My Top 10 Favorite Board Games That Require Digital Apps

[@veryawful861]

I play board games deliberately to escape technology, the last tabletop games I wanna play is one that requires a phone or tablet.

[@HowLongCanUMakeAName]

The Stegmaier cat index: HANDSOME CAT steals the show at 3:20. STEALTH CAT lies in wait until 5:30. PEEKABOO CAT (aka handsome cat) demands your attention at 18:45.

[@yoavhelfman1888]

thank you for your service

[@brentonswenson4125]

At this point Gloomhaven requires an app for me. I'm not sure I'd even want to play it more if I had to play it unassisted.

[@Mepper.]

World of Yo-Ho published by Iello/Volumique in 2016 was an innovative game that required an app. It showed both the positive and negative sides. You put your smart phones down on the board to show your ships and have animated battles between ships, and you picked up your phones to receive private information. That was great when it worked. The three problems were 1) It came out before people were ready for app integration, 2) The app had problems with its network code and people had problems of getting dropped from their games, and 3) Since the game didn't sell well enough they stopped maintaining the app.

[@stephenspackman5573]

I *am* a software engineer, and I think longevity is an immense problem. Nobody is going to invest in maintaining a piece of software after it is no longer making new sales, and the idea that a thing on the internet will exist for as long as the internet does is absurd. I've been around for 20 years or so, and believe me, *nothing* is still up. A few things have been archived, but if they're software, it takes at very best great technical knowledge to get them to run. Even passive websites only last for as long as someone is paying for the server to run and keeping pace with changing standards. Librarians have been terrified about this since the nature of the 'net became apparent, and they are just as terrified now as they were then. All technical attempts to mitigate this-and it's an entire research area-have been nixed by technology companies that want to sell you the next great thing and media companies who want to sell you the same old thing over and over again! But my childhood board games-and my parents'-and my granddad's dominoes-all play fine. Let's eschew this app thing, and instead continue to innovate in clever real-world mechanisms and work on keeping our personal dramatic reading skills alive!

[@Vyolynce]

Dropmix definitely has two game modes: Vs. and Party. Vs pits two players/teams against each other in a race to score 21 points, and Party pits everyone against random timed challenges ("play a blue card", "play a level 2 card").

[@ransombaggins9301]

There is a segment of gamers who love the idea of an automated "dungeon master," whether for single player games or groups where no one wants to or feels comfortable being a DM. Also, the future will definitely include more and more digital implementations and it will be exciting to see how different creators try to master this element.

[@kerrylmatthews]

I really love your videos! They are so well put together, enjoyable and concise!

[@Sabury]

Thanks for the video, now I need to see if Forgotten Waters is available in France. 😃 Not realy a board game but you could check Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. One player is in front of the computer, describing the bomb on the screen, while the other players can't see the screen but they have the manual and they tell him how to defuse the bomb. Great for group play. By the way, your cats are just gorgeous.

[@JerzyMuller]

Meeple Circus also uses an app as a timer, with a great thematic tie-in, as the timer is the circus music score.

[@jameystegmaier]

You're right! I totally forgot about that.

[@denisloebner4882]

just ordered forgotten waters yesterday. cant wait!

[@kirklynch]

I really enjoy your videos. Always insightful and appreciate your perspective. I am always disappointed how dissed Alchemists gets by the experts though. It is far and away my favorite game. The theme is so completely fleshed out with all the actions seamlessly integrated to create an interactive gaming ecosystem. And the deduction element is so much fun, it's like Clue on steroids. If I had one complaint, it's that I agree with your assessment about how cerebral it is. The phone usually times out from being idle too long waiting for the AP to clear! HAHA. Of note, I totally was surprised you didn't include One Night Ultimate Werewolf (and Bezier's additional expansions). I played this at a Gencon tournament last year with 80 others. They had the app connected to a big screen and speakers in a dimly lit conference hall with candles and tablecloths. It was incredibly fun! So what games are all about!!!

[@jadyx75]

Thanks for the video! I think the game management and interactivity is a huge win for me with these. We love Mansions with numerous plays and have played through Middle Earth twice and now waiting on next expansion. Can’t wait for Time of Ledgends and Chronicles coming from KS. I hear you about putting down the digital, but found like Mansions it actually gets more people involved that aren’t as hard core in board games because it adds the visuals and sound components. Would love to see one of your games have an app!

