How good ware some games when you play them on Board Game Arena. I haven’t played a ton of games there yet, but I’ve played a number of the ones that I have. And the ones that I have played, I’ve generally played a number of times. So let’s talk about, briefly, what works or doesn’t work with these games on Board Game Arena and a bit generally about the positives and negatives.

Benefits and Drawbacks of Board Game Arena

Let’s start with some of the basics on stuff. I think that there are some benefits and drawbacks that are pretty consistent across the board. That being that the game doesn’t let you do a move that you can’t make. So when I come along, it tells me if I’m doing it wrong. So it is a solid spot to learn a game and solidify the rules. It is also good for playing games that are harder to consistently get to my table.

The downside is that it’s sometimes tricky to remember where you are in a game. And we’ll get to which ones it is trickier. But you might be playing a number of games, or even if you aren’t, you might be a bit of time between turns. That time makes you want to have a number of games going on Board Game Arena, but also means that you’re refreshing your strategy often.

The Games

Castles of Burgundy

This one is the one that I spent the most time learning the rules of the game. It is solid for that and as you play more games you get a better idea of that. I think for a heavier game, Castles of Burgundy is one where it is easier to see your strategy so easier to pick it up if there is a day or more delay on when you take your turn. So it doesn’t suffer as much from that asynchronous delay.

Slide

Slide is so simple that it works well. I’ll say this once here, I haven’t played it in person, but I think I’d like it better in person. That can be said for all oft he games on the list. Slide, though, works well because there is a fairly high amount of luck to it. As you flip tiles over, you don’t know what you’re going to get. So you react to what is available on your turn or what pops up when you flip. There is strategy as to where you flip tiles, but it’s really simple to pick-up.

Mind Up!

Mind Up! is one that I’ve played a lot on Board Game Arena and I’m not sure that I’m playing it right there. What do I mean by that? I think that Mind Up! is one that can be broken the most by playing it on Board Game Arena. When you play in person you kind of try and remember who has what. Well, I can take notes in BGA and know exactly who took what. Or, I can have a lot of time between turns and remember none of that. So it breaks one element of the game which makes me want to play it less. Or I want to take notes, which feels like cheating.

Cartographers

Cartographers is one that is pretty fun to play on Board Game Arena. It is up there with Slide in some ways. There is less luck to it, and I need to look at the scoring each time I pull of the game. Those are the downsides. But Cartographers is more reactionary to what is flipped, so it works well. And it is fun to play a large group game of it. Not as smooth or as fast as in person, but I’m trying not to say that every time.

Forest Shuffle

Forest Shuffle is one that I think works pretty well. It got it to hit my table in person again, so that is nice. But as far as one to play on Board Game Arena, I think it is good. The biggest struggle is remembering your strategy for the next turn. Forest Shuffle is the game that I’ll use the note feature on most often because you need to optimize your turns. So it helps to write notes about what to do next and help you remember your optimized scoring. It’s good, though, in the implementation and a solid way to learn the game and learn the cards.

Planet Unknown

I am in my first game of Planet Unknown. Playing this way is not as good as the regular game. I think they did a solid job with the digital implementation, but it still isn’t as good. Mainly because this game requires that you remember some things between turns, like what your strategy is. And you likely want to set-up people to take certain tiles or not take certain tiles. That is harder to do in the digital version. But as far as just playing the game, it does work. The complexity level and the fact that it’s pretty fast in person mean that it isn’t my favorite.

Lost Ruins of Arnak

Finally, Lost Ruins of Arnak, this is one of my favorite games of all time. It is okay on Board Game Arena. Take everything I said about Planet Unknown and place it here as well. I think you need to use the notes a fair amount in this one, which I haven’t done. And it is trickier to just look at everything and take it all in as to how you’ll optimize future turns. And when the game really focuses around that in person, I feel like I’m missing some in the game playing online.

Now, I say that, but I also have played once where the whole game was a quick back and forth over a day, that makes it a whole lot better. But that is not my most common way to play it, so I think it does lose some and that is worth calling out.

Final Thoughts

The more I play Board Game Arena, the more I want to play these games in person. So I don’t think it does what it is setting out to do for a lot of these games. They almost all would be better in person. The downtime is higher. And I think that makes almost all games suffer. They do offer the note taking, and I should use it more often, but it still isn’t the same. And that is inherently going to be the issue.

However, while I say that all of them are weaker, I still like them all on there. Lost Ruins of Arnak by far being the weakest. And I think that Slide is the best because you need to remember the least. What I think I should do is play more games and a wider variety. I think I should learn games like Ark Nova and Terraforming Mars on here as they will help me know how to play my copies. That is the best part of Board Game Arena, that and just playing more games.

What games do you find that work well on Board Game Arena, or ones that won’t work well?

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