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"Tabletop simulator: we test digital board games

9.4.2020

Translation: machine translated

Digital board games are particularly popular at the moment. For reasons I don't think I need to explain to you. So the four of us decided to try out "Tabletop Simulator". We've chosen a classic board game, Brändi Dog. The live session starts at 2pm.

"Tabletop Simulator" has enjoyed great popularity for almost five years now, and it's been on my wishlist for quite a while now. And like many other gamers, I've finally decided to buy it. In these times when I can't invite my friends home for a game night, I invite them to join me online.

In response to my article on the best way to play or watch a movie with friends, reader Schnurle highly recommended "Tabletop Simulator" for PC. And he wasn't lying. "Tabletop Simulator lets you join a virtual living room with your friends and sit down at a virtual table to play a virtual board game. As you'll have gathered, this virtual world is also available in VR.

"Tabletop Simulator" offers games in the form of DLC, which are generally quite elaborate. You can also take a look at the Steam Workshop. There, players have recreated a huge selection of well-known board games that you can add to "Tabletop Simulator" with one click.

And tables fly

In the game, each player sees the same board set up on a table. To play, we use the keyboard and mouse. Everything is done manually. You need to know the rules and the game does not intervene if you move pieces incorrectly or draw too many cards from the deck.

The game also includes a hotseat mode allowing all players to play on the same computer. You can even use this mode despite the social distancing. Steam's Remote Play mode lets you invite your friends even if they don't own "Tabletop Simulator". But as all players then share control of the mouse and also see everything that happens on the table, not all games are suited to this mode. In "Hero Quest", for example, where one of the players is the game master and knows everything about the game, you don't want the heroes to know what monsters and traps are waiting for them.

In multiplayer mode, you don't have this problem. With this mode, everyone plays for themselves and only sees their cards - unless you draw them from your opponents' hand. The game lets you express your emotions, even without a voice call. For example, by knocking over the table and the board. But don't worry, thanks to the rewind function, you won't need to put the whole board back.

We played "Brändi Dog", watch the video to see how our game went.

We stream with:

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Philipp Rüegg

Senior Editor

Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.ch

As a child, I wasn't allowed to have any consoles. It was only with the arrival of the family's 486 PC that the magical world of gaming opened up to me. Today, I'm overcompensating accordingly. Only a lack of time and money prevents me from trying out every game there is and decorating my shelf with rare retro consoles.

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"Tabletop simulator: we test digital board games

And tables fly

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