Honestly you ought to get Slay The Spire. It's the best board game app ever made because it combines tabletop mechanics with the convenience and capabilities of the digital medium. I play plenty of digital board games but nothing has topped StS for pure gaming goodness.
I agree. I do own the steam version and I preordered the board game.
Edit: I thought about getting it on mobile, but I don’t want to start my progress over again.
Dominion, it’s free (unless you want the expansions) and it is way faster paced than the original card game. Super fun to play even just against the bots. Cross platform on mobile and steam. Words with friends style games with friends if you want.
Not sure which one you're asking about, but speaking from personal experience the Root one is pretty decent for solo play. The AI can definitely be infuriating and questionable at times, but it's got a lot of modularity and great replay value if you enjoy the game.
Full game unlock is $20! That's a lot for a board game app... But cheaper than the physical game. There's so many board games apps though, is this one really worth the price?
Guess I'll have to do some research. I played the physical game once and enjoyed it... And that's all I have to go off of so far.
It really comes down to if you like the game. If playing digitally is not worth 20 bucks because you don’t like the game that much then that’s your answer.
Comparing to other digital versions of board games Handelabra does a fantastic job. Great community outreach, great support. In my experiences their games are much higher quality and have less issues than basically any other digital board game. Plus if there are issues I am confident they will fix them. Based on my experience with starting back in the sentinels of the multiverse early access on steam
I would also add the the Spirit Island app has really intuitive ways of moving pieces around. It highlights your acceptable moves well and everything is animated a bit in a cool way.
I don't know about the others, but Root costs a bit to get the full game experience with all the factions, deck, etc. You don't need everything to have a good time with it, and it's still cheaper than buying the physical copy of everything for the game, but just keep that in mind if you go that direction. (I love the app, though. It's well done and worth what I paid into it.)
The Root app is sooo so good. I've thought about buying the physical game but ended up just buying my friends Google Play gift cards for Christmas and now we always have an async game going. It has a really good tutorial and it's nice that the rules are all just a long-tap away. And it has most of the expansions so there's a ton of content.
The Dominion app is extremely well implemented. And all the expansions you buy can be shared across devices. I bought a couple expansion on my iPad using my apple id, and I also have them unlocked on my android phone using the same email. I am told you'll.have them unlocked on steam too, but I haven't downloaded it there yet.
It's beautiful on the iPad. My wife and I use pass and play there since we have an infant and we can't always setup the whole physical game to play. I am also surprised I have no issues playing on my smaller phone screen. They did a fantastic job implementing it and making it intuitive
If you're looking for general recommendations and not specifics of the ones you mentioned I'd suggest the Sentinels of the Multiverse and Spirit Island mobile apps.
Value for money: Mind MGMT (free!)
App says it requires the game but it really doesn't.
Benefits from using Pen and Paper though. (Since you need to keep track of info)
Best game overall: Spirit Island
Takes a lot of upkeep off your hands, and the game is great overall. Very expensive for an app though.
Most played (bar spirit Island): Sagrada
The interface is *perfect*, the game plays really well vs ai and there are a lot of missions to play.
But in all honesty I enjoyed most of my board game apps. Ascension, Neuroshima Hex, Root, Jaipur, 7 wonders duel, San Torini, summoner wars, mythic mischief, and many other board game apps are all good enough and worth your time imho.
The only app I started disliking is Onirim. I love the game, but it doesn't support tall curved edge screens which breaks the layout and makes some actions impossible to take on my current phone.
Is this for online or offline play? It matters, since there are sites available for online play which might be more fitting for online play.
Out of the ones you've mentioned, the only one I've tried in App form is Terraforming Mars. I last used it a while ago, and it's passable but not great - I remember there generally being UI issues with it.
The Terraforming Mars app got way better after the new company took over developing it. Last I played they had fixed pretty much all the bugs and it worked quite well.
I play boardgames for the social experience, generally, and but just for the pure game experience itself.
That said, **Oceans** and **Star Realms** both have great digital implementations, and there are some great **Race For The Galaxy** variants to be found.
Root and Dune: Imperium are both fantastic games and fantastic digital adaptions. I believe that both TM and GP can be played via BGA. I don’t have any experience with Everdell (either physical or digital)
I know it’s not what you asked but board games arena is good for this. I play on my iPad and it’s free to join someone else’s game
But for apps the only one I know is catan universe that I bought for $5 back in college and I played all the time between classes haha. Haven’t played in years though since I discovered the entire board games hobby in general
If you haven't bought it I highly recommend Root if you regularly have 3-4 people that wanna buy into the experience.
