The New World of Long-Distance Game-play

One of the biggest advantages of card and board games is the social aspect. But this highlights an interesting issue: in the modern era it’s much more common for people to move away and live apart from their families, so playing in person happens rarely. Using modern online solutions however, this separation can be a thing if the past.

The Modern Example

Some of the most popular ways people play games online today are born from the world of online casinos. This has been the case since the early days of the internet, with this corner of gaming continuously growing into the international juggernaut it is today.

A modern and relevant incarnation of this comes from the creation of live casino games. These are games which play identically to their traditional counterparts, save for the fact that the dealers are actual humans being video streamed into player’s homes. Covering games like blackjack, roulette, hold’em, dream catcher, and many more, the only real limit here is audience interest in various genres.

Building Our Own Incarnation

So we see it’s easily possible to create our own favourite live games.

This can be accomplished through the use of very simple hardware, and often free pieces of software. Consider the the game of bridge – we’ve seen this game played long distance using only laptops and mobile phones. Alternatively, a simple webcam can be used for a desktop PC should a player not own a laptop.

Once these pieces are acquired, the first step is to set up a group video call using a program like Skype, or whatever other video calling system you prefer, on your laptop or PC. Running alongside this on your mobiles, could be a multiplayer bridge game found on arcade game websites like Kongregate.

We’ve been able to utilise this setup example to play with friends half a world away, and the same idea works with almost any other type of board, table, and card game available.

The Next Step

While this technology is already super cool, there’s still a lot of potential yet for this sector of gaming to expand. Live streaming over video is a step above anything online which has come before, but now we also have VR and AR gaming.

With proper setups, these might allow users to superimpose their player groups digitally into their homes, making what’s already a great experience all the more engaging. We might have a few years before these devices become ubiquitous and cheap enough to be viable on the mainstream, but this is a matter of when rather than if.

The takeaway from all of this is that being far apart from your playing group rarely means you have to go without. By taking a few simple steps, you can keep in touch and enjoy all the games you love, alongside the social activity which this promotes. It’s simpler than you might think, and the payoffs are big fun.

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