gloomhaven

Top 5 Board Games Better as Video Games

Published on May 23, 2026May 24, 2026 by KyraLeave a comment

Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here. The title of this post sounds sacrilegious. It can be difficult to believe someone who rates the Dorformantik Board Game above the video game that inspired it, to also rate some video games above their inspiring board/tabletop games. I love board games. But several video game adaptations work better than the original board games. There are various reasons why a board game or tabletop game may be better as a video game, and I’ll share why I prefer the digital version to the physical version of the game. I still play some of these board games in their original form, but all the games on this list make better video games than board games.

5) Ticket to Ride

We begin with a game I play digitally and physically, Ticket to Ride. Asmosdee Digital does an excellent job translating Ticket to Ride to various online platforms. Since I have an iPad and an Android smartphone, I’m certain I’ve purchased Ticket to Ride for at least three or four of its possible platforms. Each version makes it easy to see what other players (typically AI players for me) have done on previous turns and plan future turns. Ticket to Ride’s tutorial is quick and easy, which makes sense: the game is quick and easy to learn.

The reason why I play Ticket to Ride on digital more than my physical copies is my gaming group has moved passed this classic gateway game. I could litter this entire list with digital versions of some of my favorite, classic gateway games like Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride or even Smallworld (also from Asmodee Digital), but I like Ticket to Ride’s interface just a bit more and the extra maps add an extra layer of variability without needed to store dozens of bonus Ticket to Ride maps.

I like getting in a game or two of Ticket to Ride while I wait in line or I’m traveling. I highly recommend the digital Ticket to Ride.

4) Sentinels of the Multiverse

Sentinels of the Multiverse is another old favorite. Yes. Like Ticket to Ride, my gaming groups have moved past this board game to other games of its ilk, but there are more reasons why Sentinels of the Multiverse makes this list. The game takes a while to set up and take down (this reasoning will come up again), and Sentinels of the Multiverse has a lot of cards that trigger at various intervals and during different turns, which makes triggers easy to miss.

Sentinels of the Multiverse: The Video Game eliminates the need to remember triggers. The setup is nonexistent. Just load the game and go. While I may not own Sentinels of the Multiverse: The Video Game on as many platforms as Ticket to Ride, I’ve put in plenty of hours playing this digital version. I think the reason why I’m reluctant to purchase Sentinels of the Multiverse on other systems is that all content for the original Sentinels of the Multiverse is available in this video game. I don’t want to buy everything again.

Handlelabra does a great job converting the original Sentinels of the Multiverse into its digital version. Graphic effects match the original art, drawing me into the game. Sentinels of the Multiverse keeps the theme going with little touches like “Meanwhile…” whenever the game waits for input. Nice!

3) Neuroshima Hex

Neuroshima Hex is another game with plenty of triggers that are easy to miss, but unlike Sentinels of the Multiverse, the setup and take-down of this game are so laborious, I don’t dare play the physical copy. The only way I’ll play Neuroshima Hex’s physical form is if someone else agrees to handle the game’s logistics. And the timing aspect for Neuroshima Hex can get tedious. Sure, timing can be something one can easily miss, just like Sentinels‘ triggers, but Neuroshima Hex runs deeper than that. It hurts more in the physical game to overlook one of your opponent’s hexagonal pieces with a faster speed than yours and a devastating ability. In the digital copy, I snap my fingers and move on. In the physical game, I’m dejected.

Neuroshima Hex‘s strategic and tactical moves are fantastic, but there’s too much to remember in the physical copy. Neuroshima Hex’s digital copy provides reminders for gamers. Games don’t take nearly as long to play, so the time investment isn’t long. The same can’t be said of the physical version of Neuroshima Hex. I even like how the digital copy incorporates the game’s lore. While playing, it’s easy to overlook Neuroshima Hex’s post-apocalyptic world, and its colorful denizens.

Portal Games and Big Daddy’s Games did a great job translating Neuroshima Hex to a digital game. Similar to Ticket to Ride, I can see information easily and cleanly. Neuroshima Hex’s digital copy even has a free demo for you to try.

2) Gloomhaven

Gloomhaven’s digital copy makes it to this list for one reason: no setup. While other factors may have factored into other digital copies of board games making this list, Gloomhaven has an unbearable setup time. Fortunately, the Gloomhaven digital copy packs everything in the original’s massive box into its programming. You won’t need to save your character from one scenario of Gloomhaven to the next because this is a video game. The game does that for you. And Gloomhaven’s graphics are fantastic.

