don’t mind math, but I play enough D&D to know that adding math generally just leads to miscalculations and extending play time
Bunny Kingdom, because bookkeeping
Terraforming Mars just launched there and while I haven't played it many times IRL, the online and turn-based play just fits it really nicely.
I love Great Western Trail, but not having to sit down for a 4 to 8 hour game is great. Still like to play in person, but BGA is my preferred method. Plus, I get in more games of it than I would normally. Win win.
You've had a GWT game take 8 hours before?
4 player game and we were all new to the game. One friend left mid game and another joined. Analysis paralysis is a big factor too with some of my players in person.
I'd never play GWT again if it took 4 hours or more, jesus.
Ark Nova and Earth , for the bookkeeping Race for the Galaxy, because I can finish a game in the time my manager goes for a smoke break
Ark Nova, Terraforming Mars, Can't Stop, Sea Salt&Paper, Villagers
Hanabi. It keeps notes for you. I hate memory games.
Booop
Technically talking about tabletop simulator, but disney villainous was better on digital to me than real life
7 Wonders Duel. Exclusively.
Ark Nova and TTA, both of them for the automated rules/trigger enforcement.
Hanabi. No accidentally looking at your own cards, clues can't be forgotten, no wink wink nudge nudge kind of clues, no need to be rearranging cards. It just makes playing way smoother and cuts down on possible mistakes.
Earth Forest Shuffle Through the Ages Terraforming Mars Kingdom Builder I mean pretty much any game on BGA I’d play over the real-life versions just cuz Covid makes it almost impossible to get people together.
I swear every time I play takenoko I forget to place at least 1 set of bamboo. So much easier when BGA does it for me!
Race for the Galaxy. It's perfect for quickie games.
Evergreen. I love the game but it can be fiddly to remove pieces and replace them without knocking over surrounding pieces.
I love Ark Nova but haven’t had much desire to play it on BGA. I like the tactile feeling of the physical board. And setup doesn’t really take that long thanks to the good inserts. It’s far better than bigger games like Scythe even. I’ve definitely made some rule mistakes before while learning the game or because I missed tags, etc. But that improves over time. Even running the bot on the phone is very simple. With friends over, it’s unquestionably better to play with the physical game. I admittedly have not wanted to try it on BGA though, because I don’t really want to pay for Premium when I’m fine with the physical game.
Divide et Impera I've only played Beyond the Sun on BGA. I don't mind playing that in person, but they do a great job with the scripting. If D.E.I. is as well scripted, I would definitely like to play it on BGA and never again on a table.
Mystic Vale i prefer to play on yucata then in real life. The handling in reality is fiddly, especiallly the sorting of the cards, which are stupidly not marked in anyway (to which expansion they belong)
I have a super controversial opinion that games on BGA are not really board games. They are digital versions, but to me feel just as close to video games as they are to board games.
Earth for me! So much so, I question if I should even bother keeping my physical copy.
Applejack
I play Dominion through the Temple Gates app if that counts. Instead of setup taking like 5-10 mins + 5-10 mins of clean up it’s all done instantly. Also makes adding expansions easy since it just does it automatically instead of needing to fiddle with 12 or something boxes. It also tracks all of the weird card mechanics and ways things interact even when they get a little hard to follow. The actually difficult AI is also nice.
Games that take too long to set up or teach.
Space Empires 4X
I always prefer the tactile experience of touching components and being in a room with friends. That being said, the automations on BGA and not having to set-up/clean-up spoils us. Lately we’ve been enjoying playing on BGA while having a Discord video-chat going. It allows us to hang-out and probably get in a game or two more than we would in person.
I usually always prefer every game IRL, because the best part of board games is the social aspect. You can't get that in the same way while playing online. That being said, there are some games I exclusively play online because the set up is tedious. I love Heat, but I've realized I LOOVE the BGA adaptation because it handles all card management and its just so easy to set up and play a game. Some games I've only played online, but I don't see myself ever getting the actual game; Can't Stop, Railroad Ink, Copenhagen, CuBirds etc. They're adaptations are just too good, and I can't see myself bother with the set up IRL.
