Over the last few years, I’ve come to embrace digital versions of tabletop games as a regular part of my gaming rotation. I still primarily play games on the actual table, but once every 2 weeks I have a Board Game Arena game night. It’s nice to play a variety of games there with people outside of my normal gaming group.
As a publisher, our approach to the digital format at Stonemaier Games continues to evolve. We have a variety of full-AI digital games licensed to developers (e.g., Wingspan, Viticulture, Charterstone, Scythe, Rolling Realms, etc), some talented programmers have put a few our games on BGA (Wingspan, Tapestry, and Viticulture; Scythe is currently in alpha), and all our games are on the physics-driven Tabletopia.
Our motivations for pursuing digital ports of our games are varied. We like that:
- They can help people learn the game more easily than reading a rulebook (or discover that they’ve been misplaying a game they already know). Also, while not a digital port, the Dized app has been instrumental in teaching people how to play our games.
- They allow people to play a game a lot more often than the tabletop version because it’s faster and easier to set up.
- They enable people to play with friends and strangers around the world.
- They invite people to a world they may not otherwise experience if they don’t play tabletop games.
- They’re more affordable than tabletop versions.
- They’re accessible to those with social anxieties.
- They’re travel-friendly.
- They let people try-before-they-buy. Several crowdfunding campaigns have successfully used full or partial BGA versions of the games to demonstrate their potential (Altered, River Valley Glassworks, Carnegie, and Stupor Mundi).
- They allow players to go deep into a game, gaining dozens of plays in a short amount of time.
- They generate a small amount of revenue (see sales data here).
- They can renew interest in older games.
- They streamline setup, in-game administration, ongoing triggers, and end-game scoring.
- They can accumulate data to use when designing expansions (though we’ve had limited success at accessing this data).
- They can boost ratings and buzz for visibility on BoardGameGeek.
However, that long list of positives comes with some big caveats:
- You’re at the whim of the digital developers. I don’t mean to sound callous here–I genuinely appreciate the people who convert our games to the digital format–but it’s something you simply don’t have control over as a publisher. Digital development takes time (often 1-2 years), and sometimes a developer might simply stop supporting a game, and there’s nothing you can do (this happened to Gloomhaven, and even the Scythe Digital developers have said that they can’t add expansions to the game).
- Some gamers have strongly adverse reactions to app-supported games. This is adjacent to the topic of digital ports. If you publicly mention a tabletop game that relies on a digital app, some of the comments will involve people dismissing the game for that reason. Personally, app-assisted games aren’t a selling point to me, but when an app is in a game, they’re there for a reason, and I’m not one to dismiss the effort before actually trying it.
- They rarely result in tabletop purchases and may greatly cannibalize tabletop sales. In our 2023 demographic survey, only 4% of respondents indicated that they had bought 6 or more games as the result of playing them digitally. Over half of people surveyed who play digital ports said they didn’t buy a single tabletop game after playing it digitally. I’m not saying it never happens, but once you have easy access to the digital version, I think most people are significantly less likely to then invest in the tabletop version. I hear people saying that they like to try a game before they buy it, but that’s possible on Tabletopia or even by watching a playthrough video.
As a result of these various pros and cons, I’m inclined to continue to make our games available on Tabletopia (not TTS, which is rife with copyright violations) upon release, followed by full AI and BGA digital versions a few years later. For Board Game Arena, we’ll allow developers to add some expansion content (as we’ve done with the Tapestry civs, for example) but not completely replace an entire tabletop brand with digital equivalents. My hope is that people will discover our games on the tabletop first and then use digital ports as a tool to complement the full in-person experience.
Whether you’re a gamer or a publisher, what’s your approach to digital ports? What are some of your favorite full digital games or games on Board Game Arena?
Also read:
- Do Digital Board Games Outsell Their Digital Counterparts?
- The Truth About Digital Games
- 7 Insights from Our 2023 Demographic Survey
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37 Comments on “The Current State of Digital Versions of Tabletop Games (2024)”
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Hi Jamie,
Love the openness and insight that you share! On the question of digital board games driving physical sales, I worry that your survey question isn’t very well structured in terms of answering the question. The question asks if you’ve bought six or more games based on digital plays within the last year. That’s a very high bar to clear! I’ve bought over a dozen board games based off digital plays, but had to answer no to this question as that’s over a three year time span. Of the board games that I’ve purchased though, that represents about 75% of them. Going forward I will likely only purchase physical copies if I’ve played them digitally first. Maybe there’s a better way to word the question, such as what percent of your board game purchases did you play first digitally?
