Social Distancing: Tabletop Gaming from Home - Part 1 (Phone Apps)
I’ve been working from home for 7 years now. Some might even say that I’m a master of isolation. Right now we’re living in more uncertain times than ever so I wanted to put together some resources for people who are attempting to stay entertained, while gaming from home and being a responsible adult.
I’m only including and naming games that I’ve personally played and enjoyed in this article, however, I’m happy to take additional contributions from other folks (and give them credit) if they’ve played and enjoyed games they’d like to add to the list. I will be updating this list as time passes and feel free to shoot me an email if you have something you’d like me to add.
This article will contain just a couple of amazon affiliate links because it took me ages to write.
Streaming Apps for Face to Face Time
Houseparty
This is a great social app for shooting the shit with your friends and hanging out. If you’re playing Animal Crossing or board games but still want to be face to face, it’s a great alternative to the build in Nintendo Switch Voice App! I have wireless phone charger stand which I recommend for apps like this!
Be.Live
BeeLive is an app that allows people to play games, broadcast and socialize on Facebook and YouTube. It’s great for content creators and influencers to interact with their friends and fans.
Discord
Discord is my preferred method of video communication. They have a really great software that removes background noise which can mean the occasional clipping of words but overall results in a better quality of sound and video for both parties.
Google Hangouts
Honestly, hangouts are overloaded right now and I do not recommend it for the time being but if it’s all you know how to use, it does function okay when you can actually hear and see the other person. It does the job, sort of.
Skype
It does the job. It’s fine, I guess.
Board Game Apps on the Marketplace
I’m an iPhone User but there are hundreds of tabletop games available for iPhone and Android phones as well as Steam. They’re not all winners but the ones that are winners, completely rule. This section is simply designed to give you enough information about the game to help you decide if it’s the game for you!
Ascension
Ascension is one of my all time favorite deck building games. I would even go so far as to say I have played TOO MUCH Ascension. After you’ve played this game to death I’d recommend giving Star Realms and Shards of Infinity a try.
This is a deck building game in which players are racing to have the most victory points. They gain these by adding cards to their deck by paying their cost using the cards in their hand or using the combat points gained by playing their hand to defeat monsters and gain victory points from the victory point pool. These are limited and the end of the game occurs when this pool runs out.
Download for iPhone (Free*)
Download for Android (Free*)
*In-App Purchases Available
7 Wonders
7 Wonders is a classic tabletop game designed by the famed Antoine Bauza. This is possibly the most popular hobby drafting game ever made. In it each player is given a hand of cards and they choose one to take and play in front of them. These cards can be a number of different types. There are resources the players can collect on cards. These are used to build other cards. There are marketplace cards that will allow the player to acquire resources for cheaper or simply provide additional resources or money to the player. There are cards that will give the players straight victory points and there are some cards that will give players victory points or coins but only if they meet very specific conditions listed on the card.
In front of each player is a player board where they will be putting their cards and they’ll have the option to build the various sections of their wonder in front of them. Each player will receive different bonuses based on each section of their wonder and they’ll receive that bonus when they take a card they would otherwise draft on their turn and place it face down under that part of the wonder and can pay the necessary resources to build it. If the player doesn’t have the resources they need they can pay coins to the players on their left or right to purchase that resource from them. This doesn’t impact the number of resources available to that player but they do receive the coins from the player who purchased the resource. Some buildings can allow players to build other buildings without paying their cost in a later turn. The game is played over three rounds, alternating the directions the players are passing their cards each round. The players discard the card they don’t choose when they’re down to just two cards to choose from.
It’s easy to earn, easy to play and in the end, the player is really just picking one card each turn. It doesn’t get much easier than that.
Download for iPhone ($4.99)
Download for Android ($4.99)
Catan Classic
Settlers of Catan is a luck-based classic euro game and the app version offers a fantastic campaign mode that’s loads of fun and includes several expansions and in-app purchases for more content. Don’t let the cute aesthetic fool you, the computers can be brutal and it’s a challenge worth facing!
Download for iPhone ($4.99)
Download for Android ($4.99)
LeHavre The Inland Port
It’s been a very long time since I’ve played this game but I know I love the physical version. I will recommend only playing this on a tablet due to the fact that I recall it being very difficult to mentally process the board state without seeing the resource table at the same time as well as the players resource states. On the phone app you have to switch back and forth while on the tablet both were visible and as a person with ADHD, it made the processing of the information far easier.
