Five Interesting Family Board Games That Are App-Driven
Board games are seen by many as the analog solution to the digital excesses of the modern world. They allow you to take a break from the constant assault on your senses and detoxify yourself.
Today, we have a new breed of board games which combine the charm and simplicity of old school games and the immersive gaming experience of the digital world. These are app-driven board games, which are designed to provide an interactive and immersive experience with the help of an app.
Let’s take a look at five of the best app-enhanced family board games.
Beasts of Balance
This game basically gives a new twist to an old school game – Jenga. Instead of stacking bricks, you stack animal shaped objects on top of one another and construct the world of Beasts of Balance.
The pieces and the platform can be synced with the Beasts of Balance app using a wireless data transfer technology called NFC. As a result, whatever you do with the pieces gets reflected on your mobile screen.
The game is competitive – the beasts and the cross-breeds are divided into several groups, each of which belongs to a competing player. You are supposed to protect your beasts and prevent them from being stolen by other players. The presence of the app makes the game more engaging and interesting.
XCOM
This was originally a PC based game, which has now been given a makeover and developed into an app-driven board game. The game requires you to take on aliens and unidentified flying objects.
There are four key characters – commander, chief scientist, central officer, and squad leader – all of whom play a key role in thwarting alien attacks.
The app guides you through the game, increases the pace of the game at each phase, and helps you make decisions at critical junctures with limited information.
While the app is not an essential part of the game, it certainly adds a great deal of ambience and makes the game so much more captivating.
Mansions of Madness
This is one of the most complicated yet thoroughly enjoyable board games available on the market today. The plot is quite simple – you have to fight off demons and ghosts in a mansion and escape from it.
There are, however, a large number of rules and each phase of the game is filled with so many twists and turns that you might actually need an interpreter to explainneverything. Thankfully, there is an app to take care of all these things.
The app explains the rules, tells you where you should put the tokens, lets you know of the movements of monsters, and does so much more.
Spin to Sing
An updated version of the good old spin-the-bottle, the game allows the players to judge each other’s singing ability. Each player has to sing a song, which is displayed on the app, while the rest have to rate their performance using the app. The person with the highest rating wins the game.
Doctor Panic
You belong to a group of medical professionals whose sole duty is to keep a patient alive. There are four levels – initiation, easy, normal, and difficult – and you can work your way up from the lowest level. The app adds a sense of urgency to the game and forces you to save the patient within 12 minutes.
Did we miss your new favourite? Let us know in the comments!