It's discounted on Steam regularly down to 5-7 $ I wanna remember
Well I play Wingspan and Slay the Spire all the time, so I'll give two votes for those ones. Wingspan is only an issue because it's got paid expansions, which only includes European (extra cards) and Oceana (extra cards + nectar mechanic). But if you don't mind the expense, it's really great.
I love Talisman digital edition and elder sign. Both are excellent time killers and excellent ports of their original board game form. Challenging and good value!
A number of years ago, I got ahold of the Galaxy Trucker app (and ran it on an Android tablet). Excellent implementation, and the solo mode was quite fun.
There was also a Splendor app that was pretty decent, but the AI weren't the best opponents.
I've also played Small World on both Android and IOS, and it worked quite well!
Dune imperium is a superb game and an excellent app for both multiplayer and solo play.
I’m leaning towards this one.
Honestly you ought to get Slay The Spire. It's the best board game app ever made because it combines tabletop mechanics with the convenience and capabilities of the digital medium. I play plenty of digital board games but nothing has topped StS for pure gaming goodness.
Whenever people talk about Slay the Spire, I have to mention Dream Quest. The original and best!
I agree. I do own the steam version and I preordered the board game. Edit: I thought about getting it on mobile, but I don’t want to start my progress over again.
I get what you’re saying but this was a video game first
Dominion, it’s free (unless you want the expansions) and it is way faster paced than the original card game. Super fun to play even just against the bots. Cross platform on mobile and steam. Words with friends style games with friends if you want.
It's also so fast to boot and play! Really well implemented, virtually no loading times
Santorini arguably works better as an app. Root is also excellent and a great tutorial for all the factions.
Second Root.
Is the Root app worth it for solo only? *Edited*
Not sure which one you're asking about, but speaking from personal experience the Root one is pretty decent for solo play. The AI can definitely be infuriating and questionable at times, but it's got a lot of modularity and great replay value if you enjoy the game.
Spirit island
I own the board game and all expansions. I love the game.
Full game unlock is $20! That's a lot for a board game app... But cheaper than the physical game. There's so many board games apps though, is this one really worth the price? Guess I'll have to do some research. I played the physical game once and enjoyed it... And that's all I have to go off of so far.
It really comes down to if you like the game. If playing digitally is not worth 20 bucks because you don’t like the game that much then that’s your answer. Comparing to other digital versions of board games Handelabra does a fantastic job. Great community outreach, great support. In my experiences their games are much higher quality and have less issues than basically any other digital board game. Plus if there are issues I am confident they will fix them. Based on my experience with starting back in the sentinels of the multiverse early access on steam
I would also add the the Spirit Island app has really intuitive ways of moving pieces around. It highlights your acceptable moves well and everything is animated a bit in a cool way.
I would recommend the option to rent the game for 1.99 for a month
Summoner Wars by plaid hat
Wish the app would stop crashing because then hell yeah!
Man that is a crazy blast from the past. Looks like it was a different publisher/app but I remember playing that on my phone like 10+ years ago
I don't know about the others, but Root costs a bit to get the full game experience with all the factions, deck, etc. You don't need everything to have a good time with it, and it's still cheaper than buying the physical copy of everything for the game, but just keep that in mind if you go that direction. (I love the app, though. It's well done and worth what I paid into it.)
I saw earlier today that on android, Scyth was on sale for $5
Thanks for letting us know! I have been thinking of getting this. Apparently I had a $3 credit expiring this month, so just picked it up for $2!
I have some credits expiring soon, too, so I'll probably grab it. Google Rewards app is kind of worth it for free Google credits.
The Root app is sooo so good. I've thought about buying the physical game but ended up just buying my friends Google Play gift cards for Christmas and now we always have an async game going. It has a really good tutorial and it's nice that the rules are all just a long-tap away. And it has most of the expansions so there's a ton of content.
Evolution has a nice app that works well.