Download for iPhone ($3.99)
Download for Android ($3.49)
Agricola
There’s nothing quite like farming and being unsure if you’re going to be able to feed your family. In Agricola you’ll do just that by playing a cute really challenging and miserable worker placement game. While the game is grim, scenario wise, the game play is top notch and always leaves you wanting more. If you’ve ever played the physical version, it certainly makes the transition to the digital version a whole heck of a lot easier and more enjoyable. I prefer doing pass and play for this one.
Download for iPhone ($4.99)
Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small
Medieval farming for two with all the animals and none of the starvation. Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small does a great job of taking the tense, large box, Euro experience of it’s older sibling and streamlining it down to a relaxed, surprisingly chill, and satisfying experience for two. Toss the crops, the fields, the planting...hell, you are tossing out your family too, keeping it to a reasonable, nuclear family of three. Each player takes a turn placing a family member on an action area to gather resources, build fences, herd animals, and construct stalls, stables, and other special buildings that will allow more opportunities to score at the end of the game. And for those experienced with Agricola, they *finally* allow the edges of your small one-roomed hut and any other buildings to count as fences -- providing more opportunity to strategically place buildings and fences to make the most of limited space.
Download for iPhone ($4.99)
Download for Android ($4.99)
Download for Steam ($9.99)
Lost Cities
This is a known classic Knizia game for just two players. If you’re stuck at home with a partner you like, I recommend giving this a try. If you’re stuck at home with a partner you don’t like, I REALLY recommend this game.
Download for iPhone ($1.99)
Download for Steam ($9.99)
Castles of Mad King Ludwig
Castles of Mad King Ludwig is a delightful competitive puzzle of a game. You are an architect of sorts: you need to take room tiles of varying shapes and sizes and combine them into a castle that the titular king favors over all others. Every turn, one player will draw random tiles to fill the marketplace and decide the marketplace costs. Then each player buys one tile, adds it to their growing castle, and scores it.
You have multiple paths to creating a winning castle. There are the public objectives (known as the king’s favor) that everybody’s competing for, as well as private objectives (bonus cards) hidden from other players until the end. Different room types will give you different benefits or bonuses, and many room tiles will give you bonuses or penalties depending on how you arrange or combine them. And any size of tile that gets used up counts extra in the final scoring, as they are obviously popular and highly desirable.
The app allows up to four players, either AI or pass-and-play with other humans. It also has a solo campaign mode that focuses on the puzzle-solving aspects of the game’s theme and mechanics.
Download for iPhone ($7.99)
Download for Android ($7.99)
Lords of Waterdeep
Welcome to Waterdeep, Friends! This place has A LOT going on and it is your responsibility as one of the many lords of Waterdeep who provide the shadow government for this port town. You will be sending agents into different locations to recruit adventures (fighters, clerics, rouges, and wizards) in order to complete quests and score points. You can also construct new locations and then skim a bit off the top whenever someone uses it for their own benefit. You can play the ever dangerous game of palace intrigue to hamper opponents. Toss them a superfluous side-quest that wastes their precious, precious resour- errrrr...adventurers.
Download for iPhone ($3.99)
Download for Android ($3.99)
Download for Stream ($6.99)
Race for the Galaxy
I much prefer roll for the Galaxy personally but if you love heavy engine building games with infinite complexity this is the game for you! It’s created by a very passionate team of incredible app developers and its definitely worth checking out.
Download for iPhone ($4.99)
Download for Android ($4.99)
Download for Steam ($6.99)
San Juan
On the simpler end of engine building games this is a card game based on the notoriously offensive Puerto Rico which distastefully has slave usage in it and personally, do not recommend Puerto Rico, however, San Juan is a delightful little city building economic game that’s easy to learn and play. I love the app version of it especially for plane rides because playing a whole game takes so little time but still provides the same satisfaction playing a heavier game does.
Download for iPhone ($0.99)
Download for Android ($4.99)
Raiders of the North Sea
I love the physical copy of this game and admittedly haven’t spent the $10 on this game but I’ve heard great things and if you don’t have the physical game it’s a cheaper alternative while stuck at home!
Download for iPhone ($9.99)
Download for Android ($9.99)
Download for Steam ($14.99)
Isle of Skye
In the tile-laying game Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King, 2–5 players are chieftains of famous clans and want to build their kingdoms to score as many points as possible—but in each game only four of the sixteen scoring tiles will be scored.
