An implementation of (electronic) boardgames that makes use ubiquitous screens:
Ideally, everyone sits in the same room. The shared information, basically the board in a boardgame, will be displayed on a common screen. Think a ChromeCast on the wall or a iPad or laptop on the coffee table.
Your private information, basically your hand of cards or so, is displayed on your smartphone. Similar for all other players. Your phone is also where you input your moves.
This setup would fix multiple problems I am having when playing boardgames:
(1) played with cardboard bits, they are expensive to purchase, and you have to do all the tracking and 'calculation' by hand.
(2) played on phone screens only, the screen is tiny and crowded with information and there's not much shared experience apart from sitting in a room together.
(3) more importantly than just making existing game concepts more convenient, this setup allows you to make boardgame-like experiences with novel designs. Especially you can press the mechanism of simultaneous play much harder, while still allowed for interaction.
With the computer as an arbiter, the two teams can essentially play simultaneously. And only the team leaders even need private screens / phones. (You will probably want to synchronize a bit. Eg you still have turns, but both teams can do one turn each simultaneously; then they both start the next turn simultaneously etc.)
Slightly related: I'm also really impressed by https://spyfall.adrianocola.com/ because they managed to make a computer-supported version of Spyfall, but you only need to interact with the computer once at the start of the game. Afterwards, it's all analog.
Ideally, everyone sits in the same room. The shared information, basically the board in a boardgame, will be displayed on a common screen. Think a ChromeCast on the wall or a iPad or laptop on the coffee table.
Your private information, basically your hand of cards or so, is displayed on your smartphone. Similar for all other players. Your phone is also where you input your moves.
This setup would fix multiple problems I am having when playing boardgames:
(1) played with cardboard bits, they are expensive to purchase, and you have to do all the tracking and 'calculation' by hand.
(2) played on phone screens only, the screen is tiny and crowded with information and there's not much shared experience apart from sitting in a room together.
(3) more importantly than just making existing game concepts more convenient, this setup allows you to make boardgame-like experiences with novel designs. Especially you can press the mechanism of simultaneous play much harder, while still allowed for interaction.
For a simple example, look at Codenames https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/178900/codenames
With the computer as an arbiter, the two teams can essentially play simultaneously. And only the team leaders even need private screens / phones. (You will probably want to synchronize a bit. Eg you still have turns, but both teams can do one turn each simultaneously; then they both start the next turn simultaneously etc.)
Slightly related: I'm also really impressed by https://spyfall.adrianocola.com/ because they managed to make a computer-supported version of Spyfall, but you only need to interact with the computer once at the start of the game. Afterwards, it's all analog.