Luke Visser WestChester Discusses Best Online Board Games to Play with Friends

Board games are among the most classic of gaming experiences. These games are fantastic activities to gather around and chat as you play and form the foundation of many a friendly gathering. In order to keep social distancing and pandemic-safety measures, many people have taken to the internet in order to stay in touch while staying safe. If you’re a fan of board games, try out a few of these big-name and popular online options.

Settlers of Catan

This is a board game that is often considered a gateway that crosses board-game enthusiasts from simpler chance-based games like Sorry and Monopoly into more complex and strategic games. Often referred to simply as ‘Settlers,’ the game has a number of ways to win, and a tile-based board that changes every time you play. This is also one of the board games that has been eagerly brought into the digital age and is available on Apple and Google devices, as well as on PC.

Ticket to Ride

The Ticket to Ride board game is all about forming connections. There are many versions of this game, with boards that represent the American, European, and Scandinavian railways, among others. Players will have randomized goals of connecting different cities by placing their train-car tokens on the board. This game has just as impressive of a conversion to the computer, allowing players to enjoy games with people across the world — forming connections inside and outside of the game. Playable on the App Store, Google Play Store, and PC devices.

Pandemic

This board game has been hugely successful in the past and ironically has enjoyed a resurgence in during the COVID-19 pandemic. This game asks players to cooperate with each other in order to battle the randomly generated outbreaks of a disease that spreads across the game-board. There are several expansion packs for this game — but you will have to by and play via the Steam PC platform to enjoy most of these.

Codenames

If word-games are more your speed, try out Codenames. This game is excellent for larger groups who want to put their heads together. Two teams are given a 5x5 grid of words on tiles. One player from each team sees that some of the tiles are ‘theirs’ and need to use creative word-play and clues to get their team to guess the correct tiles. Though an official version with more features and options is in the making, you can organize a play session through horsepaste.com.

Board games are a popular pastime. Like many hobbies, board games have had to shift into a new and more modern format. Though you can’t recreate the joys of an in-person game night, you’ll be able to fill the void with these online versions of the board games you love. Do you have a favorite online version of a physical board game? Comment with your best recommendation!