Download for iPhone ($3.99)
Download for Android ($3.49)
Download for Steam ($6.99)
Star Realms
I love Star Realms! This is a fun deck building game where you pick a faction in a stellar war, and draw cards to fuel the purchase of resources (more cards) and also combat your opponent. The online competitive mode is strictly dueling, but the solo campaign has a good story and is a lot of fun. Free-to-play but with loads of additional content available for purchase. They also have some really cool contests with great prizes!
Download for iPhone (Free*)
Download for Android (Free*)
Splendor
This is one of my absolute favorite app games not only because the game is quality but because the challenges built into the game completely transforms the system of the gameplay. The challenges built in the app version keep Splendor feeling fresh with regular updates. It’s well worth the $5-10.
Download for iPhone ($4.99)
Download for Android ($4.99)
Download for Steam ($9.99)
Tokaido
Tokaido is possibly one of the most peaceful and relaxing tabletop games on the market. While I prefer it in real life, if you’re looking for a relaxing experience to emulate the relaxing stroll and adventure, this might be the game for you.
Download for iPhone (Free)
Download for Android (Free)
Download for Steam ($9.99)
Patchwork
This is one of my very favorite tile laying games right up there with Kingdomino. It’s simple enough to teach almost anyone once they wrap their head around the mathematical aspects of the game. While I don’t absolutely love the digital app implementation interface, I still recommend downloading it because the price is right and the game is worth it especially if you’re looking for an easy to learn and play two player only game. It’s also designed by one of my favorite board game designers, Uwe Rosenberg. That said, in the app, the user interface is hideous so beware.
Download for iPhone ($3.99)
Download for Android ($3.49)
Download for Steam ($6.99)
Paperback
If you’re looking for a cutesy word-themed deck-building game, this is a great mobile game for your favorite bookworm. If you want to learn all about the game itself, feel free to pick up, my book!
Download for iPhone ($3.99)
Download for Android ($3.99)
Download for Steam ($4.99)
Cat Lady
Cat Lady is a delightful little game and in paper form it's for 2-4 players. In this app you can also play 2-4 players but you can also play against the computer if nobody wants to pass and play with you. In the game players are playing cat ladies who are adopting cats and making sure they are well fed, clothed, and generally taken care of. You do so by drafting rows of cards in an orthogonal direction. Where you place impacts where the other player after you can place the cat token when it’s their turn so while the game might be cute and light hearted, it can end in some very malicious turns.
Download for iPhone ($1.99)
Download for Android ($1.99)
Download for Steam ($4.99)
Morels
Morels is one of the most pleasant board games I’ve ever played in real life and it’s just as lovely on mobile. In this game the goal of the game is to be the player who has the most cooked mushroom points at the end of the game. On their turn each player takes one of the first two cards in the row of things to forage. There are a total of 8 between the two players and on them are mushrooms, pans, baskets, and bonuses. On their turn each player can take a number of actions. They can only take one action each turn. They can either take a card from the first two available cards, discard sticks to take cards further down the row, they can discard 2 or more mushrooms to gain sticks, they can play a pan card from their hand in front of them or they can cook 3 or more of the same type of mushroom in a pan. The mushrooms' value varies depending on the type of mushroom and they can be cooked with either butter or honey to increase the point value of the cooked mushrooms. The player at the end of the game with the most points, wins!
Download for iPhone ($4.99)
Download for Android ($4.99)
Shards of Infinity
Shards of Infinity is a deck building game similar to the popular card game Ascension with the main difference being that instead of competing for the most points, the players are competing to outlast their opponents by keeping their health above 0. They each start with a set amount of health and then each turn they play 5 cards from their hand which will give them purchasing power to acquire cards from the marketplace, allowing their deck to grow in power. These are placed in their discard pile and shuffled back into their deck when they run out of cards to draw from their initial 10 card deck. These cards acquired will also allow them to deal damage to the other players and even heal their own health. There will also be powerful combinations within the factions if there is more than one of that faction played in a turn! Each player will need to plan carefully if they want to emerge the winner of Shards of Infinity.