[@JohnLudlow]

Almost ordered Forgotten Waters. Only reason I didn't was the shipping to the UK costs more than the game itself

[@phillosmaster393]

It is a fantastic game.

[@letsduet3123]

We like your videos because your videos are unique. Love journeys in middle Earth is amazing!

[@tsweet71]

Maybe I've missed a couple of videos but the visuals are way better. It doesn't look like glossy concrete walls anymore. Thanks for the upgrade

[@louiesamuel9189]

Journeys through Middle Earth is such a great game. It deserves a higher ranking.

[@jameystegmaier]

I'm glad you like it! As for the ranking, people have different opinions about different games.

[@Archytas-Leroy55]

I love playing board games but when it uses an app, it kind of turns me off. I play games to get away from technology not enguage it. I do play some games that use an app, but still prefer me and some cardboard.

[@Kildain717]

U-boot is amazing! I don’t own it but played it this summer and I think the app is required. Best 6 hours of gaming I’ve ever had!

[@superslimyslugs]

Great video! Curious to hear more of your thoughts on Forgotten Waters!

[@IODISH12]

Like the other Fantasy Flight games you covered, Imperial Assault has a useful app that helps facilitate coop/solo play.

[@IODISH12]

Oh, and it includes a system for connecting enemies in the app with pieces in the board and you can check health any time. Surprised JIME didn't adopt or improve upon this as well.

[@Sabury]

The app is an option, but for my group it was a huge improvement as the game became full coop.

[@clintonjeffrey6699]

World of Yo Ho; early adopter of apps and kind of forgotten atb this point, but great use for hidden info.

[@ventsiiliev422]

I've just had an idea about a card game and I have several inspirations from different games about how my game can be played. As far as I understand the mechanisms of games can't be copyrighted, but what does this mean for specific rules/effects of cards? In one of the cases the card effects are really linked to the mechanism, which why I am asking. I would love a video on the topic, but responses are also really appreciated.

[@jameystegmaier]

There's a bunch of information on this topic under "Legal and Accounting" on this page we maintain: stonemaiergames.com/kickstarter/full-list-chronological/ You can use mechanisms found in other games, even specific effects. You just can't plagiarize the exact wording.

[@roqueguzman4750]

Great video Jamey! Chronicles of Crime es a excelent game and the app is totally inmersive.

[@markoxford]

Whilst I agree that delays on a app causing the actual game delivery being postponed is an issue that needs management, I think you miss the advantages of game assistance apps. Games like Gloomhaven need the Gloomhaven helper app to manage the combat, and I think Wingspan would greatly benefit from an official scoring, and end goal management, app. Look at the Great Western Trail Scoring app on Android to see how even an independent developer adds value. An app to aid in scoring, rules and goal manage is not very complex, would be easy to build and easy to keep updated.

[@alexandrasalas1198]

You should try "Last Defense" :)

[@jameystegmaier]

Thanks! What do you like about it?

[@louishalbgewachs2518]

Overall I like the EXIT escape rooms better, however some of the new UNLOCK! escape rooms do some amazing things with the App that you could not do without an App. Very creative.

[@SenseiJae]

so the question becomes, do we really need the board and components if the app is doing all the heavy lifting? Why not just make it a video game?

[@erikpeters7072]

So why do we need digital versions of board games?

[@erikpeters7072]

anyway the real reason is that for these story driven games you have 3 options: a dungeon master, a book or an app. Not everyone wants to or even can play the role of DM so that means games that need one are rarely going to get played and only people who have access to one will buy it Second option is a book that will be huge and heavy and will cause the games base price to rise as well as shipping price and many people don’t like having to flip through hundreds of pages to read a couple paragraphs. Last option is the app which won’t add any cost to base game or shipping and can be updated remotely and doesn’t require flipping through pages just typing in a number Now if you have no interest in narrative driven board games like the ones mentioned here then I can see why you might not understand or care but for those of us who do apps can give us access to games we normally wouldn’t be able to play or experience

[@esoteridactyl]

XCom!!!