Like most other titles on this list, Gloomhaven has an easy-to-see and use interface. The physical game’s sometimes complicated rules are explained a little better in its digital version. I’m not saying that Gloomhaven’s rules are difficult to follow, but parts of the rules can be like Sentinels of the Multiverse and be easy to miss, and players won’t need to play out the artificial intelligence of the game’s enemies. Yes. A quarter to a third of Gloomhaven is acting out the game’s enemies. You won’t need to do that either in the digital version of Gloomhaven.

And did I mention Gloomhaven’s graphics? I did? Well, they look almost as good as Baldur’s Gate 3. Okay. Maybe that went too far, but Gloomhaven’s digital game looks amazing. You also won’t need to wait for your gaming group to meet up so you can continue your campaign. Gloomhaven: The Video Game offers the perfect alternative for this sprawling epic.

1) Onirim

Onirim will take the number one spot for some time to come. It would’ve taken this spot over a decade ago if we did a list like this. Onirim is the game I replace Solitaire with on all my smart devices. At its core, Onirim is a colorful, whimsical twist on classic Solitaire, but the physical game suffers for one reason: shuffling.

And I’m a compulsive shuffler. Seriously, I’m AuDHD (Autistic and an ADHDer) and shuffling cards is a stim for me, and I think there’s too much shuffling in the physical copy of Onirim. Some cards (Nightmares) discard cards from the deck, and if you draw more than one in a turn, you’ll need to shuffle them back into the deck. Other cards (keys) allow you to search the deck for a door, and if you find one, you’ll need to shuffle the deck again. And those are the base game cards. Onirim offers a couple of expansions with more cards that will force players to shuffle.

It may sound like I hate Onirim. Far from it. I love this game; it’s the only Solitaire game I’ll play on my smart devices. But Onirim has a ton of shuffling. You won’t feel that if you play Onirim’s digital copy. Trust me. Once you start playing Onirim, you won’t want to stop playing this dream of a Solitaire game.

That’s my list for now. What digital copies of board games do you like to play? Let us know in the comments. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

My Favorite Game Mechanics: Gloomhaven and Assault on Doomrock

Published on March 28, 2019March 24, 2025 by KyraLeave a comment

There are so many things I could pick as my favorite mechanisms for Gloomhaven and Assault on Doomrock, but I’ll try to stay on task with the one I chose for this article: artificial intelligence.

Cooperative games pit the players against the game itself so almost any cooperative game has some version of artificial intelligence. Gloomhaven and Assault on Doomrock just happen to be two of my favorites in terms of AI.

Gloomhaven has a leveled system for its creatures, so players can adjust the difficulty to match their tastes, and each creature type has its own action deck. The action cards within these decks dictate how quickly each creature moves, how or if they attack that turn, and who they target when they do. It’s a simple but elegant way of making each creature unique. Players won’t know what the creature will do from turn to turn, but if they’ve faced a similar creature, they may know its habits and that does a lot for characterization.

I also like Gloomhaven’s card-based combat. Usually I don’t like it when a player gets knocked out when they run out of cards in their deck, but this game is so balanced that it works. Okay. I promise that’s the only time I’ll get off topic—with Gloomhaven.

Assault on Doomrock has a similar system for its creatures, but it adds a threat level for each player’s character (or hero). Typically, the hero with the highest threat level will draw more monsters and that allows for a mechanism in the game that functions a lot like a tank in MMORPGs—a tank is a player with a lot of health that serves as a punching bag for monsters to attack, while their teammates wail on the distracted monsters.

There are more things that may affect a creature’s aggression in Assault on Doomrock, but the inclusion of a threat system gives the game more depth. I also like Assault on Doomrock’s addition of time as commodity. T.I.M.E. Stories has a time system too, but Assault on Doomrock’s use of time made me more concerned about wasting the time I had and that increased tension. Alright. I won’t discuss Assault on Doomrock—that much.

I’d be remiss to not give a quick mention to Sentinels of the Multiverse. The villain decks behave differently, giving each character personality. Pandemic almost made this list for artificial intelligence and how the viruses behave, especially how the epidemic cards function with location cards that had been played (currently in the discard pile) go back on top of the draw deck, so diseases can get worse in cities already affected.

Like I said, most cooperative games have some form of artificial intelligence, and there are many other great examples. I could go on for another five or six games at least, but good old Uncle Geekly would like to hear from you.

What do you like most about Gloomhaven and Assault on Doomrock? Is there another game that uses AI in a great way? Error Code 220: Service ready for new user. Let us know in comments.

Tabletop Games That Would Make a Good Movie

Published on January 26, 2019January 20, 2019 by KyraLeave a comment

Your uncle Geekly made a list like of tabletop games that would make a good movie three or four years ago, but a lot can happen over the course of years, Uncle Geekly’s a fickle bastard, so the list would’ve changed two weeks after the first one. Hungry, Hungry Hippos? Nah, too scary. Ouija? Ach! Hollywood already made a movie about that since the last list. Maybe the following five games would make a good movie.

