For as long as there have been digital versions of battle-maps, industrious nerds have been trying to connect their physical D&D miniatures with their virtual tabletops, using ceiling-mounted projectors or monitors inlaid into their tables. The dream is to enjoy all the features of a VTT battlemap, like animation, fog of war, and special effects, during in-person RPG sessions – and that dream looks closer than ever, thanks to ‘Board Tabletop’, a new app for the physical / digital hybrid Board games console that is now available in open beta.
If you missed the Board Game Console when it released late last year, it’s a huge, robust touch screen tablet, the size of a small flatscreen television, that can identify and determine the position and rotation of custom playing pieces using special tracking tech. The result is a games system that offers the immediacy and socialness of a board game, with many features that are only possible in digital games – you can check out my review of the console at launch to learn more.
The Board Tabletop pack comes with six special bases that you can slot regular 25mm scale D&D miniatures into – these only have one size, so you’ll have to do some jury-rigging if the mini for your character’s DnD race uses a bigger base size. Once the mini is on the Board it will detect it, letting you trigger bespoke visual effects, or reveal the fog of war as you move the miniature. Board Tabletop comes preloaded with over 100 maps from Czepeku Maps’ catalogue, you can import your own map files, and if you have a Foundry VTT subscription, you can turn the Board into a peripheral that connects to your PC and works with Foundry.
Board Tabletop is in beta testing at the moment, and I’ve requested a review sample. Since I wrote my original review of the Board, the price has come down, a necessary change I think. The console’s killer app isn’t any one game, but the fact it really does feel like a board game with digital capabilities – the sample in my house is only ever used multiplayer, usually by my daughter with her friends, and it feels more social than a regular games console. A valuable offer, but hard to put into direct competition with the Switch 2.
Have you picked up a Board? What features would you like to see in Board Tabletop? Or have you created your own custom digital / physical hybrid system to use minis with your VTT? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the Wargamer Discord community!
Source: Wargamer