Best,
Scott
I agree, Scott. I think it’s tough to remember quantities like this when answering a quick survey.
I haven’t tried digital games that I don’t own a physical copy of already. However, I very much enjoy being able to play a digital copy when I have the time and am unable to play with my friends and family.
My wife and I enjoy being able to wind down and play a game together before bed without the hassle of getting the game out and setting up. We can play a game that would typically take an hour or two in less than 30 minutes.
We had an opportunity recently to drive together with family for an event that was three hours away. Unfortunately the driver wasn’t able to play but the rest of us were able to advance halfway through the Legacy game of My City. Obviously this would have been difficult with a physical copy. ( The driver had played the physical copy of the game previously so he was involved as we talked aloud of the different stages of the legacy.)
Jamey, thank you so much for your genuine excitement of board games and for producing such wonderful products. I own nearly all of the Stonemaier games and am closing in on all the expansions. They are awesome!
Thanks Trevor! I’m glad you’re having fun with our games, and that’s great to hear that you were able to use digital games to enjoy a road trip!
> only 4% of respondents indicated that they had bought 6 or more games as the result of playing them digitally.
I don’t know anyone who buys 6+ games a year, of any kind. Keep in mind that in a given group of 4 gamers, if each gamer bought 6 games a year, that would be 24 new games to play, or one ever two weeks. That’s crazy.
I think it definitely varies from person to person, but I would say that nearly every person I regularly play games with has ordered, bought, backed, or preordered at least 6 games a year for the last few years (more for most of them).
It might have been implicitly covered in your list of pros for digital versions of tabletop games, but one reason I like digital games with AI is that it allows for me to solo play multiplayer versions of the game where my opponents are playing with the same rule sets as me. Of course, with physical board games there are often implementations for automated opponents/external forces (e.g., the corrupted mech module in the new Expeditions expansion, the Clockwork expansions for Root) and solo versions of the games, but during times when I am not able to get my gaming group together I simply prefer emulating as close as possible the experience of playing with other people.
I definitely relate to that, Cesar. When I play full-AI digital ports, I like to have 2 or 3 digital opponents to play against.
I actually came to be a Stonemaier fan because of digital versions of their games. Wingspan caught my eye while doing holiday shopping, but I passed it over; I wasn’t sure about how enjoyable the gameplay would be and, well, ~$50 is a lot for a game you aren’t sure you’ll like. Then I saw the digital version on sale for $10 on Steam and figured, for that price, I’d go ahead and give it a try.
That was January; it is June and our physical game collection now includes Wingspan, Wyrmspan, Wingspan Asia, Smitten, and Pendulum, all of which come to the table regularly. For me, the ability to play Wingspan digitally was a deciding factor in my decision to purchase a tabletop version and got me hooked on Stonemaier’s games as a whole. Maybe I’m in the minority, but I really do use digital versions of games as a ‘try before you buy’ thing and don’t view them as a substitute for the physical game; if anything, I’ve started purchasing more physical board games after discovering digital versions were a thing.
Thanks, Hazel! I’m glad you brought up that sometimes the try-before-you-buy benefit of digital games can open up the door to other games from the same company too. Thanks for trying those other games we make! :)
Hey Jamie, I had a question: when you say “developer might simply stop supporting a game, and there’s nothing you can do (this happened to Gloomhaven, and even the Scythe Digital developers have said that they can’t add expansions to the game).” do you mean freelancers or actual companies? Do you not have contracts with the developers (either freelancers or development companies) that provide future services as well?
I’m in the minority that actually buys games after trying. I sometimes try games on KS or games about to be released at fairs, so that I know I can preorder them. But for me, I play BGA weekly, with my friends who now reside in different parts of the world, but in real time. It doesn’t stop me from buying the game. In fact, I prefer to not play a certain game on BGA if I already have it, but I might still buy it if it’s on BGA – unless the setup or the admin are too long. Then I’ll probably not buy it.