Download for iPhone ($7.99)
Download for Android ($7.99)
Download for Stream ($7.99)
Cribbage with Grandpa
My grandma and I used to play Cribbage and I’d shout to my grandpa from the other room what my hand was and how many points I thought it was worth. If I missed any, he’d let me know. Cribbage is a classic card game in which players are each given a hand of 6 cards and choose 4 to keep for their hand and 2 to give to the “crib”. The Crib will give points to whoever dealt the cards out that round and this role will alternate each round between the two players. Then the deck is cut and a card is turned face up visible to all players. This card will count towards any players hand including the crib which will be revealed after each player takes turns playing one card back and forth scoring points for the sum of the cards played. If a player plays a card that adds up to a total of 15 they gain 2 points, if a player plays a card matching the previously played card they gain 2 points, if they play a third they gain six, and they score 2 points if their card totals the sum of the cards on the table to 31. The score may never go over 31 points total so if the player can not play a card that would make the sum 31 or less, they must say, “Go”, restart the sum total and the other player scores one point.Players then score points for pairs, runs, triples, quads and any combination of cards that add up to 15. The players are racing to the end of the board and the first player to “peg out” wins the game.
Download for iPhone (Free)
Download for Android (Free)
Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a tabletop game classic in which players are simply picking a tile and then, if they choose to, placing a meeple. After placing their tile, if they have any of their meeple tokens available they may choose to place it on an available space. Players will be scoring points for meeple they have laying down in open fields, these score points for every finished castle touching the open field. Players will also score points if they have a meeple in a castle when it is completed for each tile in the castle. If there is more than one player in the castle, the player with the most meeple in the castle scores the points. If they tie, they both gain points. Players will also gain points for cloysters which are tiles that only score when they are fully surrounded by 8 other tiles, or score points with 1 point for each tile around it when the tiles are all played onto the board. Players will also score a point for every portion of a road they build if they have a meeple placed on it. Tactful placement is required to win this game and it’s a battle of the wits! While it’s not currently available for purchase on iPhone it is available on Steam and Android and a new version of the game is coming soon to Apple.
Download for Android ($4.99)
Download on Steam ($9.99)
Ogre
Technically a minis game, but plays like a board game. This classic from Steve Jackson Games has been around a long time in various forms. Essentially, you’re an army fighting against an Ogre (a nearly indestructible AI controlled SuperTank.) In two player mode, one of you plays the Ogre. It’s not a fair fight, but it’s a lot of fun.
Download on Steam ($24.99)
One Deck Dungeon
This fun dice and card game simulates a dungeon crawling adventure. Fun for solo play. Cards are drawn to reveal monsters, and dice are rolled to unlock special abilities and attacks. Play progresses until you reach the bottom of the dungeon and the final boss.
Download on Steam ($9.99 on sale for $4.99)
Pathfinder Adventures
This game takes the traditional deck-building concept and turns it on its head. Players take on the role of RPG characters and play out a storyline, similar to D&D/Pathfinder. Addition Decks available to purchase for more adventures
Download on Steam ($9.99)
Talisman
This is the Fantasy Flight Games edition of the classic Games Workshop adventure game. Players can choose from many different characters, each with different special abilities as the compete to become the first to reach the center of the board and complete the game by defeating the big boss. Multiple expansion packs available for purchase. Lots of fun solo and multiplayer.
Download on Steam ($6.99)
Ticket To Ride
This is one of my daughter’s favorite game. Players take turns drawing cards in an attempt to get enough matches to build a railroad segment in order to connect cities. Each player has a set of cities they need to connect, which is a secret (until it’s done.) Some friendly competition over limited/narrow segments as players try to complete their routes. Good for younger kids as well. Game comes with United States map board, but other countries (and eras) can be downloaded as well.
Download on Steam ($9.99 on sale for $4.99)
Gloomhaven
Based on the wildly successful Kickstarter board game, the Gloomhaven digital board game is still in development, but don’t let that scare you away. In this city based dungeon crawler, every game you play affects subsequent games, as you unlock new races, classes, locations, and lose some(!) along the way. Many, many, many, many, maaaany hours of gameplay.
Download on Steam ($24.99)
7 Wonders Duel
I love 7 Wonders is an all time favorite of mine but I hated the digital implementation of the game because the social aspect was a HUGE part of what I enjoyed about the original game, however, 7 Wonders Duel made an absolutely perfect digital implementation. My one warning is, play it through with the computer 2-3 times before playing with another player and have them do the same. It’s best to be somewhat familiar with the gameplay before diving in head to head.
Download on Apple Store ($4.99)
Download on Google Play ($5.99)
Bebo
Brittanie Boe is a writer, photographer and video producer who founded Be Bold Games in 2018. Her passions include her cat Dax, her daughter Hailey, bouldering, and going on adventures to capture the perfect photos on her camera.
She writes about her perspective as a Latinx woman in gaming and is passionate about intersectional feminism as well as queer inclusion and advocacy. When she’s not tweeting she’s off in the mountains playing ukulele and singing at the top of her tiny lungs.