Who is interested in modern board games?

[Sorina Garrigus]

There are a number of board and card games in SL ... But only a very small handful are innovative or have inspiration for more modern games. To be frank ... most of the games in SL pretty much are copies or inspired by games between 5000 BC and the 1960s. 
I was curious how many modern board game fans are out there. I was considering trying to bring some more games with more modern ideas to SL if I can find scripters to help pull it off.

Some games of note in SL that are more modern ... There is an inspired by version of Catan in SL but it is quite old. massively primmy (255 prims) and most of the prims have scripts in it. It was created at a time when scripting was much more limited. En Garde recently returned to SL, which is a Reinier Knizia game. The most modern game is Nova Relic which is inspired by the RL game Onitama. 

[Coffee Pancake]

As someone with a huge IRL board game collection I would love better newer games in SL .. but that comes with licensing and legal issues a plenty.

 

[Katherine Heartsong]

22 minutes ago, Coffee Pancake said:

As someone with a huge IRL board game collection I would love better newer games in SL .. but that comes with licensing and legal issues a plenty.

This. I've been on BGG (if you're a gamer, you know the site) for so long I feel like I'm Aldy or someone. My RL collection once topped 1,000 and I'd hit all the major cons every year. Now much more selective after so long boardgaming. And I just *knew* @Coffee Pancake you'd be a gamer, of course you are!

Also, there are far easier ways to play boardgames online that implementing them in SL. Boardgamearena, Vassal, TTS, etc.

Edited March 7, 2023 by Katherine Heartsong

[Sorina Garrigus]

7 hours ago, Coffee Pancake said:

As someone with a huge IRL board game collection I would love better newer games in SL .. but that comes with licensing and legal issues a plenty.

 

This is true. However there are at least two licensed games in SL. Khet also known as Lazer chess is licensed and En Garde is also licensed. I can find out the details on how that happens and costs. I also have a RL game store and contacts in the boardgame industry. I can explore some options for that and make some inquiries. 

[Sorina Garrigus]

6 hours ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

This. I've been on BGG (if you're a gamer, you know the site) for so long I feel like I'm Aldy or someone. My RL collection once topped 1,000 and I'd hit all the major cons every year. Now much more selective after so long boardgaming. And I just *knew* @Coffee Pancake you'd be a gamer, of course you are!

Also, there are far easier ways to play boardgames online that implementing them in SL. Boardgamearena, Vassal, TTS, etc.

Super familiar with Boardgame Geek. I technically have a collection of over 1200 board games .. though I have a board game store in RL and it is my board game library for the store. If it was just mine alone it would probably drop down to 800. It sounds like you already passed the visiting Ikea for shelving stage in your gaming career hahaha. 

With some improvements in SL with experiences and the like I honestly say that SL would be more on par with platforms like boardgame arena and in some cases like with Engarde improves upon it a bit.

Direct conversions without licensing can be problematic for sure. Some can get away with being inspired by. Legally speaking people can do versions of monopoly (ew monopoly  I know). A company called late for sky does all kinds of monopoly type games and they were sued by hasbro but won. Mostly because of using opoly at the end. It wasn't over game play. But I think there is room for inspired by games. If I track down a good scripter that isn't busy with skill games I have a few in mind to get the ball rolling. 

I recommend you check out a game called Nova Relic. If you are familiar with a lot of two player modern board games you might find this one very familiar. For something with a tad more original check out Galaxy War. I play this one frequently in SL just because it has some good solo options. 
 

[Coffee Pancake]

The entire board games (and ttrpgs) industry is very incestuous, so it's fertile ground for mashing things together and making something new. I'm not sure making SL themed versions of existing games is the way to go, especially when physical games often have mechanics or theming based around tokens or props that just can't translate.

The SL version of Catan is a marvel of scripting and prim craft, but its not an easy game to learn or play, and doing it in SL is actually harder than RL.

Party games translate well, but those have already been covered on way or another.

[Sorina Garrigus]

13 hours ago, Coffee Pancake said:

The entire board games (and ttrpgs) industry is very incestuous, so it's fertile ground for mashing things together and making something new. I'm not sure making SL themed versions of existing games is the way to go, especially when physical games often have mechanics or theming based around tokens or props that just can't translate.

The SL version of Catan is a marvel of scripting and prim craft, but its not an easy game to learn or play, and doing it in SL is actually harder than RL.

Party games translate well, but those have already been covered on way or another.

The SL version of Catan is a marvel of scripting when it was first made when scripting was far more limited. If it was made today it would be 225 les prims and 240 less scripts. When it was made it was an impressive task. If it was made today it would come off as absurd and lazy. It was made at a time when scripting couldn’t affect other connected prims. Currently it is just a fun interesting SL museum piece.  A ton of gateway level games would work great in SL. Things like carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, and Splendor would all work just as well. A good scripter could make it just as good as an app based version. When SL introduced experience features they vastly improved the potential for board games in SL. In the past you would have to click in a game dig for a hud attach it etc. now you can just sit down at the game, the hud appears on automatically and you are off and running. 
i would say it is the exact opposite of what you suggest. Party games are better in person. They might work ok in SL if everyone happens to have a mic but if it doesn’t something like cards against humanity would be pretty lame if played silent because it needs that shared laughter. But a well crafted boardgame in SL can translate nearly one to one. Boardgames will always be better in person of course because of the shared experience … but in SL it would at least be better than say playing an app. Having avatars present enhances the experience more than just a voice or just text.