I’m referring to the development companies that license the digital rights to the games. You’re right that the contracts could (and probably do) have out clauses, but then you start over from scratch with someone else.
As a small/indie publisher who has had a long career as a software engineer, I have created, and partnered with others to create, digital versions of our games on a variety of platforms (BGA, TTS, Tabletopia, web, mobile). I also play digital games a lot, especially BGA. It helps me keep connected with friends who live in different parts of the world from me.
Here are my top 4 reasons I create digital games as an indie publisher:
1. I get to interact with the community playing it on that platform. They can help make it better with suggestions and I can let them know when there is a way they can get a physical version, like on a crowdfunding platform. I’ll run tournaments sometimes too because those are fun and keep everyone engaged with it.
2. I can use them for playtesting. I’ll usually create early playtest versions on TTS because it’s so easy to iterate on it as cards and components change. Then I can join in online playtesting sessions to play with different groups. Once the game gets ~90% done, I’ll start working on the BGA version of it where I can introduce it to many more people who can play on their own time (without me) to refine the last little bit of rules and balancing.
3. It’s generally free advertising. Yes you have to put time into making them or pay someone to make them, but it’s possible to do it at no cost to you on paper, especially if you have some coding experience. BGA lets you have a free ad banner at the top of your game and they let you have Buy this Game buttons where you can link to your web store, Amazon listing, crowdfunding campaign, or wherever.
4. It gives your game staying power. You can invest time or money building it, but then it’s there ~forever. People will happen upon it there and others who know it will use it to introduce it to their friends. It helps keep sales coming in long after the cult of the new has left it behind.
A few downsides:
-It requires some unique skills. If you don’t have web development experience, you’re probably not going to be able to create a BGA version of a game. Other platforms that don’t have the rules built in are much easier, but still take some technical know-how.
– It takes a lot of time. Making a gateway game on BGA takes me a year working on it ~10 hours/week, even as an experienced software engineer. Even TTS or other platforms like that require you to prepare your images and components in specific sizes and formats to fit them and usually give you some options to write some scripts, but all of that stuff takes time too.
– You don’t have control over the platform. I could spend that year on a BGA game and then they could just not release it because they have so many other games they want to release instead. It can take many months from when your game is done to when they release it. Or they could change their model in a way where it is much less appealing to invest that time, like charging to host games on their platform or charging for advertising.
– You have to maintain it. You’ll get bug reports to fix, which can take time away from your next project. For example, on BGA, they just started requiring games upgrade to a new version of PHP, which means I have to spend time upgrading past games to that version. As a creator, once one game is out there, you’ve probably moved onto something else and you want to focus on that instead.
Thank you for sharing this insightful list of pros and cons! I’m impressed by you (or anyone) who can program these games themselves.
I have only used BGA to either try games to decide whether to buy them and to play with my son who lives hours away. It allowed to know myself better as a player and saved me a lot of money on games I thought I would enjoy and found out were not for me. But I can see how it could lead some people to stopped buying games. But at the same time I have a hard time understanding how I would spend the evening playing on my computer after having spent the day working on my computer…
I agree, Marie. After a long day at the computer, it’s really refreshing to focus on something without a screen on the tabletop. :)
Maybe I am the weird one but I have never bought a digital version of a board game I didn’t already own. I don’t think I’d be able to learn a game, at least not well or enjoyably, without the social aspect or physically touching it.
I only play digital games 2 player against AI as downtime on my iPad. It’s the right blend of doing “something” but that doesn’t require too much thinking or any stakes.
It also means that when we play with friends I’m not at as much of an advantage because most games change quite a lot when you add more people – and real people!
Wingspan is definitely my go-to. It’s so well designed for digital which really helps. I would love an iPad version of apiary as that is my favourite SM game (so far).
I see digital board games as companions for games I already have and love, but like I said, it sounds like maybe that’s and unusual perspective. I understand the challenges from a publisher perspective but I would be sad if there stopped being board games available digitally, specifically for iPad. SM digital game studio? 😉
I don’t think that’s weird at all! I’m considerably more likely to play a digital game that I’ve already played on the tabletop.