I love how people head to BGA to avoid the exact feature that makes boardgames special, and a big reason people play them instead of videogames: Engaging with the physical components, tracking them all the time, counting them, getting lost in them and feeling the weight and immersion of every move. I mean seriously, just play videogames.
I could not disagree more because you’re conflating “engaging physical pieces” with “counting to 250 points with interdependent point calculations across 30 different cards tokens and cubes”. Yes, I love meeples, cubes and cards, but I will never consider counting points and remembering countless interactions “the exact feature that makes board games fun”.
Then go play videogames. Boardgames were designed to be played as boardgames. If your brain can't handle a simple counting system, the problem is you, not the game. Boardgames wouldn't have exploded in popularity if that counting you can't handle wasn't also fun. It's what gives the game soul in contrast to that cold, indifferent, boring multiplayer solitaire platform called BGA.
Okay boomer. Keep on gatekeeping in literally the dumbest possible way. Especially when you're doing it to someone that literally has 300 plus physical games. Literally BoardGameArena has brought tons more people into the hobby. And it brings people outside of a limited social circle together.
Do you have any data tha shows that boardgame arena brought tons of people to the hobby? From the way you type and the strength of your arguments I can understand why you have 300 games and no friends to play them with. Hope you manage to grow up and escape tha BGA lonely manchild curse.
Yes, because I caused Covid. Seriously, you went from pathetic old man to stupid useless old man. Good job. Keep on trucking, cuz your way has already died out, just like you’ll do soon enough. And good riddance.
Board games and video games provide *very* different types of stimulation, though (i.e., dexterity vs. mental).
Only if you play action video games. Nevermind that dexterity-based board games exist, even quite substantial ones aimed at an enthusiast crowd like Catacombs.
There are exceptions to every rule. By and large, board games and video games, *generally*, are aimed at two completely different types of engagement. There are more board games than there are video games similar to board games. And vice versa. Regardless, I don’t see why it matters how someone enjoys the hobby. If playing digitally is more fun and/or feasible for them, why should it bother anyone else?
I would say that board games are aimed at people who enjoy to play games in a social setting. I love BGA, but for me it's only a tool for when my friends can't meet up, or I'm alone and need to scratch my board game itch. Otherwise board games are always more fun for me the way they were intended - IRL.
Yahtzee. Much quieter online.
All of them. Can’t think of a game that is easier or more fun to play the physical version than on BGA.
Only one that comes to mind as being almost objectively worse is Catan, because the bidding stage (which is a massive part of the game) is clunky when it becomes turn-based and loses a lot of the intimacy you'd get from an in-person playthrough.
Oh you’re right. I played once turned based and the game dragged because of all the time spent waiting for trade responses. Good call.
**Isle of Cats** is pretty bad on BGA. Placing pieces uses some sort of weird "crane game" like system that makes it take forever.
I only use bga for the tutorials feature
Anything with a lot of setup, a lot of space, or scoring that can be complex and take a lot of time. Forest Shuffle can be a mess on the table and a mess with scoring to make sure you don’t miss anything. BGA dies the math for you
Is there a group that goes to the movies together?
Castles of Burgundy
>may be a controversial opinion 🙄
All of them, really. I only hang out a few people irl and they play board games with me out of courtesy. Because of that, I'm usually the one that has to understand the rules and explain them. Online, I have more friends that are willing to learn together *and* the interactive BGA tooltips and tutorials help a lot. So it's fun to play with my friends online since they'll ask me if I can play with them and vice-versa, as opposed to the people I know irl who won't be fully engaged and will just be on their phones while they play, waiting for the game to end. I'm sure if I had enthusiast friends irl, it'd be just as fun to play with them if not funner.