We are living in a strange and turbulent time. The state of quarantine to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus is not an easy thing to cope with for many of us. The hours pass slowly as we are confined to our homes trying to kill boredom as best we can.
Therefore, in this special, we have prepared a good handful of recommendations for online board games to play alone or with friends, although if accompanied, much better! Take a look at the following list and you will see how the hours fly by. We started!
Houseparty
We start with Houseparty, an application that is gaining strength these days, reaching the top 1 for download in several European countries such as Italy or the United Kingdom. The group video call option while playing with friends is a winning combination to hang out these days of confinement.
Available on iOS, Android, Chrome and for Mac, this app offers you a full catalog of classic board games like Trivial, Pictionary or Who's Who. Once you've signed up for Houseparty (it's totally free), you can start inviting your friends to make group video calls up to a total of 8 people .
In addition, with its simple interface we can comfortably manage the app to change cameras, manage the microphone, as well as manage the chat rooms by video call. As you can see, reasons are not lacking to be the number one option for users this season.
Risk Global Domination
A classic board game that is also available to fight epic online battles with friends. Defeat your opponents and control new territories as in the classic version of the game, in Risk Global Domination you can play with friends both on the PC version (available on Steam ) and on consoles.
In addition to the ability to edit custom rules, this version hides multiple game modes to choose from: Global Domination Online, Play with friends online, Individual mode and Pass & Play.
It should be noted that in this version you have a free option to play only on the main stage . Although if you want to have access to all the available options, you will have to pay 3.30 euros for each new scenario, or go directly to the Premium version of 10.80 euros.
Board Game Arena
We are facing one of the largest table game platforms in the world , where you can enjoy a wide variety of table games through online games with users from all over the world.
To give you an idea, it has no less than 175 board games and close to 3 million players to challenge. Now, not all of them are free, since some like the mythical Carcassonne or Uno require a premium paid subscription. Even so, do not worry, because the free options are so numerous that we will not have time to get bored, and where we will find true classics such as chess, as well as multiple card games.
To start playing the first games with friends from Board Game Arena, the first thing we have to do is create an account on their website for free . Next, we will have to follow the steps of a small introductory tutorial to see how the page works. Finally, we only have to notify our colleagues to start playing.
You can easily access it through this link.
Carcassonne
The official adaptation of the famous Carcassonne board game could not be missing from our list. This classic tile-based map maker is available in different versions for PC, Android and iOS. Although you can play alone, its multiplayer mode is downright entertaining and has tons of expansions to keep the party going.
What does it consist of? During the game, we have to place our tiles to expand our territory , or place them strategically close to our opponent to make life more difficult and prevent him from scoring. Once the tile is laid, we have to decide in which area we are going to place one of the figures (the so-called meeples). We can leave them in the city, in the middle of a road, a cloister or in the middle of the field. If we finally manage to complete an area with the help of the tiles, the figure scores for the player.
The fact that each game is different, with constantly changing landscapes, makes Carcassone a great experience to hang out with friends .
Tabletopia
More than 800 board games at our disposal for free. No kidding, Tabletopia is one of the largest catalogs of board games faithfully recreated in 3D so that the experience is as similar as possible to its physical version .
To start playing alone we have to go to their website and register our email to open a user profile. Next, we will access the catalog available through the “All Games” or “Find & Play ” tab , where we will find everything from classics such as chess or Texas Hold'em poker, to other more innovative proposals such as Village .
If we click on the first option "All Games", we will see the entire catalog of games along with a drop-down menu to order them as we see fit. But if what we want is to find games with other users, then we better opt for the “Find & Play” option to find games online .
Tabletopia is available in version for Android, iOS and Steam.
We hope that our guide of recommendations will help you fight boredom this season, whether playing alone or with friends. Everything is little when it comes to filling the idle hours. And remember, if you have any other suggestions that we have not talked about in this special, we invite you to share them with all of us in the comments below.