I think a full digital version of Apiary would be wonderful! I’d love for a developer to license it. :)
I’ve loved having some of my favorite games available digitally, but one of my surprise joys has been helping write bug reports on BGA. There’s a lot of poorly written reports, duplicates, etc., and I’ve found it engaging to be as helpful as I can in making these implementations the best they can be. My thanks to Jason’s post below for reminding me of this.
Separately, the following caught my eye, as it did when you posted the results of the demographic survey:
“They rarely result in tabletop purchases and may greatly cannibalize tabletop sales.”
It’s an important possibility, as I would never want digital versions to result in the collapse of any board game publisher, least of all Stonemaier. Nevertheless, I can’t shake a certain skepticism about this claim. This is probably due to the fact that I am coming from the perspective of the anecdote of my own experience rather than the bigger picture perspective of a publisher.
But I wonder if there are other perspectives that could help shed light on this claim. Discussing it with some friends, I’ve come up with a couple possible questions for a future survey. I know you want actionable questions and answers, but perhaps just thinking about these questions can help spur further inquiry and insight.
– If you couldn’t play board games digitally anymore, how would you spend that free time instead?
— Playing multiplayer tabletop games
— Playing solo tabletop games
— Playing video games
— Other
– Which of these is the best combination of convenience and helpfulness when deciding if you want to buy a tabletop game?
— Watching video reviews
— Watching video playthroughs
— Playing it IRL
— Playing it digitally
Thanks for sharing these questions! I definitely like the second one; I’m not sure I understand what we might learn from the first one. Could you elaborate?
One of my friends noted that he plays digital versions of board games during his down time, when he’s mostly not spending time with others. This is true for myself as well. I never sacrifice an opportunity to play board games IRL in favor of any digital versions, but I absolutely would sacrifice time playing digitally in order to play IRL.
I would venture a guess and say this is true for the majority of people in the hobby. For this reason, I would also guess that decisions about purchasing a physical board game compete less with digital versions than the simple dichotomy of “digital vs physical” would suggest.
As for the answers regarding multiplayer and solo, I wonder if for some digital might compete with solo time rather than multiplayer time, which would be an interesting and important finding.
Thanks Alex! I see what you’re saying.
I appreciate digital games for being able to play with people I can’t see physically, or on the go where I couldn’t have played otherwise. But I’ll always prefer playing in person, and some of my favourite games are social deduction ones and you just can’t have the same experience digitally. I also appreciate the work developers put into digital games, it’s no small task. I made an unofficial digital adaptation of Valeria Card Kingdoms by Daily Magic Games, because I wanted to put it on my phone and play it everywhere I went – in the end, it became PC-only because it was a lot of work, but it still does everything I wanted it to. So I’m thankful for the developers who are out there making digital games.
Thanks for your comment! I relate to this 100%, especially about how my preference is to play in person (but it’s still nice to connect with people over games who don’t live nearby) and that I’m incredibly grateful for all the work developers put into bringing our games to the digital format.
Well, thank you for starting the discussion. I would also add that being able to play a board game digitally that no one else wants to play with me, with ai players, is really nice. My friends don’t love Cthulhu Realms, for example, but I do, and the mobile app makes playing a solo game now and then really pleasant. Or legacy games that my friends and I just won’t have time for consistently, so while I probably won’t get the right experience playing Charterstone on my own, and I may never get around to it, it’s nice to know it’s there.
I very much enjoyed Charterstone on digital (after completing the tabletop campaign) because it allowed me to try out the other 5 factions that I didn’t get to go with the first time around.
Tapestry is another game that I think works great for digital because there are so many civilization cards to choose from that I haven’t got through them all on the physical game.
Digital versions of these games like these are more attractive to me as a consumer because digital provides something extra that I cannot really get from the tabletop version.
On the downside, the person playing digital can almost become “too good” at the game by intimately learning the mechanics and strategies, playing a game hundreds of times. So it’s hard for them to get back to the tabletop version with friends who haven’t had the same advantage. And I don’t think that is fun or fair to the other players.
