Simulates a full tabletop and physical game pieces.
Tabletop Simulator is online tabletop sandbox game with multiplayer physics. The sandbox nature of the game means there are no rules to stop you from playing however you want. Want to pick up and throw someone’s piece, go for it, but they might not ask you back to play. This freedom allows near limitless gaming possibilities; with a deck of cards alone you can play hundreds of games. In Tabletop Simulator we supply you the tools, so you have the freedom to play anything. Play a game of chess one minute, and with one click continue your epic role-playing adventure!
Through the use of multiplayer physics you can pick up, manipulate objects, and play a multitude of games just like you do in real life. Computer adaptations of these classic tabletop games lack the charm of their predecessors due to their restrictive nature. Just being able to pick up dice and roll like you can in Tabletop Simulator, is part of what makes a tabletop game a tabletop.
This sounds like one of those things that only seems like a good idea if you don’t actually think about it very hard.
I guess that the real value is just as a script-able shared tabletop gaming environment, and the physics thing is basically just a hilarity generating marketing ploy?
I guess if the scripting is flexible enough you could wind up with a 3D, physics enabled version of Vassal. Might be cool to actually pick up and move your 40k or Warmachine pieces around as you play your long distance friends.
After seeing Total Biscuit and crew play Battlestar Galactica with this tool, I went ahead and purchased it. Looking forward to getting home, checking out what mods are on it, and maybe setting up some game nights?
The only Martin Wallace game I have right now is Onward to Venus. I don’t think there is a mod for it, but will happily create one (for personal use). I will always make sure that someone in a group has the game I am playing with this since I am a huge fan of board games. I saw a mod for Firefly, and thought that would be perfect as well, mainly for the time it takes to set up that game and the table space. With our cats in the house, that is a challenge, but I could use this even for just my wife and I to play the game without worrying about keeping all the assets out on the tables.
Wow thanks for the info - I’m definitely picking this up. I’m all on board if anyone here wants to play some online board gaming as it’s hard to play in person w/ 2 little girls!
Just to clarify, these mods don’t enforce any rules, right? It’s literally just a box of pieces that you can move around however you like? Because if that’s what it is, there are other (free) tools that do this relatively well and already have a large library of existing game modules. Vassal, CyberBoard, ZunTzu. And they don’t let your opponent flip the table.
I picked up Tabletop Simulator recently (only $11 on Humblebundle atm) and have been having a great time with it. It gives more of a ‘you are there’ feel to the gameplay which i don’t get from the other programs mentioned above. Table flipping is an just an option that can be disabled by the game host along with many other features/functions so you can minimize rude behavior. The game autosaves and the host can rewind time if something happens to the board/pieces. He can also kick/ban people with a click of the mouse. Obviously, playing with mature and responsible people gives the best results as with any game/system. If you setup a public/open game then you pretty much can rely on getting some of the idiots/griefers that occur in all online games. The host can set a match to private mode with password access.
There is a great selection of game modules available (Legendary Encounters-Aliens, Spartacus, Firefly, Dead of Winter, Roll for the Galaxy, A Study in Emerald, Lords of Waterdeep, just to name a few i am currently playing) and i am hoping to find some more people interested in joining me for some board game fun. Friend Vormithrax on Steam if you would be interested in joining me and a few other folks i have recently met up with.
Vormithrax,
Invite sent! Consider me very interested, i didn’t realize you could simulate all of those games on TS. How much setup is involved to get those running? Is it anything like OCTGN? (which I’m somewhat familiar with from Netrunner)
Most of the modules have all the pieces organized coherently on the board at the start in various piles/stacks/bags/etc. Some games have Meeeeelions of pieces with all the expansions included. The host can add/copy/paste/delete anything he needs very quickly/easily. If your not going to use an expansion, just highlight those items and hit ‘delete’. One of the big advantages of this program is that you can setup a game however you want with all the pieces and player positions ready to go…then just make a save file and its ready to go whenever you need it. takes just seconds to be ready to play any game as long as the host organized things and made a save file ahead of time. If a game takes multiple play sessions, just save the game whenever you need to and reload it in a jiffy when the players get back together again…poof! your playing instantly from where you left off with no setup time! You can change games in seconds and be off and running on a totally new adventure. Feel free to poke me when your online and i’ll be happy to give you a tour of the program and some of the game setups i have ready to go so you can get a good sense of what it can do.
I’ve setup a Steam Group to help us organize - TTS BGG, Tabletop Simulator Board Game Geeks. It’s set to private currently as i would like to avoid random pubbies and i have sent out invites to folks here on QT3 and at Boardgamegeek that have friended me recently. This should make communicating much easier. Hopefully we can get a critical mass of players so that enough are online to get decent pick up games going relatively often.
Game Over Man! Game Over! Final Score: Aliens 1, TTSBGG 0
MAY 23 - VORMITHRAX
Well our first foray into Legendary Encounters Aliens ended in the crushing defeat of our illustrious party. Four Brave(unlucky) crewman attempted to escape/destroy the Aliens on the Nostromo (mission set 1). We struggled mightily and managed to make it to the final Mission Objective but ultimately were swarmed under by the power of the Perfect Organism (and his double-striking) alien buddies.
Thanks to everyone for a great first game! I look forward to many more.
Even with a first time player I thought we did okay. We definitely could have synergized the decks better. That first movie really needs a lot of Coordinate between players especially towards the end. With that brutal hazard deck setup though it would have been tough either way. Airlock controls as the last card in the deck!
Yeah, we did well all things considered. In addition to the coordination effects, I think we needed to trim down our decks prior as much as possible before we started hitting those 3rd mission aliens. Too many of us were drawing starter cards with not nearly enough power to handle those hard hitters. It will take a few plays to get better at the balance necessary to survive/win.
How is the copyright issues with the modules? I see all kinds of games (Warhammer, Magic) that I would have thought didn’t want you to use their games?
From what I have seen some modules do get removed from the Workshop due to DMCA type notifications from the rights holders. the more recent the game the more likely this is to occur of course. Many have been up for a long time though. With the full release in a couple weeks they are starting to put out info on paid content from game creators. I assume that will continue but i have no idea who/what/when/price of the modules that may arrive eventually. Many people buy physical copies of the games they discover through this program as nothing beats real world face-face board gaming so i would hope some of the companies are getting some advertising or sales due to these modules. I’m not overly concerned regarding the price of TTS though. I got my $15 worth in the first couple days alone easily. I’m not expecting it to give me access to every board/card game ever created into infinity. For the price of a movie ticket i have gotten many hours of fun already and will enjoy it while it evolves in the future.
