MY THOUGHTS ON ONLINE BOARD GAMES

OVERVIEW

With quarantine still in full effect, I have had to get creative when playing games with friends. At the start of all this, I had quietly waited for it to pass, hoping every week for better news before Saturday came along (my weekly game night). This however did not happen, and a few weeks turned to months and I was getting desperate for some games.

I began to barging with myself, finding a couple of close friends I felt I could trust and meting them for games, but 3 friends playing the same game for 3 hours is not the same as my massive group of friends I usually play with. So, while this did scratch the itch momentarily it just made me even more desperate for what I had been missing. Then a thought occurred, what if I could play games online?

MY THOUGHTS

I was skeptical at first. I have played games over the internet before, and I am no stranger to video games and voice chats and the like, but board games? One of the things I loved so dearly was the connections that are made. Seeing friends, laughing at jokes, and the happiness that comes with being surrounded by people you love it something special and I had no idea how we would achieve these things through our computers.

I have to say though it works. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not quite the same but with a massive voice chat and a few good programs it starts to feel a little like the past. The added befits of playing with those out of town drew me in further. With time our group started to grow as well, and I found new friends ready to play all sorts of games through the ether. New experiences were shared, and I have to say what I was once so skeptical of became my saving grace, as once again I didn’t feel so isolated.

WHERE TO PLAY

This was my first big hurdle. Being so skeptical I was a little iffy on dropping lots of money on a different virtual board game, and that didn’t even include the fact I would have to also make sure my friends purchased the same games on the same programs.

This however became less of an issue with research. Turns out there are lots of games you can play for free online, and even more that only need to be purchased and shared by one person. With this knowledge, I set off to try playing online, and while there is a learning curve, especially when using several programs, I am happy to say it was a success.

With the newfound information that this was a great way to connect, I set to work finding more games to buy, to share, and to play. Now I will say I have amassed quite the collection.

CONCLUSION

So, what do I think of online board games? I think they are great! Are they perfect? No, but they do help connect with people again, something I didn’t even know I could miss this bad. Try them out and let me know what you think below. As always, be well and happy gaming.