In last week’s reveal of our 10th anniversary surprises, there were two digital developments I didn’t mention because I wasn’t sure if they would be ready in time. Since then, both of them have launched, so I’m excited to share two more anniversary announcements with you today!
Stonemaier Scores
Earlier this year, someone brought to my attention the excellent Garphill Games Companion app, which lets people score and save records for any Garphill game. I reached out to Shem Phillips, who generously recommended the app’s developer, Paul Hart.
Paul and I started discussing the potential for a Stonemaier scoring app back in March. In the hopes of having it ready in time for September, we decided to focus on one game at first for the full score calculator (Wingspan), with a few other games in the app just for recording scores. We planned to get user feedback for Wingspan to hone the system before adding score calculation capabilities for other games.
The free Stonemaier Scores app launched earlier this week on iOS (and is now on the Google Play store for the Android version). It’s a little rough around the edges, but it’s functional, and Paul will be making tweaks and improvements in the weeks to follow. I appreciate all the work he’s put into the app, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to better serve anyone who plays our games.
For other publishers considering an app like this, there certainly is a development cost to it (low 5 figures), and because it’s free, it won’t generate any direct revenue. It’s purely a player-forward endeavor. When we fully implement all of our games in the app, I’m open to Paul using the same code to create similar apps for other publishers who reach out to him (to help reduce the cost and barrier to entry for those publishers).
Wingspan on Board Game Arena
Thanks to the amazing developers at BGA, several of our games are already available there (Viticulture and Tapestry). We have an open invitation to BGA to implement almost any of our games, but their development time is limited, so they pick and choose the games that most interest them. Wingspan was one of those games.
However, like some of our most popular games, the digital rights for Wingspan are held by another company. Monster Couch has already brought a full-AI version of Wingspan and the European expansion to life on a variety of platforms. BGA is specifically for playing against other humans in a lower-fidelity interface rather than a full digital port, so Monster Couch agreed to let BGA implement Wingspan. It’s a premium game on BGA, which means it will generate some revenue.
Thanks to BGA developer Dan Adams, Wingspan is now available on Board Game Arena! I’m excited for the game to let more people play with other Wingspanners from around the world and welcome people to Wingspan for the first time. Like with any digital game, part of the hope is that the digital versions will invite at least some people to purchase the tabletop version of the game and explore the expansions there; we can also learn from the data provided by BGA.
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I hope you enjoy the Stonemaier Scores app and the Wingspan BGA game! I welcome feedback and questions in the comments below.
Also, if you’re eagerly awaiting the new webstore products, discounts, and the free game I mentioned in the previous anniversary post, they’re on their way to fulfillment centers now after a delay at port, and we’ll announce them to newsletter subscribers as soon as they arrive.
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42 Comments on “Stonemaier Scoring App and Wingspan on BGA”
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Just curious as to whether or not once you put the scores in if you can go back and look at a game, or does it just record the high scores.
Currently it just saves the scores.
Hi Jamey,
The one simple upgrade might be to keep count of your position in each game for example:
First Second Third Fourth Fifth
3 6 7 2 8
Just where you ranked in games. Might be a good upgrade to the app.
Our first two games of Apiary, we had a rule wrong and it inflated our scores. We’d like to be able to delete those from the high scores list, but I’m not seeing a way to do that.
Thanks Mara! Just out of curiosity, what was the rule?
We were taking a free new worker any time our active dock was empty. Then we scoured the FAQ and got that cleared up 😆.
Excellent! That’s good to know. :)
Good morning!
Completely get that selling the exclusive rights to a digital game producer helps recoup return on investment. It’s just unfortunate that most digital implementations focus more on a visually impressive 1 player game (often vs. AI) then multiplayer functionality anywhere close to the extent of BGA. This holds true for most games in this realm, Wingspan, Scythe, Terraforming Mars, Terra Mystica, etc.
Given the outstanding community at BGA, a vibrant and functional multiplayer environment (without need for a discord and 5 min turns *wingspan*) often leads to a more vibrant and long lasting involvement for many players in these games. This feels like it inevitably may lead to more long term purchases and networking effects around the game than the digital releases. I may be wrong, but something to consider for those of us that love your games, but don’t get the same experience without the thriving online community that BGA brings.
Keep up the good work, and here’s to hoping we get more access to full versions of your games over time on BGA in the future!
So there is little to no hope that the expansions do make it to BGA? It sucks, I do play on BGA with friends that live too far apart from me and some of them aren’t very tech-savvy, they also own a BGA premium membership so that it gives them the ability to play many games and not just one. I also already own the physical board game (and all its extensions) and have no intention of buying the Steam version, so I guess just base game for me and my friends then.
That’s correct, Eve. Fortunately, there’s plenty of replayability in the core game, so I hope you all can continue to play it (and the many other amazing games on BGA) together! :)
True but some are interested in discovering the Oceania expansion before taking the leap and buying it themselves, but since the only way to play it will be on steam they won’t, and that means loss of sales for you. As the other latest comment states, the app may be visually beautiful (I tried it during the Oceania beta), it is by far not the most practical at all.
At least apparently solo/automa mode should be coming on BGA so there’s that! :)
Anyone can try Oceania on Tabletopia or watch/read the many different reviews of the expansion before deciding if it’s a good fit for them. Wingspan expansions will not go on BoardGameArena–if someone is curious about Wingspan, they can try it there; if someone already knows they like Wingspan and want to explore its expansions, there are multiple ways to do so that are sustainable and respectful of the massive investment we put into each expansion.
