Nate Dickson Thinks...

I've loved board games since I was little. My wife and I connected early in our relationship over the fact that we both loved Cosmic Encounter, and have both played it to pieces. We have three bookshelves full of board games and at least one dedicated board game night a week in our family.

So social distancing was a bit of a hit for us. We can still play board games with our kids and with one another, but not with our friends. Fortunately one of my best friends discovered a little site that fixed that for us.

Board Game Arena is a way to play a lot of games online. They have a massive collection of games that they've converted into easily browser-playable formats. There's nothing to download, and you don't even have to pay to play most of the games on the site. There's built-in voice and even video chat, if you're into that, and the whole thing just...works.

And it gives you the ability to have that new board game feeling without buying all the games. You know the feeling. You and some friends pick up a game and you start to figure out the rules, start to see how it fits together, figure out a few good strategies, and really get into this whole new little world.

I've discovered a few games through BGA, including:

• Can't Stop, a push-your-luck dice rolling game that is inexplicably good at waking me up when I'm tired.
• Kingdomino, a tile-placement game that is simple enough that my four year old can play, but is also actually fun. Sapiens, similar to Kindomino but with a few interesting new wrinkles.
• Downforce, a strategic racing game with great art.

And others. I can't help it, I love the site. I've played games with small groups of friends, small groups of work friends, and family groups, everyone seems to be able to find something to love.

You can also play “turn-based” games, which in this context means that you take one or two turns per day, like old school play-by-email games.

Okay, anyway. Board games are good. Being able to play them at the drop of a hat is also good. Go sign up for an account. Hit me up on Mastodon if you want to be friends on BGA and play some games together.

#100DaysToOffload 11/100