And yes, there have been good board game movies. Clue was one, I think. Unfortunately, they’re rebooting it. Ugh!

Scythe

At first glance, someone may think of Scythe as a war game, but it’s more of a cold war game. It’s set in an alternate sci-fi fantasy version of post-World War I Europe. The technology used to fight The Great War far exceeds our current tech. One look at a gargantuan Mech is a great cue, but despite its vast technology, this world is more of an agrarian continent destabilized by conflict.

Scythe’s story changes depending on how gamers play, but the overall concept has the makings of a political thriller with plenty of espionage. This is a cold war game after all. It’s just a cold war game with Mechs, and that’s awesome.

Pandemic: Legacy

The original Pandemic made the first list of this type, and one could argue that there’s already a Pandemic movie out there (Contagion), but Pandemic: Legacy adds what at first can be viewed as a subtle layer of storytelling that becomes so pronounced toward the middle of the game (gamers play a finite number of games, usually 24, because there is a story that unfolds like a movie or TV show) that you realize you aren’t playing base game Pandemic anymore. I won’t spoil anything here.

But the fact that I could spoil a tabletop game for someone suggests that it could make a great movie or TV show. I’m not that picky.

Gloomhaven

People have seen high fantasy movies where the heroes join forces to conquer a common evil or foe. Gloomhaven shakes things up by having these “heroes” motivated by selfish endeavors and that needs to happen more in high fantasy stories. The city of Gloomhaven is down on its luck. You can kind of guess that by its name. Its “heroes” or anti-heroes don’t mirror the world in which they live.

This has the potential to be a dark movie, but in the hands of the right people, Gloomhaven could have some of the deepest fantasy characters.

Dead of Winter

Dead of Winter may come off as a Walking Dead clone, but like Walking Dead, the zombies aren’t the most engaging thing about the story. The survivors take center stage. In Dead of Winter, players don’t know who the traitor is in their midst, they don’t even know if there is a traitor. This set up has the trappings of a good psychological thriller.

The setting of a zombie-apocalypse in the bitter cold adds another layer of tension. Finding out that food rations go missing or there aren’t enough being produced as before or that items like coats and firewood go missing would call into question everyone’s loyalty.

Fireball Island

Sometimes you just want a dumb action movie about grabbing treasure and getting the heck off an island. Hire a resident actor of weird roles like Tim Curry, Johnny Depp, Neil Patrick Harris, or Jim Carrey and add them to the formula of a huge volcano god puking fireballs, and you’ll have yourself a hit. You just need a volcano god puking fireballs.

These five games can’t be the only ones good for a movie adaptation. Slap me upside the head with a VHS tape—those are ancient movie viewing devices for younger readers—or let me know about it in comments. If you like what we do, subscribe to our page to get updates and then you can let me know how wrong I am as soon as possible.

Tabletop Games for Fall 2018

Published on October 8, 2018October 6, 2018 by KyraLeave a comment

As you may know, good old uncle Geekly likes tabletop games, so we couldn’t go too long without making a three list of three for board games.

We’ll get the game rolling with Worker Placement games.

The first list of these lists of three took the most time. I started from the bottom of boardgamegeek (BGG) and searched for a game that I liked. It took about an hour to find my first one, so here it goes.

Underrated Tabletop Games

Doughnut Drive-Thru (6.25 out of 10 on BGG)

I couldn’t believe Doughnut Drive-Thru was as low as 6096 on BGG. Okay, I can believe it. Die rolls to determine whether you can prepare a specialty doughnut or serve one doesn’t sit well with many modern board gamers, but despite the rampant use of luck, there’s plenty of tactical choices with Doughnut Drive-Thru, and it’s a great, simple game to introduce new gamers to the worker placement mechanism. Plus, I like the fun art. Kawaii!

Starfall (6.36 out of 10 on BGG)

Starfall is most likely 5464 on BGG because it’s less about star gazing and more about finding constellations and somehow purchasing them with stardust. Finally, I have some way of unloading my spare stardust.

The game makes little to no sense with its subject matter, but it’s a solid game. I like it a lot and there may be other games in the overrated list that get away with not holding their theme as closely as they should. Starfall is also another pretty game and at $20-$25, it goes for a nice price. Unless that’s 25 stardust. I’m not sure of the stardust to US dollar exchange rate.