That is good news of the Google play app. But there is an issue on how points are calculated. For wingspan, if you choose the green card for first round the points should be 4,1,0,0; for 2nd round 5,2,2,0; for 3rd round 6,3,2,0; for the final 4th round 7,4,3,0. You use in the app a different wrong system. At least this is how it’s written on my card provided with the game. Thank you for this wonderful game my family enjoys.
Thanks! I’ll share this with the developer.
Thanks for this update! I love Wingspan and Scythe but was unaware about the Scoring App. I’ll be downloading and using it.
[…] Calculator App: We commissioned developer Paul Hart to create a free Stonemaier-specific app to calculate and record scores. We’re continually rolling out updates and […]
Just wanted to comment to let you know that the BGA port definitely worked for me! I really got into Wingspan through it and now the core game and some expansion will be my birthday gift. (Hubby told as much already…) I’d love for the expansions to come to BGA someday. Thank you so much for your generosity, I hope it pays dividends.
[…] Calculator App: We commissioned developer Paul Hart to create a Stonemaier-specific app to calculate and record scores. The initial builds have focused on Wingspan, but we’re continually rolling out updates and […]
Hardest scoring issue in the game is calculating the end of round bonuses (adding/splitting saved rounding down any ties). The app as it currently is makes you do these calculations outside of the app. The other app out there a friend has let’s you enter each players’ qualifying points, then calculates and assigns the correct adjusted points to each player. Also, I accidentally added a player called “Banker”. I can’t edit or delete that player without deleting all the data in the app… So “Banker” just sits there in the list taking up space.
Edit: “adding/splitting *and* rounding down any ties”
Also, scoring each player fully in sequence is more natural but the app seems to want each player’s score for each category before moving to the next category.
Thanks for your input! When I play games, we always score by category, not by player–category is definitely more natural to me, and it keeps everyone involved in the process. :)
I’ll share your feedback with the developer!
I recently used the app to score a game for Wingspan, and I noticed that there are some miscalculations happening for the end of round bonuses (green). Specifically, when there are ties, some of scores end up being 1 point off. For example: on round 4, if two players tie for 1st, it gives each player 4 points instead of 5 (7+4=11, 11/2=5.5, Rounded Down=5).
Thanks! I’ll let the developer know.
Should make it so it saves player profiles, entering all player names and selecting profile pic each game slows things down a lot, scores almost tallied on paper before I’ve entered everyone’s names to begin the digital scoring
Definitely, we’re working on that. The app is already saving player information if you enter the same name (as far as I know), but it will allow you to select a previously used name/avatar.
Will you (Stonemaier Games) be able to perform metrics on the scores to help determine possible rule tweaks?
I’m curious to see the data, though currently I think it’s only stored locally. Even if we had access to it, I don’t think this high-level data could lead to any tweaks.
Ahh, that makes sense! I was hoping you’d be able to get some extra return on the investment :)
I currently use ScytheKick and WingMate. Those are both great apps! Is there a plan for them in the future? Will the new app you’re describing incorporate the older apps? Thank you!
Thanks Clay! Those apps are made completely independently of us–we have no connection to them.
We tried the scores app last night. It was helpful and enjoyed using it. The only feedback we had was that we wish there was a way to see all the totals of the game side by side at the end of scoring. Kind of like the scoring card does. Besides that it was a very easy app to use. Also, I’m not sure if it keeps game scores for you to go back and see but we like that feature with the date next to the game.
Thanks Jillian! The app does store your final scores, and I appreciate (and agree with) your feedback about seeing the categorical totals at the end of the game.
The app looks really great for being an initial release and “rough around the edges”.
Sorting out who has rights to what sounds like a full time job in and of itself.
Looking forward to exploring both of these!!
Thanks Blake!
I’m curious what the new scoring app will do for players that something like BG Stats or ScorePal doesn’t already do. Would my score be compared across every other player who uses the scoring app so I can see how my score ranked or will it only be to keep my score locally on my device? Thanks for identifying some different features between your scoring app and those mentioned above.
As far as I’m aware, neither of those apps actually lets you calculate scores–rather, you’re just entering your final scores at the end of the game (which is fine for some games, but games like Wingspan and Red Rising require calculation).
One of the features we’re hoping to add in the relatively near future for those who opt in is the ability to compare your high scores to other players at specific player counts and time periods.
As a heavy user of BG Stats, I think the best comparison here is the ScytheKick app. BG Stats will let users add/subtract/etc, but it’s still on the players to know what to add and make sure all points are added. ScytheKick makes sure I don’t forget structure bonus tiles for example.
On the BGA side of things, I know that playing games on BGA (or on Tabletopia) has been a great way to find out whether I want to buy the game myself. My plays of Beyond the Sun convinced me to buy the game, and now both Tapestry and Great Western Trail are very high on my list to buy soon. BGA is great but it doesn’t replace the physical experience of a tabletop game, or even the beautiful full AI versions in the Steam or mobile apps. Thanks for making your games available on all the platforms you can!
Also, I think I was the person who originally suggested you look at the Garphill Games Companion app (back in March on your Accessibility video), so it was a super cool surprise to see that the suggestion came to fruition! Super excited to see where it goes!
Thanks for your comment! All 1-2 player modes for our games are available for free on Tabletopia this month too. :)
I’m sorry I couldn’t remember who made the suggestion–thank you for recommending it! You made a big impact!
Just tried out the scoring app for wingspan. I didn’t choose automa. 1 pt per nectar token? Did i do something wrong? Isnt it 1st and 2nd pts per region?
Currently the app does not score nectar correctly. The developer is aware of this and will update the app soon.
Ah, once fixed I’ll definitely use the app. Thanks for putting it out there for us Jamey!