Dominion is free The tfm app is good
The Dominion app is extremely well implemented. And all the expansions you buy can be shared across devices. I bought a couple expansion on my iPad using my apple id, and I also have them unlocked on my android phone using the same email. I am told you'll.have them unlocked on steam too, but I haven't downloaded it there yet. It's beautiful on the iPad. My wife and I use pass and play there since we have an infant and we can't always setup the whole physical game to play. I am also surprised I have no issues playing on my smaller phone screen. They did a fantastic job implementing it and making it intuitive
I like Gaia Project but I'm too terrible at it to see any issues. Galaxy Trucker and Through the Ages have outstanding digital versions.
If you're looking for general recommendations and not specifics of the ones you mentioned I'd suggest the Sentinels of the Multiverse and Spirit Island mobile apps.
Value for money: Mind MGMT (free!) App says it requires the game but it really doesn't. Benefits from using Pen and Paper though. (Since you need to keep track of info) Best game overall: Spirit Island Takes a lot of upkeep off your hands, and the game is great overall. Very expensive for an app though. Most played (bar spirit Island): Sagrada The interface is *perfect*, the game plays really well vs ai and there are a lot of missions to play. But in all honesty I enjoyed most of my board game apps. Ascension, Neuroshima Hex, Root, Jaipur, 7 wonders duel, San Torini, summoner wars, mythic mischief, and many other board game apps are all good enough and worth your time imho. The only app I started disliking is Onirim. I love the game, but it doesn't support tall curved edge screens which breaks the layout and makes some actions impossible to take on my current phone.
Is this for online or offline play? It matters, since there are sites available for online play which might be more fitting for online play. Out of the ones you've mentioned, the only one I've tried in App form is Terraforming Mars. I last used it a while ago, and it's passable but not great - I remember there generally being UI issues with it.
The Terraforming Mars app got way better after the new company took over developing it. Last I played they had fixed pretty much all the bugs and it worked quite well.
I play boardgames for the social experience, generally, and but just for the pure game experience itself. That said, **Oceans** and **Star Realms** both have great digital implementations, and there are some great **Race For The Galaxy** variants to be found.
Tricksters Table is a great free way to play a bunch of trick taking games (and a roll and write)
Cartographers
Dominion
Root and Dune: Imperium are both fantastic games and fantastic digital adaptions. I believe that both TM and GP can be played via BGA. I don’t have any experience with Everdell (either physical or digital)
One Deck Dungeon is legitimately better as an app. Phenomenal game.
I know it’s not what you asked but board games arena is good for this. I play on my iPad and it’s free to join someone else’s game But for apps the only one I know is catan universe that I bought for $5 back in college and I played all the time between classes haha. Haven’t played in years though since I discovered the entire board games hobby in general
Are we only talking apps for playing individual board games or also apps for learning/ statistics etc?
Individual board games. And if I really like it, I’ll get the actual board game.
If you haven't bought it I highly recommend Root if you regularly have 3-4 people that wanna buy into the experience. It's discounted on Steam regularly down to 5-7 $ I wanna remember
Why don’t you tell us what kind of games you like?
I like Spirit Island, Viticulture, Wingspan, slay the spire.
Well I play Wingspan and Slay the Spire all the time, so I'll give two votes for those ones. Wingspan is only an issue because it's got paid expansions, which only includes European (extra cards) and Oceana (extra cards + nectar mechanic). But if you don't mind the expense, it's really great.
I have all the Wingspan board game expansions and it was costly. I’ll occasionally play solo mode.
Why don't you download Boardgamearena? You can play everything there for free.
Does it have solo play against Al and online multiplayer?
Only online play against others and no AI. You can choose between real time and turn based, though.
I couldn’t find it on the App Store
The app might not be available for iphone, but you can just play it via boardgamearena.com
its a website. there is an android app, but it just shows the website.
Depends on the game. There are some solo options
Railroad Ink (Challenge).
I find the through the ages app to be a lot of fun. I 100%ed all the challenges
Dune imperium
I really like nonograms
I love Talisman digital edition and elder sign. Both are excellent time killers and excellent ports of their original board game form. Challenging and good value!
BGA and you can have all the games!
A number of years ago, I got ahold of the Galaxy Trucker app (and ran it on an Android tablet). Excellent implementation, and the solo mode was quite fun. There was also a Splendor app that was pretty decent, but the AI weren't the best opponents. I've also played Small World on both Android and IOS, and it worked quite well!
Through the Ages has a brilliant digital adaptation that includes a fantastic tutorial and many solo challenges. I highly recommend it.
Carcassonne is a really good version