Boardgames are best played locally with a group of fellow players. Sometimes however, it may not be possible to assemble a group to play locally. Maybe members of the group are ill, on vacation or have other things to do. Another reason may be that you like games that other members of the group don’t want to play.
That’s were online boardgame services come in. BoardGameArena is one of those. It is one of the largest services of its kind. You may play hundreds of popular and lesser known boardgames there.
To name just a few major ones: Catan, Wingspan, Azul, Ark Nova, Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne or 7 Wonders.
You do need an account to get started, but creating an account is free. Free users are limited in some regards. One of the main restrictions is that free players can’t create new tables for certain games. You may still join tables to play these games, but a premium member has to create the table in the first place. Premium is available for $3 per month if billed yearly.
Premium members have other benefits, including that multiple players can join from the same network or access to video and voice chat.
Getting started at BoardGameArena
Creating the account is the first step. Once done, you may want to start browsing the list of available games. The list is divided into sections, e.g. popular, casual games, family games or core gamer games.
Each game includes information on how to play it. Many include tutorials that teach you the game while you play it. Rules are always linked and you find video tutorials for many of the games as well.
You may want to add games to your list of favorites. These become available on the main page then when you select “play now”.
All open tables of your favorite games are listed and you may join any of those. You may also display all open tables or search for open tables for specific games.
There is also an option to watch a game without participating in it. This is an excellent option to learn the game.
Here is a quick list of what you may want to do after signing up:
- Browse the list of supported games or use the search to find games of interest.
- Read the rules, watch rule explanation videos or use virtual tutorials to learn the game.
- Add games to your favorites to get open tables highlighted when you select the play now option on the site.
Playing boardgames
You play all boardgames in the browser. All modern browsers are supported and most games instruct you what you need to do in each turn.
First-time players get their time doubled. There is a time limit in all games. If you don’t play within the time limit you may be kicked out from the game by a vote. This affects your reputation on the site.
When creating games, premium players may block others from joining based on their reputation or skill in the game.
Most games require that you click on elements on the screen when it is your turn. You may be asked to play a card, put a meeple on the board or perform other actions that are common in boardgames.
BoardGameArena supports other game modes. The most common mode is “simple game” and “real-time”. You may switch simple game to arena or tournaments instead. Real-time can be switched to turn-based, which gives players more time and does not require them to be at the table at the same time.
Closing Words
BoardGameArena is a well maintained boardgaming website. New games are added regularly and players on the site are, for the most part, very friendly and helpful.
You may join the site to play exclusively with your friends, provided that at least one of the group subscribes to premium, or play games with people from all over the world.
While it does not beat playing games locally, it is an excellent option if time, location, availability or other factors prevent local sessions.
Now You: do you play boardgames?