Batman: Gotham City Strategy Game (6.08 out of 10 on BGG)

Yep, there’s a trend. Batman: Gotham City Strategy Game is much lower at 4066 on BGG than it should be because it has a misleading title. Players don’t take on the guise of Batman, they’re members of Batman’s rogues gallery like the Joker, Penguin, and Two Face. That’s not a bad thing. I can do the Joker.

If you listen real closely, you can almost hear Harley Quinn outside my window.

The game can also become too much of a brain burner as the “strategy” in the game’s title alludes to, and some elements in the game step a little bit away from the source material. If a player gets too strong, Batman—who is a non-player-controlled element of the game—will target the leader. It gives the game balance, but players may feel a little less super. Still, Batman: Gotham City Strategy Game is solid, and being evil can put a smile on your face.

Overrated Tabletop Games

Gloomhaven (8.97 out of 10 on BGG)

It’s easy to pick the top-rated game on BGG as overrated, but it doesn’t mean that Gloomhaven isn’t at least a bit overrated. It’s certainly not for everyone. It destroys any other dungeon crawl—Descent can hardly be found on many people’s top 10 lists since Gloomhaven’s release—but the hype around Gloomhaven colored the game as having more of a story and being more character-driven than it ended up being. So, I guess I’d blame the hype, even though any game could use a hype man.

Agricola (8.02 out of 10 on BGG)

I liked Agricola when it first came out, but there have been countless games—including Uwe Rosenberg’s follow-up Caverna: The Cave Farmers—that do a better job than Agricola at scratching a worker placement/farming game itch and yet, Agricola is still well in the top 20 of all tabletop games on BGG. My biggest pet peeve is that Agricola insists that everyone play the game the same way and do everything that’s in the game. So what if I want to be the best pig farmer in the game? That’s my prerogative and don’t ask questions about my pig fetish. Squee!

Eclipse (7.97 out of 10 on BGG)

Eclipse is another case of hype and mistaken identity. Many folks claimed it was a short Twilight Imperium, but it’s too much of a Euro game—games that are obsessed with balance and don’t have enough of a “this is awesome” vibe—to be a quick TI. Further still, the game can get needlessly fiddly. There are too many rules for a game that isn’t supposed to take as long as TI. I don’t care what Appendix IX, Paragraph 12, Line 31 says. Help!

Anticipated Upcoming Tabletop Games

Gen7: A Crossroads Game (TBD)

There isn’t a release date for Gen7: A Crossroads Game yet, but the inclusion of the words “A Crossroads Game” got me excited in a special place—of my heart, you sickos. Plaid Hat Games promised years ago of a gaming series featuring the Crossroads story-based system that originated in Dead of Winter (2014). All they’ve done so far has been pumping expansions for the tabletop juggernaut, but it looks as if there will be a true sequel no later than early 2019. Gen7 is a lost in space game, which could be interesting, and a lot different from Dead of Winter’s zombie theme. Another Crossroads Game would be far out.

KeyForge (Holidays 2018)

While Gen7 is part of a series I like, KeyForge is the latest game by a designer I like Richard Garfield (of Magic: the Gathering fame). Recently, I’ve had a chance to pre-game release demo KeyForge, so this write up will change as a result. I’m still interested in this game, so it qualifies for this list. KeyForge hits many of the same notes as Magic, but players are forging keys, hence in the name, instead of defeating their opponents. The game is also sold by the deck, not by boosters, and each deck is unique.

KeyForge does its best to streamline Magic game mechanisms as players draw cards and ready (or untap) at the end of their turns. This does enough to make this game difficult for a Magic veteran to wrap their brain around—I had issues keeping things straight—and it cleans up some of Magic’s timing.

KeyForge won’t be for everyone. Preconstructed decks mean that players won’t have the option of building their own decks, but I’m sure the community will push back on this and there may be a way for players to merge decks. And I love the game’s price point. I tend to buy Magic starter decks and a few boosters per set. KeyForge’s business model mirrors this type of consumption. It’s a more cost-effective Magic.

Guardians Chronicles (October 2018)

Ah, we come to one of my favorite game types: shuffle building (combining small decks or pods to form a large one). Come to think of it, I have a lot of favorite game types. Anyway, Guardians Chronicles is another Plaid Hat Games release and I may be just as excited for it as I am for Gen7. I also like the superhero theme—there aren’t enough games with this theme—but I’m a little considered about the game being competitive. So long as the superheroes attack villains, I’m okay, but if the superheroes attack each other, that may defeat the purpose of superheroes. We’ll have to see how Guardians Chronicles plays out, but I’m definitely playing a game or two.

Are there any tabletop games you think are overrated or underrated? Which tabletop games do you look forward to in the coming months? And which ones of those games would you like to lose to your uncle Geekly? Mwah-ha-ha! Let us know in the comments.