I’m glad you’re enjoying those games, Mark! That’s interesting about what happens when someone goes so deep into a digital game that it’s less fun for others to play with them on the tabletop. :)
I do own several digital version of boardgames along side my physical copies but I personally prefer the physical versions of games over digital 99percent of the time but I have made a couple exceptions for specific reasons…
Reasons-
learning: I find that I play a digital version with AI because it’s a great way to teach myself the game. I belong to game groups with very smart talented game enthusiasts that can pick up a game for the first time and just get it. I need to play a game hands on to learn it best and I’m frustrated about that since it would only be the second playthrough that would be more fun having finally learned the game. Having a solo digital game is a pressure free experience for me that enhances my in person playthrough. Obviously I only buy a digital version if it’s a game I really really like.
Setup- I own Gloomhaven. I hate managing and setting up Gloomhaven. The digital app is in my opinion the best BG conversion I’ve ever played. Does it replace the physical copy. No. Just my preference but I don’t think I’ll ever open my box again. lol. Not something a game designer would ever want to hear but hopefully it’s a minority situation among boardgames. Gloomhaven IS a bear to manage at the table even with a box organizer .
Favorite conversion- Dune Imperium. I don’t play the digital version to learn the game. I play it because I love the physical game so much that if I can’t get enough of it.(and it is very popular in my group. It gets to the table a lot)
Thank you for sharing your favorites and your reasons for them!
I’m not surprised that there are few people that buy physical versions of already owned digital versions, but I don’t think that the correlation between digital purchases hurting physical purchases is there, and I think it is still a net financial positive to a developer.
For myself, the biggest roadblock to buying a game is how frequently I get it to the table. It is far easier to play a game with people digitally than to make sure I have the right number of interested humans near me at the right time. For me, if I didn’t buy a physical game I enjoy, it’s because the value proposition to me doesn’t justify it, not because I already have a digital version. If the digital version didn’t exist, I just wouldn’t buy it at all.
And even if I never buy any cardboard, the developer still benefits from increased exposure, both broadly and including my own word-of-mouth praises. It’s far easier for me to recommend a game to someone when I say I’ve played it digitally than if I just read a rulebook and watch a gameplay video. Plus I will be more watchful of other things that developer has made (past and future).
I might compare it to something like listening to an audiobook rather than a paperback. Even if I never buy the book after listening, I will still talk about it to others. I would more closely follow other books that person released. Even buy a copy for a friend I know would like it. The author still benefits from my listening even if the amount I paid for the experience is a fraction of what a paperback costs. If the audiobook didn’t exist, I probably would have just not bought the book and everyone would be worse off for it.
That’s a great point about the power of word of mouth! I agree that it’s important. But exposure isn’t sustainable on its own–a publisher also needs to receive revenue from the product. That’s why I think there’s an important balance to consider in terms of exactly what and when you publish digitally.
Have you heard of screentop.gg Jamey? Any thoughts on the platform vs BGA / TTS / Tabletopia?
I’ve heard of it but haven’t used it. What are your thoughts?
It was much easier than Tabletopia or TTS to set up from a designer’s perspective. But whether or not they have actual traffic to their website is still up for debate I guess
I think this approach makes a lot of sense. I will say that I am one of the ones who has bought a lot of games after trying them out digitally. I used to use Tabletopia quite a bit, and have bought a number of games after trying them out there, including Architects of the West Kingdom, Dice Throne, and Everdell. I’ve also bought games that I tried on BGA, like Tapestry, Heat, and Can’t Stop, and I’ve bought games that I previously bought an app for, like Root and Spirit Island.
For me at least, I try to keep my collection manageable, and best way to do that is to know that the game I’m buying is one that I’m going to want to keep. I find playing online to be fun, but also frustrating and lacking in the tactility that I love in board games, so it’s never my preference to play digitally, especially on Tabletopia where there’s such limited automation (I’ve basically given up on using it as a platform).
I think the strategy of waiting a few years to put a new release onto a platform like BGA makes a lot of sense. The people who will definitely buy the physical game will have done it already, and putting it in a new place will drive new interest from folks who haven’t had a chance to try it or weren’t sure if they should pull the trigger.
Ooooh, how does one become a Scythe alpha tester on BGA? :)
Sam: Thank you for sharing your experience, and it’s great that you often use digital platforms to try before you buy the full tabletop version. I can definitely relate to keeping a manageable collection–some of my shelves are overflowing. :)
Eric: That’s entirely in BGA’s hands–feel free to ask them. :)