Last fall, Dave Banks shared the Kickstarter campaign for Tabletopia, an online sandbox for tabletop games. It funded successfully and the browser-based version has been up and running. Yesterday, it also became available on Steam Early Access, with a downloadable game client.
It’s $9.99 for the early access, which means it’s still in beta–getting in now lets you give the developers feedback, but it already gives you access to about 200 fully licensed board games to play immediately. You can also play with people who are using the browser-based version, so they don’t have to have the Tabletopia client installed to share a game with you. (Current Tabletopia users should automatically get an invite code for the Steam version, so you won’t have to pay again.)
Tabletopia will work on a subscription model with varying levels (including a free Bronze level). The level you pay for will give you access to different sets of games–for instance, the free version may give access to a base game, with the premium subscriber getting the game’s expansions. When the finished version of Tabletopia is released (current projection is early summer), Early Access customers will also get a free month of Gold subscription. (There are also higher subscription levels for game creators, in case you want to set up your own games in Tabletopia.)
I’ve been given an access code but haven’t gotten a chance to really poke around under the hood yet, so I’ll report back when I’ve had a chance to play around a little more. One thing I’m excited about is I’ve noticed in recent months that many Kickstarter games have started using Tabletopia to demo their games–it’s a way to get a polished-looking game without the expense of actually printing it up–and I’m curious to see how it will work.
If you love tabletop games and you’re looking for a way to play games with some online opponents, check out Tabletopia! For more information, visit the Tabletopia website.
“One thing I’m excited about is I’ve noticed in recent months that many Kickstarter games have started using Tabletopia to demo their games–it’s a way to get a polished-looking game without the expense of actually printing it up”
Kickstarter game developers, especially those offering print-and-play versions of their games, should also be aware that there are many other options available to them for creating digital prototypes (http://battlegroundsgames.com/links/#anchor7). For example, Battlegrounds Gaming Engine (http://battlegroundsgames.com/battlegrounds-gaming-engine/) is a 2D virtual tabletop program specifically designed for boardgames, wargames, card games and dice games, and it is already available as a finished product (curently at v1.7). A big difference is that you don’t have to pay an expensive recurring monthly subscription. A $15 one-time fee gets you a license that’s good forever and is sufficient for creating a digital conversion of your games and playtesting them online. And if you want an even lower price-of-entry, a mere $2/month gets you a subscription for up to 7 players.